Red, white & blue 1/43 models
Happy racing, America!
American drivers, teams and manufacturers have celebrated the USA on their vehicles for a very long time. Herewith, we present a bunch of red white & blue 1/43 models for your patriotic pleasure. Many of these are also available in 1/18th scale, or will be. So, Happy Birthday America! Land of the free, home of the brave with many patriotic drivers and teams.
At the top is a Spark Joest Porsche 956 that finished third at LeMans in 1986. The drivers were George Follmer, John Morton and Kemper Miller. I purchased this model at the LeMans 24 Hour race.
On the left is the Minichamps 2001 BMW M3 GTR that ran in IMSA. Boris Said joined Bill Auberlen and Hans Stuck in that car.
Also on the left: HPI made this McLaren BMW F1 as run at LeMans with Danny Sullivan leading the driving trio that also included Nelson Piquet and Johnny Ceccoto.
On the right is the John Greenwood Corvette that ran in the Camel GT series in 1976, the model made by Bizarre. This was the Sebring car. They loved the bellowing big-block Corvettes at LeMans (and everywhere else)!
Ford ran this Ford GT at LeMans in 2016 in partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing, and won their class. This was also the 50th anniversary of Ford’s first win at LeMans in 1966. Joey Hand led the driver lineup that included Dirk Muller and Sebastian Bourdais. It’s a TSM model.
There’s more!
ORECA ran this American Saleen at LeMans, left. Run by a French team with all-French drivers and a French sponsor. But it’s an American car with a Ford engine as another one of the red, white & blue 1/43 models. This one is made by Spark.
Paul Gentilozzi’s American squad ran these Nissan 300ZX turbos in IMSA for a few years, and won the Daytona 24 Hours with this car. The all-American driving squad consisted of Scott Pruett, Butch Leitzinger and Paul Gentilozzi. This one is made by Kyosho.
Panoz Racing gave us massive patriotism with the front-engined Panoz LMP01 roadster in 2002 (by IXO). It was very quick. The front engine did not seem to hinder its pace.
Dyson Racing won the Daytona 24 Hours with a Ford-powered Riley & Scott in 1999. The Dyson team was to win the Daytona 24 Hours twice with this car, albeit with two different paint schemes.
The 2016 DeltaWing, by Spark. The final season for the Deltawing. It was very quick in a straight line with its tiny Mazda-derived turbo engine. It amazed everyone with its ultimate pace. Thank you, Don Panoz.
Two more: The Courage C36 that Michael and Mario Andretti ran at LeMans in 1997. They didn’t win that time either.
The BF Goodrich-sponsored Corvette that John Greenwood brought to LeMans in 1972. Running on sticky street radials, it proved that these tires were tough enough to race, and was one of the first street/competition tires.
So Happy Birthday USA! And many, many more!
More racing models here.
