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16th from the V12 collection is 2 of 4 from the McLaren F1 collection. This is the 1:43 scale from AUTOart Signature edition of the road going version with the luggage set and minus the tool kit which came along with every F1.

A very detailed model with proper interiors, engine and exhaust and all opening parts. Made from a total of 198 metal and plastic parts and being in a 1:43 scale a very special special one too.

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17th from the V12 collection is 3 of 4 from the McLaren F1 collection. This is a 1:18 scale version from Minichamps of the F1 GTR (long tail) which took part at Le Mans in 1998 and production of this model was limited to only 304 pieces.

In 1998 two F1 GTR’s we’re entered by private teams to participate in the 24 hrs of Le Mans. One of the team was EMKA Racing which was a British racing team founded in 1980 by Steve O’Rourke, manager of the band Pink Floyd. The team name comes from O’Rourk’s two daughters, Emma and Katheryne.

The car driven by Steve O’Rourke at Le Mans in 1998 was chassis #24, which was originally built for BMW Motorsport and later purchased by EMKA Racing. On 6th June 1998 Steve took 4th place in his F1 no 40 after driving 351 laps at Le Mans.

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18th from the V12 collection is a very special Ferrari F50. This is a 1:18 scale model of the Koenig Specials F50 from GT Spirit and this model was produced in a limited number of 999 pieces only.

If owning the glorious F50 producing 520 hp of which only 349 units were produced by Ferrari was not exclusive enough for one back in the 90’s then the person to go to was Willy Koenig.

Willy Koenig’s German company Koenig Specials would take the F50 and add a specific body kit which makes it more unique yet still sober so that the car is recognisable as an F50 at first glance. The engine was completely redeveloped with a twin turbo which would now produce a monstrous 850 hp and 800 nm of torque while keeping the rev limit at 8,500 rpm.

The car was capable of hitting 0 to 60 mph in under 3 seconds and had a top speed of 220 mph. Also, the car came fitted with a 3 piece BBS style rims back in the day.

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19th from the V12 collection is a 2018 Mercedes Maybach S650 Cabriolet in a Blue metallic shade with a black top in 1:18 scale by Norev.

Its a S-Class with just two doors and is powered by a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 rated at 630 PS (621 HP / 459 kW) and 1,000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque, which is paired to a seven-speed 7G-Tronic automatic transmission. It is also the first Maybach drop-top since the 1930s as the Maybach brand was revived by Mercedes in 1997 after more than five decades.

The actual car had a limited production run of just 300 units...

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20th from the V12 collection is a Aston Martin Vulcan in 1:18 scale by Frontiart Avan Style.

The car is named after the legendary British World War II Bomber. It was designed by Aston Martin by borrowing several elements from the Vantage, One-77 and DB9 models. The 7 litre NA V12 engine is built from two V6 Mondeo engines and produces over 800 bhp and the car just weighs around 1,360 kgs and at 200 mph produces the same amount of downforce as its weight.

The Vulcan also uses a racing-style pushrod suspension system, with Multimatic's Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve (DSSV) adjustable dampers.

Only 24 pieces were created by Aston Martin and each costed over USD 2 mln.

The scale model is in a premium acrylic casing and I haven’t even taken off the cling film to avoid unwanted scratches. Also this is a limited edition model with only 600 pieces created by Frontiart.

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21st from the V12 collection is a Aston Martin DB11 in 1:18 scale from Frontiart sub brand Sophi Art.

DB 11 replaced the popular DB9 and was designed by Marek Reichman. The car was initially launched with a twin turbo 5.2 litre V12 and later had a AMG sourced 4 litre twin turbo V8.

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22nd from the V12 collection is the 1999 BMW V12 LMR and is famous for earning BMW its only overall victory to date at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is a 1:18 scale model made by Minichamps.

Following the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans in which both BMW V12 LMs had failed to finish due to mechanical difficulties and a slow pace caused by aerodynamic inefficiencies, BMW Motorsport made the decision to radically revamp their sportscar project and quickly replace the V12 LM with a new car for 1999, the V12 LMR.

The heart of the car was the V12 LMR retained the same BMW S70/3 5990 cc V12 as the V12 LM. Knowing full well the engine utilized in the co-developed McLaren F1 GTR “Longtail” was proven reliable enough, they set out to further improve on the S70 unit.

Receiving slight modifications in the intake and exhaust manifolds to comply with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest’s rulebooks, the revised 5.9l behemoth of an engine was now producing 580hp @ 6,500RPM and around 680 nm (501lb-ft) of torque. This power was transmitted to the 36/71R-18 Michelin tires via an X-trac provided six-speed sequential gearbox with a 4-plate clutch which allowed the German prototype to hit 342 km/h (214 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight.

The driving team of Joachim Winkelhock, Pierluigi Martini, and Yannick Dalmas were successful in bringing the #15 V12 LMR home for victory.

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Don’t have many trucks/buses in the collection as I pick up only very rare and interesting (to me) models.

First of them is a MAN 630 . This is a 1:43 scale made by Premium ClassiXX’s.

