Table of contents for Winter 2021 in Die Cast X

1970 was a big year for big-engine, big-money muscle cars, and Detroit’s Big Three were locked in a power struggle. Halo models like the Hemi and Six Pack Mopars, the GTO Judge, Ford’s Bosses and Cobra Jets, and Chevy’s new big brute the SS 454 fought for bragging rights on the streets, at drag strips, and, in the allimportant dealer showrooms. High horsepower was key, but increasingly the battle was as much about image as timeslips. Panache mattered at least as much as performance, so graphics got bolder, equipment lists got longer, and sticker prices skyrocketed as fast as horsepower ratings! That and increasingly hefty surcharges from insurance companies were pricing many customers right out of the muscle car game. Affordable alternatives were sorely needed. One of the first to…

No motorsport has undergone a more rapid or radical transformation than has international rally competition. Between the late 1960s and the late 1990s, the sport was upended numerous times, with profound technical and organizational changes taking place every few years, creating an exciting, often volatile, sometimes downright dangerous competition environment. Through it all, some of the most memorable, exotic, and capable racing cars of the last half-century were battletested across asphalt, dirt, and snow—and their legends established. Let’s take a look at how far the sport has come, and check out some of the fascinating machines that grew out of it and a few of the exciting diecast collectibles inspired by them. CLASSIC ERA: PRE-1970 Rallying was among the earliest forms of racing; marquee events like the world-famous Monte Carlo…

The tale of Audi’s Quattro rally cars is one of breaking stereotypes, blazing trails, embracing innovation over tradition, and ultimately, revolutionizing the sport. The 1985 Sanremo Rally winner shown here is the final chapter in that tale. The story begins more than four years earlier, in 1981. Audi Sport brought a brand new factory race effort featuring its Quattro all-wheel-drive (AWD) system to compete for the World Rally Championship (WRC). The conventional wisdom of the day said that AWD systems were too heavy and too fragile to use in rally racing, but the team had run a development program in some regional events the year before and now they were ready for the big time. Audi scored its first win in just the second race of the season—in icy Sweden…

Here in Kit Car Corner, we focus on scale models that you build yourself, so often that involves kits that are smaller scale and plastic—two things this WW II Jeep replica by Eaglemoss Die-Cast Club definitely are not! Oh, it is a kit, and you do build it yourself, but the major structures are fashioned predominantly out of diecast metal and it measures an extraordinary 29.5 inches long (with the included trailer.) But the size is only the beginning of the appeal. A model this sophisticated is built in installments, and among the things that make it so engaging is all the extra material you get along with the sequential kits. As you build you are learning about the background history and the technical breakdown of the vehicle. And there’s…

A Silver Screen Giant in Giant Scale Eaglemoss Die-Cast Club Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 1:8 scale | $950 (est) The Aston Martin DB5 that first appeared in the third installment of the James Bond franchise has been touted as the most famous car in the world. Certainly, it is the most famous movie car, and it has returned in various forms to appear in seven more Bond films (including the forthcoming No Time to Die.) But it is the first version, from Goldfinger, that collectors love best—both for its classic British looks and for its brilliant array of gadgets. This 1:8-scale kit-built DB5 from Eaglemoss’s Die-Cast Club has both of those virtues too. Like the Willys-Jeep featured on page 62 the Bond Aston is a build-it-yourself kit that arrives in…

For Ferrari race fans the 1950s were a Golden Age and one of the men most responsible was Aurelio Lampredi. Not because he won races himself; he wasn’t even a driver. He was an engineer; the man tasked with designing an engine that could win in the new Formula One world championship that had been established in 1950. And he did; his 4.5L V12 delivered Ferrari its first-ever F1 win—at the 1951 British Grand Prix. When the F1 engine rules were changed for 1952 and big V12s were outlawed, Lampredi simply carved four cylinders out of one bank of his V12 and carried on. That Lampredi inline-4 powered Alberto Ascari to six wins in the eight F1 races held in 1952—along with Ferrari’s first F1 title, and they repeated in…

