For you big-fender fans out there, I have done a solid revamping of the Late 1970's Group 5 page I finally found some decent images of the old Quartzo BMW 320i Group 5 models. However, the real trick was doing the research, as much of what is out there is completely wrong.

Fixing up the 1989 Le Mans section of the 1986-1990 Le Mans page on this fine, drunken Thanksgiving. Which begs the question, "Why didn't the fucking pilgrims plan their journey so as to land in America in the early summer?" Then they could have spent the summer building shelter and hunting deer, and by the time winter came along they would have been fairly established. Instead, they showed up in late November, which is the absolute shittiest time of year... I'm just sayin'...

More progess, but yet still far to go on the 1986-1994 Le Mans Section. I can't believe I split it at 1994, as the 1991-1993 3.5 litre 'Atmos' era is such a more logical grouping.

Finally got around to updating the 1986-1994 Le Mans Section. There are a lot of missing items, but I have the tables completely updated to the new system.

I came across this slice of brilliance from Rio Models (#4229) a while back. And if I do say, this may be the most perfect object in the entire universe. How awesome is a model that honors a somewhat disturbed holy man. Pio of Pietrelcina was famous for his expression of stigmata, and had a host of other truly odd behaviors like being able to spontaneously smell of flowers. He was also accused of fucking in the confessional, fraud, and pretty much making up the whole bleeding hands thing.

A rock star without the music... definitely worthy of a diecast car...

In less interesting news, the real challenge of the night is to fix up the 1970's FIA Section.

Teensy update to the 1973 Le Mans Section.

More updates to the 1968 part of the 1966-1969 FIA Championship Section. And also I redid the 2005 portion of the American Le Mans Series page.

I have both updated and split the 1966-1971 FIA Championship Sections, and have re-established my "contact" page. Let's see what you have to say...

I am cleaning up my 1966 and 1967 sections, and came up with a Ferrari 330 P3/412P page. The next effort is to update the race-centered pages with these entries.

Well how totally gangsta was Petit Le Mans this year? Audi and Pugeout finish 4 seconds apart after ten hours...what more do you want?

Ten years ago the first Petit Le Mans was run, and we've been dealing with the ridiculous split ever since. Let's reflect upon the state of racing in the United States, a decade later...

Call me a fag or whatever, but I do NOT want to watch ugly cars race. Sorry.

As far as models go, I hope Spark does the Lola test version. The BP colors on the black body is sick.

Anyway, I am doing some fill-in work over in the 90's IMSA section. I have some updates to the pre-split 1994-1997 page in honor of the Kyosho Nissan winners...

A brand-new Gulf Diecast page is now available...

I went to Mosport for the ALMS this weekend, and it was twelve kinds of awesome. The only bummer was the insane prices for diecast cars. The new list seems to be $55 for everything, so I left empty handed.

I have the 1000km Nurburgring LMS race streaming on the other terminal, and am passing the boredom... So some cleaned-up versions of the old pages are now avalable in the Reviews section.

I am pissed.

Why in the hell are these Spark Models B-K motorsports Mazda Lolas from the ALMS not available in the US? (The bottom two cars) Really, this is where these cars actually race, and you'd think we would be able to buy models from our "own" series. I blame Spark, the distributors, the team and the ALMS for this insult...

I am developing a whole new style update to have the pages blend better with the frames. I redid the Can-Am page as a test.

The links on the "Reviews" page are now working

Here is a timeline of the FIA Classes from 1966 to 1981. The interesting part is the evolution of the term Group 5. In 1966, it was a touring car designation used for highly modified cars. It then refered to the "sportscars" of the classic Porsche 917/Ferrari 512 era of 1970-1971.

In 1972, Group 5 was for the 3-litre prototypes that had been in Group 6. Finally, in 1976 the final Group 5 designation was for the sihlouette formula cars like the Porsche 935.

The links on the "Reviews" page are now working

Well I have the new Ebbro Porsche 917 from Le Mans 1969, and in honor of the new purchase I redid the late 60's Le Mans page

Welcome to 2007. I'm going to do a major update in the next few weeks. The links from this new site will re-appear as the pages are updated. If you want to hit the old site, go to http://www.diecastsportscar.com/index_old.html.

I once owned a Brumm Ferrari 512M, and sold it as it was truly awful. But along comes this item. They are advertising it as a "special" model, and I wonder if the quality is any better than their normal products. I really like the livery, it has as great 70's West Germany feel.

As if the Minichamps, Brumm, Solido, Auto Art and Minichamps (again) versions of the 1970 Porsche 917K LM winner were not enough, IXO has started pre-production of their units, as evidenced by this model's eBay appearance. The tell-tale "mint without box" means they are probably aiming for a fall release of the proper model. This also shows that IXO is moving in on the Porsche market again, which they seemed to have abandoned when the company changed hands. As far as this model goes, I'd have to see it in person before "upgrading" my collection. I would guess it is far better than the Brumm, and may even have better detailing than the Minichamps. If anything, the decals on this line may end up being more accurate, as the level of historical research seems to be improving industry-wide.

Give me your opinion at: webmaster@diecastsportscar.com

Ebbro is showing their new Porsche 908/2, which in both the Targa Florio 1969 winner and Japan GP versions. While I applaud the effort, I question their marketing stretegy a bit. The Targa winner is probably the most desireable variation possible, and it would have seemed wiser to issue a different model for the "mould launch" and then delay the "must-have" version for a few months.

Anyway, the real payoff will be when someone does a side-by-side with the old BEST version. I'm sure the wheels and engine detail will be a huge leap forward.

Enough emo crap. I've started compiling a Nissan Prototype page. Let me know if you have a list of the various IXO, Ebbro, and Q-model units out there so I can save time cross-referencing. Contact me at webmaster@diecastsportscar.com

To really understand me, you have to realize I currently have an entire room of my house dedicated to Gran Turismo 4. I have the excellent Logitec wheel, and the purpose-designed racing seat by Playseats. Now this gives me an actual feeling (at least in a relative sense) of the cars that I am driving. Recently I experienced the (virtual) thrill of blasting a Nissan Group C car down a chicane-less Mulsanne straight, and was amazed at the incredible braking power, not to mention the suprizing bumpiness of the course.

This was all well and good until I went on to the next race section, where I was to enter a 427 Shelby Cobra. Now like you, I have read what a legendary car this is countless times, and how it beat Ferrari, and how cool these guys looked in their team jackets, etc... Anyway, it turns out that this car actually drives like shit, and has such undersized brakes that most of the 7-litre man-muscle is wasted while you stand on the brake pedal and pray for the damn thing to actually make it through the braking zone. The front-engine layout also contributes to the truck-like handling, and it is no wonder the Shelby team embraced the GT40 design.

So it goes without saying that because of a video game, I will no longer dream of having a Shelby kit-car in my outer garage. And while the odds of me actually owning even a crappy Cobra replica were remote at best, it is more than a little bit sad that I am no longer attracted to them...

Wonders never cease. I do a full update to the 1967 Le Mans Page, and not ten minutes later I learn that Bizzarre are going to do a Mirage M1.

In keeping with the idea of marque-themed pages, there is now a Ferrari 330P4 Prototype Page.