Die Cast X Spring 2020

In the weeks leading up to this issue I had been consumed with a mix of anticipation and trepidation about the release of the film Ford v Ferrari. Anticipation, because if ever there was a story that had the ingredients to make the great racing movie, this was the one. Trepidation, because when it comes to racing Hollywood seldom seems to get it right. This time, however, they did! And as I contemplated why this film worked so well, it dawned on me that it wasn’t actually the racing—it was the rivalry. Whether it is dramatized racing on the big screen or real racing on Sunday, the built-in motivations and heightened tension of a good rivalry distills that which is best about motorsports. And just like that I knew the…

Anniversary Tribute to a Le Mans Three-peat GT Spirit 2019 Ford GT Heritage Edition 1:18 | $140 Ford created the current Ford GT for one purpose—to recapture a Le Mans win on the 50th anniversary if the GT40’s original 1966 win. But of course GT40s would repeat in 1967, ‘68, and ’69, so anniversary opportunities abound. For 2019 Ford decided to bring the anniversary celebration to the street with a special heritage paint scheme that patterned after the famous Gulf Racing livery GT40 that won Le Mans in ’68 and ’69. The very first Heritage Edition car was donated to the United Way to be auctioned off, with the proceeds going to their charity. The car sold for a staggering $2.5 million—five times the sticker price! It carried special exposed carbon graphics with…

Rivalries. They’re the underpinnings of car culture. Perhaps they’re based in brand loyalty, styling, raw performance, allegiance to a race team or driver, or maybe it’s something less tangible and harder to define. Whatever inspires it, feeling a connection to a particular car is what sparks your passion. And that passion is heightened when your favored machine has a worthy adversary, one that challenges its virtues and maybe tests your loyalty to it too. After all, a close race is always more exciting! Passion is also what collecting is about. So let’s take a look at some models of cars that have sparked some of the most intense automotive rivalries over the years. We’ll toss in a few racing drivers and a few engines too. MUSCLE MATCHUP: MUSTANG v CAMARO The most…

One of the biggest rivalries in all of racing history has just roared onto the big screen. The film is Ford v Ferrari, and not since Steve McQueen’s classic Le Mans nearly 50 years ago has there been a film that captures the soul of sports car racing this effectively. Of course it depicts the American manufacturer’s quest during the 1960s to unseat Ferrari as perennial champion of sports car racing’s crown jewel event: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It features larger-than-life auto-motive icons like Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles, Henry Ford II, Lee Iacocca and Enzo Ferrari, plus plenty of spectacular racing action, intrigue, danger, triumph and tragedy, all set against sports car racing’s most famous race during the sport’s most heroic era. It’s the kind of epic you would…

As the ultimate victor in the titanic battles at Le Mans from 1966-69, Ford is more than happy to remind you of its legendary GT40 at every opportunity. In fact, that is the very reason that the current Ford GT exists at all. As the 50th anniversary of its original 1966 win approached Ford resolved to remake the GT and return to Sarthe to claim a semicentennial trophy—which it triumphantly did. Whereas Ford clearly looks to its past with the GT, Ferrari would just as soon to let the ghosts of Le Mans lie and focus on the future. That’s what the forward-thinking FXX K does. It is a rolling testbed for both competition and production technologies—with a clever twist. Rather than fund such testing on its own Ferrari has figured…

As this is being written the Formula 1 traveling circus has just completed the penultimate race of the 2019 season, the Brazilian Grand Prix. Having sewn up his 6th F1 Driver’s title Lewis Hamilton would seem to be in a class of his own, but the action-packed closing laps in Brazil bring into sharp focus just how fierce a rivalry has developed at the sharp end of the F1 grid. AT A GLANCE MODEL Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Vertappen Formula 1 Racers MANUFACTURER Bburago GENRE Modern F1 Cars SCALE 1:43 PRICE Varies WHAT WE LIKE + Affordable way to collect top F1 teams + Accurate wheels, tires and livery + Ferrari has added detail and driver figure Hamilton dueled with Max Verstappen, swapping the lead back and forth several times before Verstappen finally prevailed and drove his resurgent Red Bull Racing Honda to his…