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Post by jager on Sept 26, 2023 8:48:54 GMT -5
If you follow Le Mans you’ll probably already know the story of Ford’s back-to-back victory in 1967 with Mk. IV after their famous victory the previous year with the GT40. While the spotlight focused on race winners Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt, in the lead up to the race it was their team mates at Shelby American, Bruce McLaren and Mark Donohue, who set the fastest time in qualifying. While the car wore the same yellow livery as the Mk. IV that won the Sebring 12 Hours, this was an all new chassis constructed specifically for Le Mans. On race day, McLaren and Donohue were unable to hold onto the lead and slipped to 3rd after an hour of racing, and were running 4th after the second hour. However, they clawed their way back to 2nd position after five hours, and largely held that position until the end of the 10th hour, when Ford held the first three positions. Unfortunately in the 12th hour, McLaren picked up a puncture going through debris, and then lost more time with clutch issues. To top it off, the rear engine cover flew off as the No. 2 Ford raced down the Mulsanne where it was clocked at 330km/h and another 45 minutes were lost retrieving and refitting it. When it re-emerged from the pits in 6th position, much of the car was covered in copious amounts of duct tape.  Once the problems were resolved, the #2 Ford took 5th position in the 14th hour following the retirement of the #7 Chaparral. Four hours later, the #2 Ford moved up to 4th position after the retirement of the #19 Ferrari 330 P4, holding that position all the way to the end of the race, taking the chequered flag 29 laps behind the leader.   Car : 1967 #2 Ford Mk. IVTeam : Shelby-American Inc. Drivers : Bruce McLaren (US)/ Mark Donohue (USA) Qualifying : 1st Result : 4th Model : Spark (S4542) |
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Post by reeft1 on Sept 26, 2023 10:23:03 GMT -5
Looks fab
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Post by Tom on Sept 26, 2023 10:27:59 GMT -5
I love the shape and livery but sometimes I wish Spark opted for something besides the 'as started' version. A duct-taped car with race dirt would be fantastic.
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Post by 105epaul on Sept 26, 2023 11:22:50 GMT -5
I will echo Tom, the duct tape (which fixes everything) version would be great. They did the Sunoco Lola T70 Mk3b that won the 1969 Daytona 24H in before damage and after damage duct tape repaired version so it's not beyond them. Nice model, would own.
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oldirish33
Member
"All Jaguars run on Guinness!"
Posts: 3,331
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Post by oldirish33 on Sept 26, 2023 14:31:38 GMT -5
I have been told by a couple of retailers I know well, "as raced" versions of cars don't usually sell well (at Least in the US) and there are not enough of us that like them to warrant making them more available on general releases. A pity, I too think the dirty duct taped version would be a nice compliment in a collection. Nice add!
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Post by Alfaholic on Sept 26, 2023 23:42:12 GMT -5
Great work from Spark as usual - I do like the different wheel spinners on each side.
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Post by jager on Sept 27, 2023 5:45:45 GMT -5
Truth be told its not that different to my old IXO version, though a Spark case takes up only half the room of an IXO case, so that's my logic and I'm sticking to it! I love the shape and livery but sometimes I wish Spark opted for something besides the 'as started' version. A duct-taped car with race dirt would be fantastic. I will echo Tom, the duct tape (which fixes everything) version would be great. They did the Sunoco Lola T70 Mk3b that won the 1969 Daytona 24H in before damage and after damage duct tape repaired version so it's not beyond them. Nice model, would own. I have been told by a couple of retailers I know well, "as raced" versions of cars don't usually sell well (at Least in the US) and there are not enough of us that like them to warrant making them more available on general releases. A pity, I too think the dirty duct taped version would be a nice compliment in a collection. Nice add! What would have been nice is what Cartima did several years ago with the 1983 'Marlboro' Porsche 956 and issued both the startline version and damaged/dirty finishline version side by side.
That said, while the two versions are cool, I probably display the clean startline version the most.
Great work from Spark as usual - I do like the different wheel spinners on each side. Even IXO did that as well Martin, but it is still a cool feature.
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Post by jager on Sept 28, 2023 6:52:05 GMT -5
One of my (many) Le Mans sub-themes is art cars and so this Porsche 911 from Absolute Racing that appeared at the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans caught my eye. Christened “The #Underducks”, the #18 Porsche 911 RSR-19, driven by Andrew Haryanto, Marco Seefried and Alessio Picariello featured a black-and-bronze colour scheme that depicted various cultures and ethnicities from around the globe as rubber ducks. The car also carried a ‘One World One Race’ message, which the team said ‘sends a powerful message in support of those fighting against discrimination across the world’. It was a light and amusing way of introducing an important message and was designed to the specification of team driver Andrew Haryanto. The #18 Porsche qualified 13th in class and 51st overall for the start of the race. However their race was full of drama right from the beginning with a puncture, two visits to the gravel and a spin that dropped them to second last place at the end of the 2nd hour and kept them there for the next hour.  Undeterred, the team fought back and Picariello eventually managed to recover one lap from the class leaders in the night. He climbed through the field as high as eighth place in class, but contact with another car again sent the 'Underducks' to the back of the field. By three quarter distance, the ‘Underducks’ Porsche was running 38th overall and 9th in class. With a faultless run in the final six hours, they moved up to 34th overall and 7th in class by the chequered flag, 7 laps behind the class leader.   Car : 2021 #18 Porsche 911 (991) RSR
Team : Absolute Racing
Drivers : Andrew Haryanto (IDN)/ Alessio Picariello (BEL)/ Marco Seefried (D)
Qualifying : 51st
Result : 34th (7th in GTE Am)
Model : Spark (S8265)
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Post by Tom on Sept 28, 2023 6:55:04 GMT -5
Fantastic model, very striking livery!
