8/31/2004 UPDATE: The third Crawford Daytona Prototype from this year's Rolex 24 at Daytona has arrived. It's the stunning orange and red #09 Citgo car driven by Robby Gordon, Doug Goad, Stephan Gregoire and the equally stunning Milka Duno ($89.95). More photos HERE.
Our next trackside 'Road Show' will be at Watkins Glen the weekend of September 10 - 12 (the Zippo US Vintage Grand Prix). We had to scrap plans to be at Lime Rock for the Vintage Festival this weekend. Maybe next year. Look for us at Road America (weather permitting) September 18 - 19. We're also looking at a couple late fall events in warmer parts of the country. Watch this page for updates.
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8/30/2004 UPDATE: Auto Art has some very impressive new models on the agenda for later this year, inlcluding a series of 1/18 scale Porsche 908/2 and 908/3 race cars. We'll be posting details shortly, but many of you have seen the pre-production prototype of the Redman/Siffert Targa Florio winning Gulf 908/3 at our trackside displays the past month or so.
Coming this week: The 1/18 scale Dale Earnhardt Jr / Ron Fellows 'Crispy Corvette C5-R' from Action. Our supply will be limited. Call or email for details.
Earlier, we posted that the 1970 LeMans winner would be available again from Auto Art in 1/18 scale. My error. The 1/43 scale version is due to arrive in October. Sorry about that.
8/27/2004 UPDATE: For all of us who call Elkhart Lake's Road America our 'home track', here is the ultimate scrapbook of that legendary 4 mile road course. Tom Schultz (author of 'Road America: Five Decades of Racing at Elkhart Lake') has assembled hundreds of photographs covering the proud history of America's finest road racing circuit from the building of Cliff Tufte's dream in the early 1950's through the 2003 season. All the legends are here: Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, Jim Hall, Ken Miles, Bruce & Denny, Mark Donohue, Jerry Hansen, Augie Pabst, Al Holbert, Mario and Michael Andretti, David Hobbs and Brian Redman along with the weekend warriors, the motorcycle greats and the fans along the Corner 5 fence. Come to think of it, if you love road racing WHATEVER track you consider your home, you need to have a copy of this great book! In stock now. $49.95 plus shipping.
8/26/2004 AFTERNOON UPDATE: We took a few moments to flip through our advance copy of 'Ferrari Prototype Era' by Alan Henry and snapped a few random shots of the spectacular photos in this great new book. We're taking orders for late September delivery ($79.95 plus shipping). Click the banner for further details.
8/26/2004 NOON UPDATE: Just announced this morning by Minichamps: A 1/18 scale BMW M3 GTR in silver with a black carbon fibre roof. The all silver version of this model was one of the fastest sellouts we've seen in years. October release. Reserve now for $69.95 plus shipping.
8/25/2004 UPDATE: Speaking of sexy road cars, this 1/43 scale Lamborghini Espada just arrived from Minichamps. Check out today's other new arrivals on the New Die Cast page.
An advance copy of Alan Henry's 'Ferrari Prototype Era' arrived today and is on display for your inspection at our Downers Grove gallery. This spectacular new coffee table book will be available in about a month for $79.95 plus shipping. We'll have more for you tomorrow.
8/24/2004 UPDATE: We don't stock too many 'road car' die cast, but this new 2004 Corvette Z06 Commemorative Edition in LeMans Blue was too cool to pass up. It's distinctive silver and red trim was inspired by the C5-Rs that raced at LeMans in 2003. Check out the full centerfold - I mean photo set - on the New Die Cast page. $62.95 in stock now.
8/23/2004 UPDATE: Back from the ALMS weekend at Road America. Today, we're adding 5 new DVD's to our selection. All are in stock for immediate delivery. They are
Motorfilms Quarterly, Volume Nine. Includes: 1950 Alpine Rally, Part 2, 1996 The House that Jenks Built, 1960 BRDC International Trophy - Silverstone, 1964 LeMans 24 Hours - Triumph Spitfire Team, Exhibit B801: The MG Car Company. 1 hour, 28 minutes .....$39.95
Indianapolis 500: The 60s, A Decade of Change.......$19.95
Indianapolis 500: The 70s, A Decade of Legends.....$19.95
Indianapolis 500: The 80s: A Decade for the Ages..$19.95
Winston Cup 2003 Year in Review..............................$19.95
We hope to have Motorfilms Quarterly, Volume
Ten in stock within 2 weeks. You can reserve your copy now. $39.95
plus shipping.
