Tecnomodel has just announced a quartet of 1:18 replicas of the Lotus 38 that was campaigned in the Indianapolis 500 in 1965 and 1966. Obviously, this selection includes Jim Clark’s 1965 race-winning machine.

Tecnomodel has announced the first ever 1:18 replica of one of the great Jim Clark’s racing cars. It is the Lotus 30 sportscar racer. Much like Lotus’s Formula One cars, the 30 was renowned for its speed, its technical ingenuity; and unfortunately also its fragility. Clark raced the 30 on several occasions, and could be counted on to either see the chequered flag first, or not to see it at all.

An exciting new arrival from Minichamps is a 1:18 replica of Lando Norris’s McLaren MCL35 from the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix. This was the race in which the youngster scored his first ever Formula One podium. The 2020 Austrian GP marked the first race of Norris’s sophomore F1 season, with the Englishman putting in an outstanding performance, especially in the latter stages of the event.

Tecnomodel recently announced no less than six different versions of the 1879 Lotus 79. And we wouldn’t be surprised if the most popular subject amongst collectors turns out not to be a race car, but a test car. That’s because it’s not just any old test car, but the very first Formula One machine that 1992 Formula One world champion Nigel Mansell ever drove, in a test at Paul Ricard. The Englishman would then make a couple of race starts for the team in 1980, before driving for it full-time from the following year.

Tecnomodel recently announced a quartet of 1:18 replicas of the 1959 Aston Martin DBR4, which was the marque’s first ever Formula One car. It was largely based on the DB3S, borrowing the sportscar racer’s basic chassis and engine layout.

Five years ago, Nicky Hayden tragically lost his life when he was struck by a car whilst training on his bicycle in Italy. The ‘Kentucky Kid’ was only 35 years old. Shortly after his death, Minichamps announced this 1:12 ‘tribute set’, and half a decade later it has finally produced it.

As 2022 drew to a close, two of Spark’s 1:12 replicas of Max Verstappen’s 2021 Red Bull RB16B became available from stock.

Tecnomodel has just confirmed that it will be producing 1:43 replicas of the first ever Ferraris to have competed in the Formula One world championship! Everyone knows that the first world championship grand prix was held at Silverstone in 1950. But, a lesser-known fact is that what would become the legendary Ferrari team did not join the series until the second round of the year, at Monaco.

We are now down to our last 20 examples of Spark’s 1:43 ‘special’ commemorating Max Verstappen winning last year’s Formula One world championship, in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 2021 Formula One world championship was a tight, year-long battle between Red Bull’s Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The pendulum swung back and forth between them until they entered the final grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi level on points. For most of the race it looked like Hamilton was going to prevail, but then came ‘that’ Safety Car call and subsequent sensational final lap shootout that would see Max secure his first world title.

Tecnomodel has just announced that it will be replicating in 1:18 scale one of the most graceful Formula One cars of all time, the 1974 Brabham BT44. Designed by Gordon Murray, the BT44 was a relatively simple yet aerodynamically clean design. Carlos Reutemann won three grands prix with the car during the 1974 season, although a mere two further points finishes saw him end the campaign sixth in the drivers’ championship.

This recent IXO 1:18 release is specifically Jimmy McRae’s Opel Manta 400 from the 1985 RAC Rally, in which the Scot finished sixth. But this AC Delco-backed machine made a much bigger impact with rally fans for its role in the British Rally Championship that year, in which McRae engaged in a titanic title fight with the similar (Andrews Heat For Hire sponsored) machine of Russell Brookes.

IXO’s latest shipment contained its trio of 1:18 replicas of the 1982 Opel Ascona 400, as driven by Walter Rohrl, Henri Toivonen and Jimmy McRae. Rohrl became the first repeat winner of the World Rally Championship in 1982, adding a second title to the one that he secured with Fiat in 1980. The German took victory on the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally and the gruelling Ivory Coast event, with six further podiums allowing him to take the crown by 12 points from Audi’s Michele Mouton.

The Ferrari 250 GT ‘Breadvan’ may have been a one-off, but it had quite a varied racing career, taking part in several different events. Tecnomodel has just announced 1:43 replicas of half a dozen guises of the car. Five of them are from 1962, the year that Ferrari 250 GT SWB chassis #2819 GT was transformed into one of the most recognisable designs in sportscar racing history. The black and red ‘T’ car was campaigned in the Le Mans 24 Hours test day, while the all-red #16 rendition was crewed by Carlo Mario Abate and Colin Davis in the race itself. A gearbox failure put them out.

Tecnomodel announced a raft of new 1:43 Formula One subjects from the 1950s the other day, including the 1951 championship-winning Alfa Romeo 159 ‘Alfetta’. 1951 was only the second season of the Formula One world championship, and saw Juan Manuel Fangio secure the first of his five titles. The Argentinian fended off the strong Ferrari challenge of Alberto Ascari and Jose Frolian Gonzalez to wrap up the championship with victory at the final race of the year in Spain.

The other day, Tecnomodel announced several 1:18 replicas of the iconic Lotus 72 Formula One car. The headline subjects have to be Emerson Fittipaldi’s JPS-liveried cars from his first world championship winning year of 1972. These are his Brands Hatch British Grand Prix winner, (the #8 machine), and the #6 version that he drove when he secured the title with another victory, (his fifth of the season), at Monza.

Minichamps recently released one of its more intriguing subjects; a 1:18 replica of the BMW 2500 New Horizon project, which had a livery in the style of BMW’s famous ‘Art Cars’. Indeed, the car was given its distinctive paint job by famed BMW ‘Art Car’ artist Walter Mauer.

The DBS Superleggera was unveiled as Aston Martin’s flagship grand tourer in 2018, replacing the Vanquish. The front of the car featured a new bumper with a large centre grille for improved engine cooling, while two air extractors at the sides performed the same function with the brakes.

After first announcing this model back in 2016, it has now finally appeared on one of Spark’s upcoming release schedules! The subject is Jim Clark’s 1967 Dutch Grand Prix winning Lotus 49. This race marked the debut for the 49, and also the first time that Clark had ever driven it.

We recently received, at long last, CMC’s first new 1:18 model in about three years! It is the beautiful 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C. Ferrari launched the 275 GTB/C in 1966. It used a completely new chassis, designed by Mauro Forghieri, which was both lighter and stronger than the standard 275 chassis. A total of 12 examples were built, each receiving rather voluptuous bodywork that was characteristic of Pininfarina’s designs at the time.

One of the white-hot (see what we did there!) new Spark 1:18 replicas that recently arrived with us is Max Verstappen’s one-off ‘Honda tribute’ Red Bull from the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix.