Click on a link to order
a model or the logo to see the complete range from that manufacturer |
|
|
| EBB43551
|
Toyota Celica JGTC 2004 #17 Espelir
|
£32.50
|
|
 We're starting to lose track of just how many JGTC subjects Ebbro
are making this year, not that we're complaining at the run of fabulous
looking subjects. This Celica is one the more colourful, but less
successful cars. The mid-blue paint finish is rather thin in places
(a common problem with this colour from Ebbro for some reason), but
the vivid decoration has all been carefully applied. |
| EBB43579
|
Honda NSX JGTC 2004 #8 Autobacs
|
£35.50
|
|
 Sunglasses on for this one! Like many Auotobacs sponsored cars the
NSX is finished in dayglo orange. This time the paint finish is very
good and again the decoration is well applied. The car had the dubious
honour of being at the bottom of the GT500 points table. |
| EBB43594
|
Toyota Supra JGTC 2004 #36 Woodone
|
£35.50
|
| EBB43595
|
Toyota Supra JGTC 2004 #37 Dynacity
|
£35.50
|
| EBB43598
|
Toyota Supra JGTC 2004 #35 Yellow Hat
|
£35.50
|
|
 The
first two of these were prepared by TOMs and share similar attractive
liveries, the Woodone car having the striping in a bright turquoise
colour and the sister Dynacity backed machine the same design in
mid blue. The finish on both models is up to Ebbro's usual standards
and they check out well with race photos. Best race results were
a 2nd place for Tsuchiya/Apicella #36 car, while Courtney/Kataoka
scored one 3rd place. At the end of the season it was the #37 which
finished higher in the championship due to more consistent scoring,
6th as opposed to 7th. The Yellow Hat Supra was a constant points
scorer during the 2004 season and again the decoration looks accurate.
The paint is rather thin on this one too and our sample also had
a fair few watermarks from the decalling, which needed polishing
off. |
| EBB43600
|
Porsche GT3RSR Le Mans 04 #77 ChoroQ
|
£35.50
|
|
 We travel away from the circuits of Japan now with the Porsche GT3
RSR which Ebbro were title sponsor on at Le Mans. The car finished
2nd in the GT class and as you would expect when the model manufacturer
has been closely involved with the subject, well finished and pretty
accurate. The only omission that we can see is that there is one
sponsor 'Cheers' missing from the decoration in several places. |
| EBB43606
|
Nissan Fairlady (350) Z JGTC 04 #1 Xanavi
|
£35.50
|
| EBB43607
|
Nissan Fairlady (350) Z JGTC 04 #22
Motul
|
£35.50
|
|
 These
are the 2nd models that we've seen of the factory-backed Nissan 350s
from the 2004 season and the latest versions represent the Championship-winning
#1 machine and its sister car from the Malaysian round. There are
a few extra sponsors on the cars that weren't seen when the cars
ran on home soil, but otherwise they are very similar. |
| EBB43609
|
Dome Le Mans 2004 #9 Kondo
|
£35.50
|
|
 Ebbro's final contribution to this issue is another Le Mans car that
they appeared on, albeit with rather more discrete logos than on
the Porsche. The paint finish is very good on all three body colours,
with the small silver panels on the sides particularly neatly masked
from the black. The red decal stripes which cover the join between
the red and black are not terribly well applied, though the rest
of the decals and detailing look pretty good. |
|
|
Click on a link to order a model or the logo to
see the complete range from that manufacturer |
|
|
|
|
 We are used to some strange issue numbers from die-cast manufacturers
but we can safely say that at just 504 units of each, these two Audi
concept cars are true limited editions. The luxurious Avantissimo
estate car made its bow at the 2001 Frankfurt Motorshow, while the
similarly styled Pikes Peak appeared at Detroit in 2003. Both models
are very well finished with fine metallic paint, well detailed interiors
and flush fitting windows. The presentation is also excellent with
a large display box that has a number of press photographs of the
real cars in the lid. We've said it before but die-casts are definitely
getting better! |
| MIN040003
|
Williams FW26 2004 #3 Montoya
|
£20.00
|
| MIN040014
|
Jaguar R5 2004 #5 Webber
|
£20.00
|
| MIN040016
|
Toyota TF104 2004 #16 Da Matta
|
£20.00
|
| MIN040017
|
Toyota TF104 2004 #17 Panis
|
£20.00
|
|
 All
of these 2004 F1 cars are reasonably well finished and the decoration
appears to be complete in all cases as they are all 'non-smoking'
teams. The mica blue on the Williams is very lustrous, though some
of the details such as the rear wing aren't as tidy as has become
the norm for Minichamps. The Jaguar is much better, the best of the
bunch in fact, with very good paint and neatly applied decals. The
Toyotas too have good paint finishes and capture the decalling differences
between the two cars. |
| MIN043407
|
Mercedes C DTM 2004 #7 Team AMG
|
£24.95
|
| MIN044404
|
Opel Vectra DTM 2004 #4 Playboy
|
£24.95
|
| MIN044409
|
Opel Vectra DTM 2004 #9 Stern
|
£24.95
|
|
 It's
been a long while since we last reviewed any DTM cars from Minichamps
and they have certainly moved on in recent years. The level of interior
detail is very good, the wheels are finely detailed, the windows
fit well and the decals all appear to be accurately placed. The two
black cars, Gary Paffett's Mercedes which he took to 2nd in the championship
and the Playboy Opel of Laurent Aiello, have superb paint finishes
too. The orange Stern sponsored car of Frentzen isn't quite as good
if you look closely, as the paint is a little thin in places, particularly
the panel lines and also in photos it looks as if it should be a
darker colour. This would make sense as Stern magazine has a red
header. |
| MIN045304
|
VW Touareg Dakar 2004 #204 Red Bull
|
£23.00
|
|
 At first glance this looks like a very good model of Jutta Kleinschmidt's
VW Buggy from last year's Dakar rally-raid, but closer inspection
shows that there are a number of decals missing. The team sponsors
are all there but none of the event ones are, so the rally plates
have a series of lines on in place of Total & Telefonica, the
Dakar rally logos are replaced with a small triangle and the large
Dakar script is missing completely from the sides of the car. |
|
|
| JCC052R
|
Nissan Murano Street 2003 Metallic Orange
|
£19.95
|
|
 Nissan's Murano is one of the more recent entrants into the ultra
competitive small - medium sized SUV market. J-Collection have reproduced
the shape of the car very well. The standard of finish is generally
good, though as is often the case with die-casts, some of the smaller
details such as mirrors and aerials look rather chunky. |
|