8/19/2004 UPDATE: The Paul's Model Art Minichamps 2004 Edition 2 Catalog is here. It features the Minichamps range of 2004 F1, DTM Sports Cars, Road Cars, Motorcycles and other miniatures announced in recent months. Most are expected to in the next 6 - 9 months. Just $5 plus postage. The 'big' 2004 Edition 1 Catalog is also available ($15.00).
8/18/2004 UPDATE: Next week we'll begin previewing some of the new books that we'll be stocking for you this fall, including the three titles seen above.
We understand Sam Posey will be Dave Despain's guest on Wind Tunnel Thursday night. Sam's new book on model railroading 'Playing with Trains' ($22.95) will be available here at TMC when it is released in September.
See you at Road America this weekend.
8/17/2004 UPDATE: A trio of 1/43 scale Porsche racing cars from Minichamps leads off our Tuesday update. Full photo sets on the New Die Cast page. Check out the Polish Racing Drivers of America (PRDA) sticker on the roof of the Tony ( A to Z ) Adamowicz David Piper Porsche 917, as raced at the 1971 Watkins Glen 6 Hour (I was actually there!).
As we mentioned the other day, all three Porsche 956 models in Minichamps's new 1982 LeMans 1-2-3 Porsche Victory boxed set are tampo printed with the proper markings underneath the 'Racing' logos required by the international tobacco police. The photo below shows how your car(s) will look after a bit of work. It takes about an hour to convert your set to make it historically accurate.*
We've been adding new Minichamps arrivals to the New Die Cast page all afternoon. Check out the 1/12 scale Mike Hailwood Ducati 900 that won the Isle of Man TT in 1978, the giant 1/6 scale Honda of Valentino Rossi, some classic Grand Prix Benettons in 1/43 scale and the first of the 2003 F1 racers. Great stuff from Minichamps!
We'll try to get a few more things up before we start packing for the ALMS race at Elkhart Lake this weekend.
8/16/2004 UPDATE: A timely 'companion' for those of you who have taken delivery of CMC's stunning W196 Streamliner: Word from Chris Nixon and company is the first DVD offering from Terrific Stuff Videos is being 'burned' as we type this and the first US copies should reach us within the next couple of weeks. 'The Return of the Silver Arrows' chronicles Mercedes Benz's return to international racing in 1954 and their domination of the scene for the next two years until the LeMans tragedy of 1955 brought the corporate decision to withdraw again at the end of that season. More than 70 minutes of footage from Daimler Chrysler's motor racing archive feature classic Formula One and Sports Cars in the hands of legends such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Karl Kling, Hans Hermann and others. We'll offer a formal review when the program arrives, but previous releases from Terrific Stuff Videos have always exceeded expectations. ($39.95 plus shipping)
Action's 1/18 scale Corvette C5-Rs, as raced at LeMans in 2003, are now here. Full photo set on the New Die Cast page. More new Minichamps on Tuesday.
8/13/2004 UPDATE: To close out a big week for die cast collectors, we have the arrival of two 'second release' versions from Action and Carousel 1. The second Crawford Daytona Prototype from the 2004 Rolex 24 at Daytona, this one driven by Jimmy Johnson, Butch Leitzinger, the ageless Elliot Forbes-Robinson and D. Bruele ($89.95) and the second Foyt Coyote release from Carousel 1, the 1966 Sheraton Thompson Special driven by George Snider at Indy ($129.95). We love the beautiful pearl white paint job on this one! Full photo sets of both models and the 1/43 scale 1982 LeMans 3-car Porsche 956 set from Minichamps have been posted on the New Die Cast page.
