The first ever: Majorette “Racing Car” (BRM P57), my 200th Lamley article and the 2024 Majorette Influencer event.

(Find Majorette from across the years on Ebay here and at the selection available on the brand store here)

What a post to hit a milestone. This is my 200th article for Lamley, and I can’t think of any better subject to cover for a double-century. As you’ll maybe already have noticed, it’s been a very Majorette heavy start to 2024 for me. And I’m really not sorry about that. In fact I’m buzzing about it. The company celebrates 60 years of miniatures this year and have released some superb metal to commemorate this. One model to appear as part of the festivities is this:

Meet the “Racing Car” though Majorette fans will know there’s a lot more to it than the name lets on. It’s a replica (an exact replica in terms of dimensions) of the very first Majorette produced back in 1964 when under the guidance of founder Emile Véron, model railway specialists Rail Route branched out into diecast cars. The subject they chose for their first model was the BRM P57, at the time a cutting edge Formula One car raced by the likes of Graham Hill and Richie Ginther. And they did a pretty damn good job of it.

This is my own Rail Route BRM, and it accompanied me in early April along with it’s modern counterpart to the Majorette headquarters in Fürth, Germany, for their 2024 Influencer Event.

The event was not only an opportunity for the brand to celebrate 60 years but also to thank its fans and supporters. Joining me in Fürth were some of the best diecast influencers: @johnnys.diecast, @scale_car_, @diecastdude.youtube, @majocollector, @toycarsaddict_daily, the guys from @quattroruote and from across the globe @majoretteaustralasia. We were treated to an incredible experience of being immersed in our hobby at the home of one of the biggest diecast companies. We also had the chance to take a look at some upcoming diecast and pitch some ideas during a brainstorming session but more on that a little later. But in the meantime here’s some photos of me in diecast dreamland, captured by the Majorette photographer.

We were all back to being kids again, especially when the team let us have a go at the Majorette Factory set up. This is quite literally a production line but shrunk down that Majorette install in shops and at events. Visitors are given a choice of castings and then are allowed to add a personal touch by mixing bases, interiors, wheels etc. We had the choice between two new castings for the Factory; the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport and Porsche Taycan Turbo S in a new shade….

I was never going to leave a Rubystar Porsche of any variety and I pipped for one with a red interior piece and clear windows in an homage to my frequent day dreaming Porsche Individual configurator trips. My next was another Taycan in black with Majorette’s nifty roof attachment. This time the clip on accessory is a surfboard with a livery designed in tandem with Porsche Design and a pro surfer.

Once we had done being children again, no 60th birthday would be complete without a look back, and having Marc (@majocollector) with us we were able to see physically how Majorette have evolved over the years. He bought with him an incredible array of models, advertisements and packaging that had us in awe.

The Majorette team too were eager to take a closer look and over the two days one thing struck me about them: they are seriously passionate about what they do and there’s some very knowledgeable car people and collectors working behind the scenes. Conversations about real cars, peg finds and collections flowed not just between us social media types, but amongst the management. They’re car people, simple as. And the upcoming Japan Series is a perfect example of this.

The Japan Series arrives with 5 new castings: Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R, Toyota Century, Honda Civic Type-R (EK9), Toyota Supra JZA80 and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. Propping up the range is the A31 Nissan Cefiro. Not content with just doing any colours for their models, the team decided they wanted to mirror real shades available from factory. The Millennium Jade on the Skyline R34 gave them a particular headache but once they’d managed it they decided to tackle an even more difficult shade. They took perhaps the most famous Skyline shade of all time (Midnight Purple) and made it the colour of the chase variant. How. Cool?!

Speaking of Japan there’s also rather cool things coming from the Tune-Ups series with the arrival of the Suzuki Carry casting being of particular note, to me at least anyway!

And because I can’t even begin to talk about all this stuff without taking up many many hours of your time, here’s a bucketload of upcoming stuff to whet your appetite, starting with some of the cars arriving from Majorette’s Vintage Cars series…

Recolours of the Citroën DS, Mercedes 190E Evo 2, Volvo 240 GL and Datsun 260Z look fabulous, and I’m very excited to cover the Ford Escort Mk2 and Fiat 500. And there was more from the upcoming French Touch series in which the Citroën HY casting reappears in two awesome new liveries and rolling on a brand new wheel.

We also got a chance to fire some ideas at management, a few of which seemed to really excite them. I can’t really say much more sadly, but during this process we also got an education on how tough it is sometimes to be able to secure licenses for vehicles and brands. It may seem very easy, but one particular brand of old (that will remain nameless) demanded 90% royalties, and figures like that just don’t make financial sense to anyone!

And what of the Racing Car/P57? Well it’s a brilliant diecast and homage to the original. And you need one. It’s that good. Being in Fürth I was able to spend a couple of days exploring Nuremberg itself including the Norisring race track where alongside the original BRM the new casting looked perfectly at home.

This may be an article full of hyperbole and smoke blowing, but after seeing first hand what goes on behind the scenes it’s fully deserved. It’s a perfect time to be a Majorette collector, and I can honestly say the future looks very bright indeed.

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