New at Old Irish Racing

Just for grins, I looked at the new releases in 1/43 at Replicarz the past two weeks.  I realize that there are many factors at play (global shipping and distribution/Chinese New Year, etc.), which can impact the speed at which new models are released, but here is what I found and gives one some pause when you realize the number, the cost and other things like economic reality for most of us, you scratch your head.  Feels like trying to drink out of a fire hose! 

Last week they received 6 new Looksmart models, 29 Spark and 3 TSM.  Looking at these new releases for models I would want in my collection to upgrade or add, I would have liked four Looksmarts (all Ferrari 275 and 330P's from Sebring 1965) and six Sparks.  The bill with my discount would have been $788 plus shipping, so easily over $800 USD.  This does not include models which were sold out prior to arrival, so likely the bill would have been higher and if I preordered (which I do), bamm!  

The week before there were 2 new Looksmart models, 50 Sparks and 8 TSM.  Of this batch of new releases, I would have claimed fourteen of those Sparks and three of the TSM's for a cost of just under $1300 USD, not including shipping.  Yikes!  Again, if I preordered those models, with no control over when they arrive and I have to pay, it would have been a nasty unexpected hit to the credit card.

This begs the question, when so many new models are announced, how do you know how many to preorder to avoid getting hit with the cost all at once; and if you don't, risk not getting ones you really, really want?  Perhaps this would be a good general discussion topic?  Admins?

If you think its hard keeping up as a collector, imagine how the retailers feel. They must dread the weekly phone calls from their freight forwarders saying "we have another shipment of models for you at the wharf". 60 different models, and average of 12 of each @ $50 = $36,000 per shipment.

That is certainly rare and different! Like you I prefer the regular car, but this is very interesting. I imagine it has more headroom in the rear and visibility is better than the coupé.

I also like it and I think Spark chose the best color for it.

I would guess there is some additional headroom Tom, but I have never thought of the 356 coupe as anything more than a two-seater with occasional rear seats for small children.  I like that its different and I'm not so sure I don't like the notchback coupes just a little bit more than the standard ones.  I would take either in a heartbeat!   

Thanks Paul join the club!  

Three votes in favor, four including mine.  I would have preferred a lighter color or even two tone which many seemed to be.  Charcoal gray is a good one though.

Well Martin, considering its roots, the VW styling cues are hereditary.     I don't think there's any argument that the 911 was a much better looking car, as well as mechanically.  However, without the success of the 356 and its variants the 911 would have remained a vision in Ferry Porsches head.    Its also interesting to note that the 356 was popular enough that it remained in production for a time after the 911 was introduced.

Rise of a Phoenix - Sometimes, the history of an old race car can be as interesting (and intriguing) as its history when it was being actively raced while new. Such is the case of Ford GT40 Chassis #GT40P1005. It started out life as a “factory” entry at Le Mans in 1965, had moderate success afterwards in private hands and later rose like a Phoenix from the ashes. Well sort of. Spark has recently reissued this original Bizarre issue of the car entered by Scuderia Filipinetti at Le Mans in 1965.

Ford GT40 - Le Mans 1965 - Spark

Le Mans was a by invitation event and in 1965, Ford only had two entry invites, which it used for its new GT40 MkII prototypes. Ford of France had a third entry, but Ford wanted six GT40s in the race to help its odds at winning. Carroll Shelby had taken over the GT40 program and he pressed John Wyer into service to recruit additional Le Mans entries. One entry was secured by Scuderia Filipinetti agreeing to enter a new GT40 under their banner. Preparation and maintenance of the car was carried out by Shelby and the car had Shelby driver Ronnie Bucknum teamed with Filipinetti driver Herbert Muller. Unfortunately, their race lasted less than three hours as the head gaskets on their new 5.3L engine blew. A result of Ford politics and their unwillingness to listen that the head bolts they were using were defective. Most of the Ford cars retired with this problem.





After Le Mans, Chassis #1005 was sold to Terry Drury who campaigned it in the UK with moderate success before passing it along to others that also raced it and it eventually was used as a road car in the UK for a few years. It was then sold to American Indy car racer Swede Savage (a tragic story in itself). Savage’s father George had a small car collection and it was at the family business in Ohio in 1974 that the car caught fire while trying to be started; the resulting fire destroyed the car, building and other cars in the Savage collection. The remains of the GT40 were then bulldozed into the property behind where the building stood. Several years later in 2002, after both Swede and George had passed on, the family had an auction of their possessions and told an auction worker they could have whatever was left over. This is where the tale takes a strange turn.




Apparently unbeknownst to the family, the worker had discovered the part buried remains of #1005. He collected what was left of the car (accounts of how much was left vary), but apparently did recover the all-important chassis plate. He then sold the chassis plate for $50K to a UK collector who had converted a Safir replica GT40 into a 1965 Le Mans Filipinetti clone. The Savage family got wind of the sale and claimed the GT40 was not part of the auction and the finder had no rights to it. They sued and a court agreed. The UK buyer who had already been campaigning the GT40 as Chassis #1005 in turn had to fork over another $500K in 2011 to the Savage family to keep the chassis plate. Such was the appreciation of the value of GT40s, or parts thereof, since its charred remains were interred in the Ohio dirt almost forty years earlier.




The Scuderia Filipinetti GT40's at Le Mans 1965-67:  Ch. #1005, 1965; Ch. #1042, 1967 & Ch. #1040, 1966

My dream job would be to be a car historian so I love the back story to this one, the model ain't half bad either.