Better late than never! It’s time to pick my Top 10 models as part of the Lamley Awards season. Apologies for the delay but I found a disproportionately high number of my 2024 wants in the final month of the year, due to ongoing distribution issues here in Canada.
The 2024 format follows that of 2023: In addition to the usual Top 10 additions to my collection, I’ve compiled a list of my favourite new race and rally cars of 2024. Having again sold more than I’ve bought this year, I’m trying to be even more focused in my collecting than before (the scattergun buying stopped years ago), and race and rally models are a big part of that.
My rule for inclusion remains in these lists remains the same. Only cars that I had in hand in the calendar year count towards the Top 10s. I wouldn’t read a movie review from someone who hadn’t seen the film, and I don’t expect you to value my opinion on something I’ve only seen in pictures. With that said, let’s get on with it.
Top Race & Rally Models of 2024
10) Mini GT Hyundai i20 Rally1
It’s hard to be critical of Mini GT when their product quality, selection and price point is consistently top notch, but I wish they’d explore fewer themes in more depth, rather than starting a new line but only putting out a couple of castings – classic F1 cars for example, or, as here, modern WRC. The Hyundai is fantastic, of course, and every release – including the Waldegård Stratos in the background here – hits the mark, but we’re still a long way from CMs-levels of prolificity.
(find Mini GT Hyundai i20 Rally1 on eBay)
9) Matchbox Mercedes-Benz 230SL Leipzig special
I feel that the Leipzig Matchbox Convention special models commissioned by Dirk Schleuer in recent years are more appealing than those made for the Gathering in Alburquerque. Or maybe it’s just my European sensibility. Whatever, this year gave us two corkers – the super-popular, Pink Pig-inspired Porsche 911 RSR and this ‘Pagoda’ Mercedes, based on Eugen Böhringer’s winning car from the 1963 Spa-Sofia-Liège Rally. Abe Lugo even designed a hardtop of the normally convertible-only model, which was then made for Dirk in Germany by Ostparts. Unique!
(find Matchbox Leipzig Convention Mercedes on eBay)
8) Majorette First Ever “BRM”
Majorette celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this year and, much like Matchbox for its 70th last year, released a bunch of models to celebrate the anniversary. There were some retro-themed new castings like the Volvo 240 estate but this “First Ever” race car, issued in multiple colours, was the star of the show. It’s based on the BRM P57 that, in 1964, was Majorette’s first ever car release.
(find Majorette First Ever on eBay)
7) Hot Wheels Toyota GR86 Cup
Nothing fancy, just a Hot Wheels mainline, but a really nice one. The proportions are great and the livery represents the real car from 2023, raced by Toni Breidinger in the US-based GR Cup. I was at the COTA meeting in May last year and took this snap of Breidinger in the pit lane, showing what a nice job the designers did to recreate this in miniature.
(find Hot Wheels Toyota GR86 Cup on eBay)
6) Matchbox Moving Parts Bizzarrini
A surprise hit. The revival of the Bizzarrini marque opened the door for a Matchbox replica to be made, and the team nailed it first time out with this Moving Parts release. I filled in the wheels with gold chrome for a more accurate look but that aside, what is there to complain about?
(find Matchbox Bizzarrini on eBay)
5) Hot Wheels Porsche 911 GT3 R “Rexy”
The hype model of the year, which I finally found on December 31st! AO Racing has done a spectacular job of using dino liveries to draw attention to its IMSA race cars, and then carefully licensing them to Hot Wheels and Mini GT to take the collector market by storm. I will probably never track down the pink “Roxy” chase model, but I was happy to find the well-executed regular Rexy, even if those green wheels aren’t what they ought to be.
(find Hot Wheels Rexy on eBay)
4) Hot Wheels Elite 64 Bugatti Type 59
Another huge and very welcome surprise. I can’t think of anyone but Mark Jones on the Hot Wheels design team who would consider making this model, and I’m super glad that he prepared it for the Elite 64 range before he retired. It’s suitably tiny and beautifully detailed. Read more about it here.
(find Hot Wheels Bugatti Type 59 on eBay)
3) Mini GT Acura ARX-06 GTP
There’s not much more to say about Mini GT, which for me is now the benchmark in premium 1:64. Its line of IMSA GTPs once again demonstrates a Midas touch, and this was my favourite of the ones I obtained this year. It’s hard to see in photos, but the blue on the front of this Wayne Taylor Racing Acura from Daytona 2023 shimmers like nothing else in my collection. Sensational! The Cadillac V-Series.R in the background is well worth checking out as well.
