Minichamps 1:18 1982 Porsche 956L LeMans Winner Jackie Ickx - Derek Bell

The 1960’s in sports racing history at Le Mans is popularly known as the Ferrari – Ford wars era. The interesting thing is that by the end of the decade the clear winner was neither. Porsche emerged from the wars to dominate Le Mans for the next twenty years winning twelve of the twenty races contested and an amazing seven races in a row from 1981 to 1987.

Porsche race cars had long been noted for their reliability in long distance racing dating back to the 60’s when their splendid under two liter 904’s were dubbed “The Silver Train”. By 1982 when Jackie Ickx and Derek Bell entered Le Mans with the Porsche 956 they had a car that could outrun, out brake and out handle anything on the track. The 956 and it’s “upgraded for rule changes” sibling the 962 were the car to have if you wanted to spend any time on the podium in the 80’s

PMA/Minichamps has done a nice job capturing the essence of this truly iconic race car. The body is well formed, ride height and track, such a challenge on so many models, appear to be spot on. The paint looks good and although much of the livery is decals and not up to the “all tampo” standards of an Exoto for example, they look were well applied – at least on my model - and appear pretty close to accurate – with one big glaring exception. The 1982 LM winner was sponsored by Rothmans and so this model comes without the “politically incorrect” tobacco livery. For a fully authentic car you will have to get decals in the aftermarket and put them on yourself. This does make the car somewhat less of a value for those who do not want to modify their cars in any way but for those who are willing to give up MIB standing for accuracy it is a small price to pay.

The doors hinge open nicely to reveal a well appointed interior. Indeed Minichamps has added a wealth of nicely done small details throughout the car. This is highlighted when one takes off the rear cowl and gets a chance to inspect the detail of the engine compartment and rear suspension. In this era, where increasingly, we are getting "sealed body" race cars it is a treat to see this level of detail on a sub $100.00 car

A word here about the rear body panel and some other QC matters. Minichamps has had problems with warping of the rear panel, on earlier releases of this car. This problem continues at least in part on this car as well with some people getting ill fitting cars. Some have also found cars with the decals sloppily installed. It may be worth your while to be sure that the car you buy is “checked out” before you buy it.

In my mind, even without the tobacco livery, this car is a good value for the dollar. It has a wealth of detail, good body lines and a winning pedigree. At under $90 MSRP it is worth considering for any Porsche or Le Mans fan

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