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Post by DeadCanDanceR on Sept 28, 2023 9:56:52 GMT -5
Interesting looking livery!  |
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Post by 105epaul on Sept 28, 2023 11:15:41 GMT -5
I like the livery, it conveys an important message in an amusing way. Glad that they finished after an eventful race.
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oldirish33
Member
"All Jaguars run on Guinness!"
Posts: 3,331
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Post by oldirish33 on Sept 28, 2023 18:24:34 GMT -5
Hmm...I may need to get one of those for the ducks. Some of which look like similar to our university mascot. 😁 Nice add!  |
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Post by Alfaholic on Sept 28, 2023 18:29:16 GMT -5
I must admit that this is a car that had slipped from my memory totally, thanks for bringing it back.
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Post by jager on Oct 1, 2023 3:27:02 GMT -5
Fantastic model, very striking livery! It's a nice addition to the art car collection Tom. Interesting looking livery! Truth be told its a bit hard to make out the livery on the model Julio, but if you've seen pictures of the 1:1 then it makes more sense. I like the livery, it conveys an important message in an amusing way. Glad that they finished after an eventful race. Yes, its quite and interesting and subtle reminder of an important issue Paul. Hmm...I may need to get one of those for the ducks. Some of which look like similar to our university mascot. 😁 Nice add! View AttachmentI don't think any of the ducks were green Jerry, but you could always go over them with a green market pen! I must admit that this is a car that had slipped from my memory totally, thanks for bringing it back. Despite the interesting livery I don't recall this car getting much TV coverage, probably because it was running fairly low in the order for the first three-quarters of the race. But one of the nice things about collecting these models is that it does bring back memories of the race.
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Post by jager on Oct 1, 2023 6:42:26 GMT -5
Over the years, many of us have sold off model, only to buy them back again some-time later. And so it was with this Spark Porsche 935, a car I had for several years that I sold off around 2017 in a vain attempt to slightly downsize my collection, only to buy it back again recently when I saw one offered locally for much less than than the cost of a new Spark. Preston Henn is relatively well known around this forum, especially with American collectors, and I’ve featured his cars several times on the forum myself. Henn was the American entrepreneur who turned his drive-in theatre into a giant flea market that became one of Florida’s most popular tourist attractions. He eventually went on to own three drive-in theaters in Florida. Through extravagant promotion and shrewd business practices, Henn profited handsomely from these ventures and it enabled him to indulge in a love for exotic cars, especially Ferraris. In 1979, at the age of 48, Henn made his debut at Le Mans in a NART entered Ferrari 512 BB LM, but it was an early retirement after an accident after completing only 54 laps. He was back at Le Mans the following year in another Ferrari 512 BB LM entered by Luigi Chinetti, but this time he didn’t even get to start the race after the engine blew in practice. In 1981, Henn switched his alliance from Ferrari to Porsche, buying this 935 K3. This was a well proven chassis that had won the 12 Hours of Sebring and 5 Hours of Riverside in 1980. Henn took over the chassis for the 1981 6 Hours of Silverstone but the car failed to finish due to an accident. For the 1981 Le Mans, Henn dropped his Silverstone co-driver Adrian Yates-Smith and replaced him with Michael Chandler and Marcel Mignot. They took pole position in the IMSA Class, putting them 17th overall on the grid.  Unfortunately changing from Ferrari to Porsche didn’t change Henn's bad luck at Le Mans. Problems in the first hour saw them fall to a lowly 29th position, but they fought back and had risen to 12th position by the end of the 3rd hour. That was as good as it got, and by the end of the next hour the #41 Porsche was down in 38th position, and after dropping two more place the next hour, by the end of the sixth hour it had retired with a broken crankshaft pulley. Henn went on to make five starts at Le Mans, his best result being 10th place in 1983 driving a Porsche 956 with Claude Ballot-Lena and Jean-Louis Schlesser. He also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1983 along with co-drivers A. J. Foyt, Bob Wollek, and Claude Ballot-Lena in another Porsche 935. After a long colourful life, Preston Henn passed away on 30 April 2017 at the age of 86.   Car : 1981 #41 Porsche 935 K3Team : Preston Henn Racing Drivers : Preston Henn (USA)/ Michael Chandler (USA)/ Marcel Mignot (F) Qualifying : 17th Result : 49th (DNF – Crankshaft pulley) Model : Spark (S2061) |
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