What a strange, wonderful time it is to be a muscle car enthusiast. Fifty years ago the height of the muscle car era featured a host of factory offerings with monster motors and outrageous graphics. Various aftermarket tuner shops with names like Tasca, Yenko, and Mr. Norm were packing them with even more performance and wilder styling. Streetcars with 400, even 500 horsepower were not uncommon, and Ford’s Mustang was right there helping lead the way. We were so awash in horsepower that insurance companies felt the need to drop their iron hand, slapping hefty surcharges on the biggest powerhouses just as the first of the fuel crises hit and stringent new emissions regulations strangled performance. Almost overnight the big-power muscle cars were gone. The Mustang was among the few…

I had plans well underway for the big “Bargain Muscle Cars” feature story in this issue (p18) when I saw this lineup for the new Muscle Cars USA 2020 Release 3 from JL. I already knew I would be talking about the Dodge Dart GTS and AMC Rebel Machine, so I figured I’d just plunder those two cars from this set for that story and be all set. But then my conscience kicked in. Both because the other four cars in the set deserve their moment in the sun, and because they are all based on actual cars from the 2019 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show it just makes sense to talk about them together. I've mentioned the MCACN-series cars before so I won’t belabor that again except to…

Throughout most of the 1950s, as America’s economy boomed, the auto industry’s fortunes soared right along with it. Record-setting sales numbers were accompanied by a growing consumer appetite for larger, more stylish, more feature-laden cars that projected prosperity. Domestic manufacturers were happy to ride that wave of success; advances in engine technology and the proliferation of large, powerful V8s meant that performance became a luxury commodity—available to customers who could afford the premium it commanded. But as the decade drew on the economy started to soften. In 1957 car sales slowed as recession loomed; just about the time the ‘58 models started arriving at dealerships, the bottom fell out. Many of those big, extravagant models now sat unclaimed on dealer lots. Execs at the Big Three realized they had been…

Few automotive redesigns have been awaited with as much anticipation—or as much controversy—as the 8th generation Corvette (the C8 in Vette-speak.) Enthusiasts eager to see “America’s sports car” finally be able to take on world-class exotics on even footing heralded the C8’s revolutionary design feature: an engine that has been relocated behind the driver. Purists saw such a move as heresy—abandoning 65 years of American tradition of carrying its thumping V8 in front. Ultimately engineers and marketing strategists chose performance over heritage and swapped places between man and motor, mirroring the mid-engine layout favored by marques like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren. But mimicking greats does not automatically make one great; Chevy still had to execute on the new design philosophy, and at the same time imbue the new car with…

Walter Röhrl was the author of many extraordinary drives, both in rally cars and in other forms of racing. He won his class in his first outing at Le Mans, he won twice in his rookie season racing in Trans-Am in America. He then won in his rookie year in IMSA GTO at Watkins Glen. But his masterful performance on the Arganil stage of the 1980 Portugal Rally set the tone for his career. In only his fourth race for the factory Fiat team, Röhrl was up against his teammate Markku Alén, a veteran with three Portugal wins in the previous five seasons—all for Fiat. Late in the event, the two entered the 26-mile Arganil stage, a hilly stretch full of twists and turns that was notorious for fog and…

The Century may be the nicest car that most Americans have never heard of. Certainly, it is the crowning achievement of Toyota, bringing together technology and build-quality that soars above even the flagship models in its prestige brand Lexus. This car is more than a luxury car; it’s a source of pride not just for Toyota but for Japan as a whole. It’s held in esteem on par with Rolls-Royce in England, and for many of the same reasons. For example, it is the only model in which the Emperor and his family ride. But whereas Rolls is known for its extravagant personalization, the Century emphasizes tradition. It is so steeped in tradition in fact, that even as the Century has surpassed a half-century-old it is only just received its…

Hot Wheels has been having full-size versions of its iconic 1:64 diecast cars made since 1998, and lots of fans have gotten to see them at various car shows and events like the Hot Wheels Legends Tours. But most of those appearances were static displays. About a year ago Hot Wheels decided to give fans a chance to see what it was like to drive the cars in its Garage of Legends by teaming up with MotorTrend’s streaming network to produce a series of episodes highlighting six of the most popular—and outrageous—creations. They enlisted drag racer and race engine builder Nicole Lyons as host—someone not afraid to jump behind the wheel and see what these legends have got. Here’s a peek at some of the cars Lyons drives in season…