A couple of years ago, AUTO art delighted us with the release of the classic 1965 Porsche 911. It was a model that was simple, yet executed with tasty perfection. And it was yours for the princely sum of $65. Other companies had done the model, but not with such grace and at such and inexpensive price. We were so taken with it our panel named it DZ 1:18 Model of the Year in the sub $100 category.
Fast forward two years, and once again, AUTO art has a new Porsche icon on offer: the 1975 911 Turbo 3.0. But the price of poker has gone up by some and it will cost you north of $115 to play this time. So, the question is, are we as impressed as we were the first go round?
Hold on to that thought and let’s find out what we should be looking at by contrast between these 911 siblings.
Porsche engineers utilized turbo chargers on the competition Porsches and chairman Ernst Fuhrman directed his team to engineer a production car using a turbo. In 1973, a prototype '911 Turbo' was displayed at several European shows, and in 1974 another prototype 911 Turbo was shown at the Paris Motorshow. When the Turbo finally went on sale in 1975, it was full of luxurious touches for the age not necessarily associated with sports cars- air conditioning, radio and tinted windows. But it had a slick performance kit that included Bilstein shocks, a massive rear spoiler and the 3.0 liter 260 bhp engine mounted in the rear. This new turbo version also carried it’s own variant serial: the 930.
Most notable changes to the 911 profile were flared wheel arches made necessary by a wider stance, meaty rubber and the signature massive rear wing. Add to that a fleet of available shock colors and body striping/applique variations - here done in Martini Special Edition livery inspired colors and the 930 was a sharp contrast to the demure 911 of eight years before.
Built essentially as a way to achieve homologation requirements, only 500 were planned but Porsche's customers had other ideas and first year sales were double that number. And I’d expect AUTO art’s sales of their 1/18 scale model of the Porsche 930 Martini Special Edition will also probably be about double the available quantity.
Which is not to say some things aren’t amiss. The rear bumpers are not to scale and the front Martini graphics have an unexpected aspect: it gets too wide too quickly and there should be more curvature to the bottom. Still, you’d have to know this particular version of the Porsche 930 pretty darn well and look at it for a while to pick out that kind of issue.
But when you look at the detail that’s right - this AUTO art Porsche 930 is pretty astounding; from the ribbed rubber trim lines which look smashing against the white paint and bumpers (even the rear view mirror trim picks up this styling cue), the two piece wheels, the large enameled badge and AUTO art’s best in class lighting groups the depth to which the model maker has gone to make a first class issue can only be admired. Add to that the stuff which AUTO art recently always gets right: fabulous paint, accurate engine replication and well thought out modeling of the interior and this AUTO art 930 does remind us of all those qualities that so impressed us with their original 911 model.
Cost? Well yes, that’s 30% more and it’s not 30% more model. But that has to do more with labor and shipping rates than it does with short cuts in design and composition. And that’s the critical thing isn't it? - making models at all? Even while their production pace has slowed, AUTO art is in the process of making everyone else in the 1/18 space a marginal or niche player. They are releasing more new molds in a quarter than any other maker is introducing in the year. And executing with quality.
Car of the year in a $100-150 category? Well, it’s only July so it’s a bit early to make that call. Yet at the end of the year I have no doubt the Porsche 930 will be in the running.
If you collect most things Porsche, the AUTO art Porsche 911 (930) definitely should be on your list of must have images.
-Rusty Hurley
