Minichamps Archives - Page 3 of 3

FIRST SAMPLES: Minichamps 1:43 “Mullin Museum” 1939 Delage D8-120 Cabrio

Henri Chapron couldn’t have dreamed the real life story that would be written around the creation he delivered on June 21, 1939; Delage D8-120 chassis number 51760 had been fashioned into a cabriolet with an eight cylinder engine of just over 115 horsepower, and its mechanicals and frame were of the latest design from Courbevoie […]

Alfa Male: Minichamps 1:18 Alfa Romeo GTA 1300 Junior

Minichamps’ model of the 1972 Alfa Romeo GTA 1300 Junior is an outrageous looking thing, much like the real car it’s patterned after. All bulging fenders, riveted-on bodywork, and molto bad attitude, it come out of its box looking… angry. And that would be just about right; these were ripping little cars. 1290cc DOHC inline […]

FIRST LOOK! Minichamps 1:18 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental

In these days of double-century top speeds and planet-shifting torque, the horsepower and performance numbers put out by the Bentley R-Type Continental back in 1954 seem kind of quaint. But at the time, the car was deemed the fastest four-seater in the world. With a fastback body by H.J. Mulliner, it was also one of […]

Concept Crush: Minichamps’ 1:18 Porsche 918

As far as we can tell, there has only been a handful of people who have actually driven Porsche’s gas-electric hybrid 918 Spyder. That doesn’t include the thousands of game wonks who have burned out their thumbs running the car ragged in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Even fewer folks have been allowed a peek […]

Minichamps 1:43 BMW Z4M: Ultimate Bull

You would think that a German model car company making a model of a German car would be a perfect match – and in the case of this Minichamps BMW Z4M “Red Bull” racing coupe, modeled after the winning car shared by Quester, Mullen, Stuck, and Werner at the 2006 24 hours of Silverstone, you’d […]

Minichamps’ 1:43 Audi R8 LMS: Phoenix, Risen

Stuck, Biela, Stippler and Basseng isn’t a law firm – but pity the unfortunate who comes before them on a track, especially if they’re taking turns piloting the likes of this Audi R8 LMS. That was on the docket in 2009, when Team Phoenix brought the car to the Nürburgring-Nordschleife to claim a GT3 victory […]

Minichamps 1:43 Porsche “Mark Donohue” Set: Calling Captain Nice

Like Rudolf “Rudi” Uhlenhaut before him, Mark Donohue was an engineer who also happened to be a gifted race car driver – a dual personality that allowed him to return from the track with a head full of ideas on how to improve a car’s performance, and the nuts-and-bolts knowledge on how those improvements could […]

Minichamps 1:18 Fiat 500: Ciao, Baby

Here’s an Italian lesson for you: Bring your jaw forward a bit, and say “cheen-quay-CHEN-toh”. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Add in a little hand language – a slow, loose-fingered rolling of the right hand in a circular motion, at around shoulder height, should do – and you might pass for a native. Show up to […]

Minichamps 1:18 1983 VW Beetle: Humble is Good

Humble origins can make for noble ends, and few cars have ever enjoyed the loyalty and fervor bestowed on the Volkswagen Beetle. In return, it provided solid, thrifty transportation for millions of Volks folks worldwide for the better part of a sixty-five year production run. I really like this model of the VW, as done […]

Minichamps 1:12 Maserati Type 61 Birdcage “Shelby”

The ghosts of Moreno Valley are a restless crew. Wearing spectral race suits and coveralls, they wander and glide amid the shopping malls and rows of houses where once a great road course track lay, chuckling at the minivans and SUVs, and nodding together in silent accord when a Ferrari, Aston Martin or Jaguar passes […]