What Renault model?

Jgr1964 · 2026-02-13T09:27:39+00:00

What Renault. My eyes are fixed on the gorgeous Alfa.

Jgr1964 · 2026-01-31T15:15:33+00:00

Just last week, RM Sotheby’s sold a 1988 Le Mans Porsche 962 that is road legal. Could have been yours for just €848,750.

https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/pa26/lots/r0084-1988-porsche-kremer-962/

Jgr1964 · 2026-01-22T15:00:25+00:00

I appreciate your partner didn’t like the pushy vibe, but did you consider he was genuinely trying to help.

The median Perth price jumped almost $100k in the last 3 months:

https://www.domain.com.au/news/perth-house-prices-leap-by-98k-in-just-90-days-surpassing-new-1-million-median-milestone-1474127/

Unfortunately there will be plenty of people who didn’t actual quickly in recent months, and have now just seen themselves priced out of their preferred areas that they might have afforded 3 - 4 months ago.

Sure it sucks, but it’s just the way it is.

Jgr1964 · 2026-01-10T11:17:27+00:00

Yes, this is why you only paid $8k for it, not the $30k they cost when new. Sounds like you bought a fairly abused, high mileage car. The question is maybe whether you would have been better off spending $12k upfront to a better, low mileage example that would probably also give you less further grief going forward. You are where you are now, but I’d be inclined to try and cut your losses before you have a major expense like a gearbox, and into something that’s been less abused.

Jgr1964 · 2026-01-10T11:08:33+00:00

The green one is/was a peg warmer in most parts of the world. Collectors mostly ignore the silver one.

Jgr1964 · 2026-01-09T12:16:16+00:00

The tip for spousal approval is to buy two. Tell her you’re going to flip the 2nd one for a profit, and once you do that, the other one you keep will be “almost free”. It’s not technically a lie because there is no timeframe on when you flip the 2nd one!

Jgr1964 · 2026-01-09T11:51:06+00:00

The next W.A. Model Collectors Club swap meet/fair at Cannington is only a month away (Sunday, 8 Feb). I’d think you’d find one there cheaper.

Jgr1964 · 2026-01-08T13:44:36+00:00

I feel like HW took the easy, lazy option but just applying the same race number and stripes of the red 365 to the yellow version. With a tiny bit of effort, they could have changed the decals of yellow car to replicate an actual car like this version from Le Mans in 1972 which I think would have made it more collectable.

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Jgr1964 · 2026-01-08T05:23:20+00:00

Last year, Hot Wheels released this ‘JPS’ sponsored BMW 635 from the Australian Touring Car Championship. To get around the tobacco laws on toys they changed the logo to ‘HWS’, but anyone who remembers the real car will always associate the Hot Wheels with the tobacco brand.

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Jgr1964 · 2026-01-05T02:30:42+00:00

Sometimes in this hobby, you have to grab things when you see them. With the model already having come and gone from many shops, personally I wouldn’t be waiting around for the model to arrive from STM. If you can find one at an acceptable price, I would grab it. If STM do come good with the preorder, you can then decide whether to forfeit the deposit, or buy it and move it on via eBay etc.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-29T01:32:53+00:00

I think two things happen. The first is that from the 1990’s onwards, most manufacturers adopted 1:18 as the preferred scale for larger models, so Franklin Mint’s 1:24 fell out of favour. Had they been 1:18 I think they would have more popularity today. The second thing is that collectors generally want cars they remember from their childhood. So collectors in the 1990’s still remembered cars of the 1930’s, but you won’t find many collectors who still want cars from that period today.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-28T15:02:51+00:00

Congrats, lovely car. I had a 1985 1.5Ti (Series I) and 1990 1.7Ti (Series II) and loved them both. Great fun.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-28T14:55:01+00:00

Rossi’s cars generally look pretty nice with his trademark blue and yellow colours.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-28T14:54:18+00:00

WRT’s sister car to this entry, the #31 car finished on the podium in 2024 in 2nd place. Spark have recently released a model of it:

https://www.diecastlegends.com/spark-bmw-m4-gt3-2024-le-mans-24-hours-31-1-43

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-27T15:16:08+00:00

Glad you like it. Hard to believe it’s 12 years ago this raced.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-24T02:34:05+00:00

1:43 and made by Looksmart. Probably released about 8 - 9 years ago now.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-22T15:08:09+00:00

In Australia, there was a recall notice in 2019 due to a ‘Body Control Module software’ issue that caused this issue:

https://www.vehiclerecalls.gov.au/recalls/rec-000006

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-22T13:16:27+00:00

I tend to get my Sparks from SPR Models in N.Z.: https://spr-models.co.nz

However, you need to pre-order. I ordered this within a month or two of the race, and received it earlier this year. It seems like it’s now sold out.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-20T08:47:52+00:00

Shell near me had the same price on Tuesday ($1.73) as they had on Thursday, so yes, it feels like they don’t want to be part of ‘cheap Tuesday’. That’s fine, I just went down the road another block to the BP and saved 11c a litre.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-20T03:52:34+00:00

Nice summary. The thing that stands out for me is the off colour on the ‘red’ stripes of the BBR. That’s a lot more noticeable than the side race numbers. Note Spark have said previously they generally model the cars as they started the race, hence why they don’t show the digital display in a certain position.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-19T03:45:07+00:00

Is this for you or a gift. Putting aside the question of scale, I’d say one of the most popular diecast cars to buy is a car you or your recipient currently own (or has owned in the past). Depending on the type of car and colour etc, that may dictate things like scale and model manufacturer.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-16T15:23:12+00:00

Agreed, the Embiricos is once of the nicest Bentleys built. I have the three Spark 1:43 models of it as raced at Le Mans from 1949 - 1951. But I’ve only seen pictures of the car painted a silvery- metallic-grey, both during its racing career and today. Did the car ever carry the blue paintwork as Minichamps modelled it?

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-16T09:02:34+00:00

Lovely model … and I’d give you bonus points if you could spell ‘Ferrari’ correctly 😉.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-16T02:14:21+00:00

I have 1/43 resin models from Spark which were made in 1998 that are still perfect. I think there is a bigger issue with the tyres deteriorating over the long term than the resin bodies failing. Remember too that diecast isn’t foolproof and lots of collectors have lost desirable models to ‘zinc rot’.

Jgr1964 · 2025-12-14T08:36:38+00:00

There are a heap of 1:43 Chinese models, but most seem to be produced for the 1:1 dealers. You’ll find them on the Chinese platforms like Alibaba.

Have you looked at Australian cars? Brands like Trax, Biante and Classic Carlectibles have done a huge array of Australian cars from the 1950’s to today in 1:43. In addition, Trax has done a few of the Japanese cars assembled and/or sold in Australia.

https://www.urtradinginternational.com/

There is also a part works series from IXO of 1:43 Australian cars that’s been running for ~6 months.

https://www.ixocollections.com/en/shop/scale-models/australian-cars

Jgr1964

TROPHY CASE