8/12/2004 UPDATE: The GMP 1/12 scale Gulf Ford GT 40 '1075' in 1969 LeMans winning trim has arrived at TMC. Pre-orders ship today and tomorrow. If you're a Chicago area customer, you should have received a phone call today. If not, please contact me asap as our first shipment is nearly sold out. This one's special!
It looks like those 1/43 scale Minichamps 3 car Rothmans Porsche 956 sets were victims of the Tobacco Police. The original tampo printed Rothmans logos have been covered up by generic 'Racing' identification, as done by the team in the day when they raced in countries that banned cigarette advertising. I would imagine that it is POSSIBLE to remove the decals without damaging the true identity featured below, but we can't endorse such activity or accept returns on water damaged 956's ("Who's the U-Boat Commander?" - one of our favorite lines). We understand (through a UK Minichamps bulletin board) that Philip Morris is threatening to confiscate Rothmans decaled cars from British dealers. Sadly, it looks like the 1/18 scale Rothmans 956's will not carry the accurate markings from the Minichamps factory but we have no details as to how (if or when) these cars will arrive. We will be contacting those of you who have pre orders on file in the next couple of weeks, or when we have additional information.
We want to thank the governments of the world for protecting us from collecting authentic replicas of the cars that made racing history. Pure PC Crap.
8/11/2004 UPDATE: Some good news from GMP this morning. The long-awaited 1969 LeMans winning Gulf Ford GT 40 is scheduled to arrive here at TMC by the weekend. We are processing orders today and will hopefully begin shipping on Thursday.
JUST IN: The 1/43 scale 3 car 1982 LeMans Porsche 1-2-3 sets are here - minus the Rothmans markings that were originally promised. In stock now for $124.95 plus shipping. More photos by the weekend.
8/10/2004 UPDATE: The Fangio Mercedes W196 Streamliner is in. All pre-orders
ship this week. A few cars remain. Stunning. Check out the full
photo set on the New Die Cast page.
8/5/2004 UPDATE: The HIGHLY anticipated Juan Manuel Fangio 1955 Italian Grand Prix version of CMC's breathtaking (really!) Mercedes Benz W196 Streamliner is expected to arrive at TMC in the next few days. Less than a dozen of these pieces are not spoken for, so dial recklessly (800.722.8630 or 630.515.1440) or use the SECURE ORDER FORM to place your order as soon as possible. $199.95 plus shipping.
Remember, we are CLOSED this Saturday. See
you at the Road America Champ Car race!
8/4/2004 UPDATE: Some great new books have been released in the past few weeks and more new arrivals are expected through August. The above titles are in stock (but in limited quantities) now: 'Jim Clark and Hist Most Successful Lotus' by Eoin Young tracks the racing career of Lotus 25 Chassis R4, in which Jim Clark won 7 of the 10 Grands Prix held in 1963 to clinch his first World Championship. Looks like a fascinating read (advance copies $39.95, September delivery $34.95). 'Scarlet Passion' by Anthony Pritchard is the first of two new books this summer that profile the sexy Ferrari sports prototypes and competition sports cars of the 60's and early 70's (advance copies $64.95, September delivery $59.95). One of the best photo books we've ever seen is 'Motor Racing - The Golden Age' by John Tennant. It features nearly 400 pages of powerful black and white images (most rarely seen anywhere) that cover all aspects of the sport from 1900 to 1970 ($59.95). Spectacular!
In addition to their broad range of high quality models of racing cars, Minichamps produces a fabulous assortment of military and civilian (road) cars in a variety of scales.We are a racing business, but some of their other stuff is just too cool to pass up. Some of the year's best 'unique' scale models have just been released by Minichamps. You can check out full photo sets on our New Die Cast page.
8/3/2004 UPDATE: Back from a (too) short vacation in the Rockies. We'll update you on a few new things before we leave for the Champ Car race at Elkhart Lake this weekend. In the mean time, there may be a problem with our Secure Order Form. If you have sent an order in the past couple of days but have not recieved a reply from us, please contact us again. Our web hosting firm has informed us that a spammer has clogged things up a bit the past day or two and I want to make sure we have received all of the important stuff.
The 1/18 scale 2004 IRL cars are in stock. Check out the lineup here.