(find Mini GT Acura ARX-06 on eBay)
2) Hot Wheels ’67 Lotus 49
Another Hot Wheels model that I covered in depth in a Lamley article with input from the designer, so I won’t bore you by retreading old ground. But Fraser Campbell did a stellar job to realize the seminal 49 in such spectacular style. It’s already a favourite with race collectors and customizers and is my choice as mainline of the year.
(find Hot Wheels Lotus 49 on eBay)
1) Fox18 Škoda 130LR/RS – both!
The year of surprises continued with the appearance of two classic Škoda rally castings from 1:64 newcomer, Fox18. The Czech company’s models are made in the ixo factory, and the quality is excellent. As a rally fan from the 1980s, the four-car sets – one each for the 130 RS and 130 LR – were hard to resist. They’re so well executed that they went straight in at number one on my 2024 list! For a full unboxing of these super models, check out my Lamley article here.
Honourable mentions
There were several premium 1:64 models that were supposed to make this list but at the time of writing still haven’t reached me, so will have to wait for my 2025 countdown. Instead, here are a few more that I do have in hand.
It’s not a new casting but the Hot Wheels BMW M1 Procar looks great in the faux-BASF livery released in the Car Culture Exotics assortment.
Staying with Hot Wheels, the mainline team did a nice job with the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS (above), especially in the silver scheme from the 1968 Targa Florio, as well as the Jaguar Mk.I (below), again in a real-life livery. I swapped the wheels on the 904 to a set from UK-based C1 Models, and they look great.
In 2025, the blue brand rolls out the fruits of its new F1 licence, which will be fun to follow. I continue to be astonished at the plethora of 1:64 F1 models hitting the market. This year saw continued great work from Mini GT and Sparky, with the promise of more to come in 2025 from BBR, Para64 and others.
Top 10 other additions to my collection
On to Part 2… Let’s check out some of the other stuff I was happy to add to the collection this year.
10) Tomica Toyota Crown
This was one of the last new regular Tomicas I went after in a year in which I’ve decided to no longer buy the new releases. From here on in, my Tomica collection will be about backfilling the older models I’ve missed. The Crown is all that I love about regular Tomicas: a mass-market Japanese car, nice paint, bog-standard wheels and a cheeky first day colour to boot. I’ll miss getting the new ones, but there are plenty of older releases to keep me occupied.
(find Tomica Toyota Crown on eBay)
9) Matchbox Mr Brainwash Mini
This one arrived just as the LA-based street artist was opening an exhibition at the Petersen Museum called Cars are beautiful. I wasn’t aware of his prior work but then again, I know more about cars than I do about art! This model isn’t for everyone, and I debated its value in another Lamley article, but I really like it. The all-over paint scheme brightens your day and those new True Grip wheels suit it perfectly.
(find Mr Brainwash Mini on eBay)
8) Dinky Talbot Lago
Last year’s number one was an original Dinky F1 car and this year I added a couple more, including this lovely Talbot Lago. The tires were a mishmash of original and replacements, in a couple of different sizes, so I replaced the lot with a new set from the excellent Steve Flowers Model Supplies.
(find Dinky Talbot Lago on eBay)
7) Matchbox Moving Parts Porsche 356
One of the first models I bought in 2024 and still one of the best. Or should I say, one of the first models a friend found for me this year – I’ve yet to see one on the pegs or at a toy show, so it’s clearly been a huge hit. Rightly so – the Porsche looks terrific and who can resist the opening engine cover with the dinky little flat-four motor inside?
(find Moving Parts Porsche 356 on eBay)
6) Mini GT Lincoln Capri
An example of a car that doesn’t particularly fit with anything else in my collection, beyond being a race car, but I’m super glad to have it anyway. Mini GT showed its range in 2024 with the different incarnations of the Capri, from stock street to chopped hot rod, but this wonderful, heavy, immaculately detailed 1954 Carrera Panamericana version is the one for me.
