Top 5 – 2024

Oh well, there goes 2024… You know the the expression “time flies”? I’m certain you already heard it. However, trust me, it only acquires meaning after you reach a certain age. And yes, I’m already over that age. The year came and went and here am I writing a new Top 5 list. The year of 2024 was a bit rough, with few new models. Specially in terms of Le Mans cars. It started out slow, totally stopped by mid-year and only got going in the second semester. There were months that I didn’t get a single new model…🙄 Even so, as of this writing, the W-143 Garage is at 560 models. It was a slim year, however good enough to make the Top 5 Models of 2024 list (in chronological order):

1985 Volkswagen LT 45 LWB “HB Audi Rally Assistance”

1️⃣ First things first: even to me it sounds a bit weird to post a van in a Top 5 list. Nonetheless, Ixo did a heckuva job on the model and it looks FANTASTIC with my Quattro S1 E2 towed behind. As I said before, a shame Ixo doesn’t also make Le Mans’ service vehicles.

1992 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo #4

2️⃣ This one is easy to justify: GRAIL MODEL, period. The Delta is one of my all-time favorite cars, and a rally version, from Spark? Puh-leeze, just take my money.

2023 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid #37

3️⃣ Another rally car? And a Toyota 🤨?!? As I’m certain you noticed by now, I’m always complaining about dull liveries. Yeah, those bland, flavorless and boring red-white-black-silver corporate affairs that big manufacturers insist for their cars. And here you have a works car from Toyota (yes, TOYOTA!) with a cool off-the-wall livery. Awesome!

2023 Porsche 911 RSR-19 #56 “Rexy”

4️⃣ Rexy: a Porsche painted as a green T-Rex racing at La Sarthe. The coolest Le Mans livery of all times? If not, in my humble opinion certainly one of the Top 5. No doubt, like the Pink Pig or the Calder BMW, one of the greatest.

1951 Porsche 356/2 SL “Gmünd Coupe” #46

5️⃣ This one is also very easy to explain: the first Porsche that won at Le Mans. With the 356 Gmünd Coupe, Porsche began it’s long relation with La Sarthe. And finally, in the second semester of 2024 Spark released their version of the car. Another case of take-my-money.

Shop Tour 2024 2.0

The last update I posted was in the beginning of the year, and as expected, my shop grows 😎. So, what’s new? I think that the biggest news is that I bought a circular hand saw. From Bosch, it’s a GKS 18v-57: 18v and with a 165 mm blade. Not the biggest of blades but for my needs perfect, and with a custom track guide that I made, just awesome. Though I was salivating for a circular hand saw for some years, I have to say it was not my best acquisition this year. That would be the GDR 12v-110 impact wrench. Also from Bosch, 12v and small, and yet let me tell you: I should have bought one years ago. One of those tools that you really don’t need, but once you have one, you don’t know how could you have lived without it. Damn how it simplifies and speed up a LOT of jobs!

Moreover, I also got a small auxiliary work bench (Worx WX01), since my 40+ years old Black & Decker one was kind of tired (and a bit crooked 😁). Besides that, more clamps, an anvil (made from a train track section!), new wall signs, a new drill set and other small stuff. Oh, and I almost forgot: with the GKS 18v-57 I made a couple of stools. In fact, one of them I made specifically for the shop. With wheels, now I can role around the shop with my butt firmly seated 😂. All in all, a productive year for my little shop.

The 959 at the Paris Dakar Rally

A few days ago, the great John Ficarra, through VINwiki, released an AWESOME video about the Porsche 959 at the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally. As always, John Ficarra’s ability to spin a delightful tale is just outstanding. If you have 15 minutes and have at least a minor interest in the 959, I urge you to watch it. Absolutely fantastic! 😎😎😎

“Racing’s Deadliest Day” – the 1955 Le Mans tragedy

The “Le Mans start” of the 1955 race.

I just found this article, though it was published not even two weeks ago. The Le Mans accident of 1955 has always been a subject of interest to me. Why? No, no morbid curiosity or something like that, far from it. With Le Mans being a great passion of mine, the tragedy always hits a chord within me. How something so fantastic could have been the stage for such pain and devastation? All the race stories of greatness and passion kind of pale when I think about the tragedy. That being so, I really can’t enumerate how many articles and videos I’ve seen about the 1955 race. Some truly good, yet mostly superficial or just utterly non-factual. However, today I stumbled upon this article by Darrell Hartman. His piece is one of the best I’ve ever seen – factual, well-written and just as important, objective. Unhappily, the majority of stories written about the tragedy try to deflect blame. To glaze over a few details. Hartman, however, exposes (the known) facts – and with facts you can arrive at your own conclusions. The accident happened because of a multitude of factors, however one small detail was the fulcrum to the ensuing disaster.

Nonetheless, whatever were the reasons for the accident, knowing what happened will not make it less of a tragedy. Yet, it will bring enlightenment. Therefore, knowing the facts is always a great thing. So let us be glad that motorsports have evolved enough that something like what happened in 1955 will NEVER happen again. And to ensure that it really never does, let us always be aware of the facts.