On June 14th, W-143 celebrated our sixth anniversary! Boy, time flies… I still remember the beginning, with me struggling to understand how to make a blog. I wasn’t certain of how it should look or what kind of “features” a 1:43 model blog should have. Not that I know all that now, but what I was/am certain about is what kind of content I wanted to present. Just like what it says on top of the page, W-143 is all about the models, with reviews and a little bit of info on the real deals. And that’s what I will continue offering 🍻.
Against all my wishes, Maranello wins again… 🤣 At least it was a privateer (whatever the brand, I’ll always side with the little guy). Nonetheless, a nice race, and contrary to last year, almost no safety car. After the hyperpole I had hopes specially for Cadillac and perhaps, Alpine and BMW. Yet, Cadillac never got close to the lead, just like BMW and Alpine. About Toyota, on the other hand, I was sure they would be up in the front, with Ferrari and Porsche, but they had a very slow race.
Nonetheless, my money was on Ferrari to win again, unless they had their F1 team to manage things in La Sarthe 😂. I didn’t think the 963 had a great chance and I was glad to see the Valkyries finishing the race. In LMP2, my favorite, the ORECA 07 #199 “Spike the Dragon”, finished in third (well, first in LMP2 Pro-Am). For GT3 I was routing for the Iron Dames’ #85, but they finished all the way in the back 😥.
A nice race overall, with not much drama on track. In terms of 1:43rd, I really want the Spike ORECA, BMW’s M Hybrid V8 #20 (beautiful!) and the Dames’ #85. Oh, and possibly Mercedes AMG-GT3 #61.
1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta #19 Pilots: R. Sommer, C. Biondetti Team: Raymond Sommer Race: DNF (5.0 class) at Le Mans in 1938 Spark - S9439 (resin)
Stumbled upon this 4-minutes gem the other day. Usually, Group B rallying footage isn’t the best. Well, back in the 80s we didn’t have HD videos, so most of the stuff that you can find on YouTube is low definition. Yet, this video is in HD! The audio track is chill, with mostly not-terrible music and some original ambient sound. In the end, a pretty neat video for the rally fan.
1959 AC Ace #29 Pilots: T. Whiteaway, J. Turner Team: Rudd Racing Ltd. Race: 7th overall (1st in GT 2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1959 Spark - S9493 (resin)
1937 Chenard et Walcker Z1 Spéciale “Tank” #40 Pilots: G. Contet, C. Roux Team: Yves Giraud-Cabantous Race: DNF (2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1937 Spark - S8105 (resin)