(find Mini GT Lincoln Capri on eBay)
5) Hot Wheels Plymouth Belvedere GTX
I don’t buy many older Hot Wheels but go back 20 years and you’ll find an era that rivals today’s output in its breadth and quality, in my opinion. I’ve talked before about gems from the 100% Hot Wheels line but this Hall of Fame Petty GTX, bought locally on Facebook, is right up there with the best NASCAR models in my collection. New arrivals tend to sit on the windowsill in my home office for a few weeks before migrating into a display case or storage box. It’s a measure of how much I liked the GTX that it spent eight months by the window!
(find Hot Wheels Hall of Fame on eBay)
4) Matchbox Moving Parts Land Rover Series II Forward Control
Another model that I didn’t think would find its way into my collection in time, but Calgary seemed to receive six months’ worth of new Matchbox in the space of a few December weeks, so here it is! The Forward Control Landie is leftfield, offbeat, unexpected and eccentric, but it’s right up my alley and wonderfully executed. Few castings are more Matchbox than this, and it’s all the better for it: the ridged siding and opening door put me in mind of the old Lesney Mobile Home, for example, which was later turned into the NASA Command Vehicle. Yes, it’s mostly plastic, but I’d rather have it huge, and made of plastic, than not at all.
(find Matchbox Land Rover Camper on eBay)
3) Kyosho Jaguar XJR-9
I would love to buy more Kyosho models. The Japanese 1:64 maestros issued so many great race and rally cars in the past that no one else has modeled, but they are tough to find in the West. To the interweb it is, then, and I spent most of the year trying to snag this gorgeous, de-Silk-Cutted Jag for less than the price of a kidney. I finally succeeded in November, and it was worth the wait. Now to rustle up some decals to re-tobacco this 1988 Le Mans-winning beauty. And yes, it will come off the base!
(find Kyosho Jaguar XJR-9 on eBay)
2) Matchbox 2023 Toyota GR Supra
In a year in which it was hard to find many of the new Matchbox releases in Calgary, I was relieved when this one finally turned up a few months late in Dollar Tree and a friend was able to grab one for me. What is there to say? It’s my favourite Matchbox model of the year, no doubt, better even than the Moving Parts 356A, which held top spot in my head for almost 11 months! The proportions, the body creases, the wheels, the way the roof is held up without metal A-pillars, the front and rear ends…it’s all perfect. Absolutely outstanding and an instant classic. Big thanks to Matchbox designer Garry Gopinath for a job very well done!
(find Matchbox Toyota Supra on eBay)
1) Biante Ford Falcon
My biggest trade of the year was with fellow Matchbox fan Luke McKenna in Australia (@matchboxluke on Instagram). Several vintage V8 Supercars came my way including my first two Biante 1:64s: Peter Brock’s 1971, Bathurst-winning Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 and this amazing Ford XD Falcon, representing Dick Johnson’s 1982 ATCC-winning machine. My favourite acquisition of 2024 was released more than 10 years ago and is unlike anything the louder-shouting premium 1:64 brands are making now, but it’s every bit as good. I believe this was made by AutoArt, which would explain the immaculate build quality. In short: It’s a winner!
(find Biante 1:64 models on eBay)
Honourable mentions:
Another parting gift from Mark Jones, a Hot Wheels Abarth 131 that’s very close to true 1:64 scale. Click here to read the surprising story of how this model came about. My favourite is the Team Transport blue-and-yellow release that apes the Olio Fiat cars from 1977.
With my British hat on, it’s hard to think of a Matchbox release that out-hyped the 1983 Ford Fiesta Mk2. Scalped to within an inch of its life on eBay and skipped over here in Calgary by my local Walmarts, I finally found it in a Dollarama in December, by which time the 2025 metallic green follow-up was already showing in Walmart. The Mk2 Fiesta resonates with Brits of a certain age, myself included: I’ll forever associate it with a trip to an airshow when I was a teenage Air Cadet. Meanwhile the Morgan Plus 4 was another Matchbox mainline highlight.
And finally, I can’t ignore the model that my mate Jon and I created for the Calgary Toy Show this year. We gathered 100 white Matchbox 911 GT3 RSs and got the show logo printed onto the roof (no decals or stickers), then designed some packaging and boxed them up. It’s not the most ambitious of customs/Code 3 promotionals, but we’re proud of it all the same! And (shameless sales pitch), there are a few left over. If you’re interested, send me a message through Instagram @diecast215.
That’s all for this year’s rundowns, hope you enjoyed this whirlwind tour of my year in diecast. Happy (New Year) collecting!
(follow me on Instagram @diecast215)
(buy my children’s book 20 Great Race Cars)