This is the L2 version (military) which is 5 ton truck with a 8.3 litre diesel engine which was paired with a 6 speed gearbox. Most unique part of this truck was it’s engines multi-fuel capability, which could run on petrol-diesel mix, kerosene, waste oil and jet fuel.

India’s famous military truck ‘SHAKTIMAN’ which was produced locally by the Vehicle Factory Jabalpur (VFJ) in Madhya Pradesh was based on the MAN 415, which was the younger version of the MAN 630.

Haven’t taken out of the original packing yet and hence could click limited photos.

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Next truck in the collection is a the cargo version of the Zil Blue Bird in 1:43 scale model made by DiP Models..

This is an amphibious vehicle produced in 1975 for search and rescue operations for returning astronauts from space who used to be seated in small space capsules while entering back into the Earth atmosphere. The vehicle was manufactured by the Soviet automobile giant Zil and was known as Blue Bird. Apart from being capable of running in very demanding conditions including the Arctic cold the vehicle had no doors and the crew had to get in through two hatch located at the top in the front. A total of 28 units were built (both cargo and passenger versions).

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23rd from the V12 collection is 4 of 4 from the McLaren F1 collection.

This is a 1:18 scale model built by TSM of the McLaren F1 GTR of the #51 Harrods sponsored car of the Mach One Racing team that took the final podium place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995. Chassis 06R was sold new to Moody Fayed, the nephew of British-domiciled Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed. Sponsorship came from the world-famous Harrods department store that Al-Fayed owned and the car was painted in a distinctive yellow and green livery. Chassis 06R had already been racing in the 1995 BPR Series when it was entered into Le Mans in the capable hands of Andy Wallace, Derek Bell and his son Justin Bell. By any standards, the 1995 race was an epic. Despite the appalling weather – it rained for 16 of the 24 hours – and transmission issues, which struck the car with only two hours to go, the trio finished in an incredible third position, one lap behind the faster, purpose-built Courage C34 prototype of Mario Andretti, and two behind the surprise winners Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing in a fellow F1 GTR. This fantastic result spurred on some more success, as Andy Wallace would proceed to win three races in a row in the BPR Series behind the wheel of 06R before the year was out.

TSM built a total of 3,000 pieces and mine is #511.

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Next is a 1:64 1971 Datsun 510 designed by Jun Imai the founder of Kaido House and built in collaboration by MINI GT.

Jun Imai is a pivotal figure in the diecast world, having transformed the most “hot rod” of diecast brands into a leader in Japanese minicars. For that he became a star in the collectible car world, and ever since he left Hot Wheels in 2018 people have been clamoring for his next project.

During his time at Hot Wheels, Jun created many of the transformative castings that pushed the company to new corners of car culture. Models like the Hakosuka Skyline, Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Celica introduced a new generation to the once muscle car-heavy lineup, paving the way for things like an entire series of premium cars steeped in Japanese car culture. Many of the watershed designs were based on Jun’s real cars, like his famous 510 Wagon or his S30 Z shown at SEMA.

For years, Jun has been working on his own personal brand, which he named Kaido House for his love of Japanese kaido racers and car culture. Even post-Mattel, Jun’s been creating incredible customs of Hot Wheels cars under that banner.

The particular model comprises of over 35 individual parts, with an astounding level of fine detail and fitment. Just as an example, each headlight lens is a separate part, and they go into a headlight bucket which is itself also a separate part. The wheels are actual two-piece units and pioneer another industry first that would be a headline on any other article: It’s the first 1:64 to have real aluminum barrels for the wheels. Each one is made from a machined aluminum billet barrel, and there’s four of them per car.

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Custom scale models of Hayabusa in 1:64 scale in resin in blue and black...

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Next is a beautiful 1:18 Dark Green coloured Mercedes Benz 200 W123 from Norev.

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24th from the V12 collection is a very rare and beautiful model in 1:18 scale by CMF which is a 1932 Maybach Zeppelin DS8 Stromlinie Spohn.

Around 1920 Karl Maybach started making automobiles and back then Maybach was known to produce more chassis than bodyworks. Most of the bodyworks were made by the Spohn builder. Its workshop was close to the Maybach factory from Friedrichshafen in Germany. It was a common practice on those times to have a custom-built bodywork.

The Stromlinien (Streamline) was an aerodynamically enhanced bodywork, shaped with some help of aviation engineers. On the front, the grille was pushed behind the front fenders and raked. The curves on the bodywork were like a flow, thus reducing the drag coefficient. The short greenhouse of the Maybach Zepellin Stromlinien was mandatory for a more streamlined bodywork since on those times the windshield was flat. The curved glass was not available. In the back, the abrupt slope was curved. On the left and right side of the back panel, there were two trunk spaces. The spare wheels were located behind locked panels to the rear of the front wheels. The car featured a central locking mechanism and the door handles were recessed into the door panels. Another interesting feature was the retractable front part of the roof.

Under the long hood, there was an 8-liter V12 engine that produced 200 hp. It was mated to a 5-speed gearbox with a system that allowed the engagement of the fifth gear without using the clutch.

Only one car was made by Spohn to be displayed at the Berlin Automotive show and it is believed to have been destroyed during WWII. CMF made a beautiful model of the original car which was limited to only 300 pieces.