I'm sure a lot of you folks collect die-casts of varying forms and would be interested to take a quick tour of a model shop located in Maranello, Italy no?
"Warm-Up" is located right across the parking lot from the Ferrari Museum, some 200 odd meters from the factory. Maranello appears to be a bit of a holy pilgrimage for hardcore Ferrari fans so it only makes sense a shop like this exists in the town.
One of the first things you'll notice on walking up to the shop are these two Ferrari rental cars, which you can rent in blocks of ten minutes. I suppose it's a way for the fans to get the full Ferrari experience right? Come to Maranello and drive a super car…
This is one of the larger die cast shops I've had the pleasure to visit.
It contains all manner of mainstream production and race car 1/43 models with a bit of a slant towards Italian machines.
There are plenty of low volume F1 Ferrari collectables too.
These super large scale (1/6?) scale models are pretty stunning.
They are the ultimate collectable miniatures and cost as much as a well worn S13. But if you are a proper tifosi you are going to have to have this model aren't you?
I always marvel at how expensive some of these models cost… but there are still people like me who just have to buy these collectables. It's one reason I've switched to 1/43 scale. They are far more affordable than these high detail 1/18 models.
I'd like to know, if someone made a $150 high detail 1/18 drift model would you buy one? Surely there must be as many hardcore drift enthusiasts as there are sports car fans by now.
Every style of race car is catered to…. except drift machines that is.
This Reventon model just doesn't manage to capture the hardcore essence of the original item IMO.
The Estoque model seems more successful. Not that I've seen the original!
I always have my eye open for a Group 5 model.
And I found one that I don't own… a NART Ferrari 512 BB LM… I managed to put the box down though without pulling out the credit card… a close call!
It's amazing how detailed the latest generation of 1/43 models are. The medium has really pushed forward in recent years. Look at the scale detail on this 126 C2… Stunning.
A nice mix of DTM and vintage sports car models.
Ferraris and yet more Ferraris. Check out all the 512BB LMs!… I didn't buy any of these though as they are a different brand to the one car I already have and thus don't match.
Japanese racing is represented by this Minichamps 787B…
Curiously there was a reasonable selection of JCTC/Super GT cars. I wonder if anyone in Italy knows what these cars are…
Or perhaps they only know them from video games.
The later is likely true! This R34 is pretty desirable.
Well it seems like most well stocked die cast shops you are doing to go into in any country seem to have similar types of models. It's more a question of which ones have that rare hard-to-find gem that you are going to be unable to leave the shop without!
See anything you would have bought on the spot here?
:R
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
damn! its payday today.
and YOU just made me want to check out my local die-cast shop and get some. they have that flat black 575 GTC here and i've been eyeing it for quite som time now.. im much more tempted after this post. haha!
i really love this type of coverage.
i wonder if you guys know some shops in japan as well and cover them as well. just to see if their line-ups differ.
kudos!
Still waiting for Minichamps to release a Porsche 962, 935 "moby dick", and a Audi Pikes Peak Quattro in 1:18.
I was in that same shop like 6 months ago, I think you should show a pic of how close it is to the actual museum, it just shares the parking lot.
Im not a Ferrari guy, i'm more JDM, so I got exactly to the Ebbro section like you show in the pics (funny thing i've seen zero jdm cars in my travel to Italy), another funny thing is the number of Ferrari memorabilia stores around Maranello, its just an epic town and full of Ferrari life, even the restaurant across the Ferrari factory is full of engine displays and pictures all around. I dont know if you guys got to enter the circuit but they didnt allowed me to go in, so I just jumped the fence around one of the streets leeding to it, close to a Ferrari garage full of goodies lying around in the garden.
Dino you should really take the time to go to Torino and check out the Nardi factory, worth seeing how an Italian manufacturer became Japanese favorite.
Hotwheels should not make models such as Ferrari. I find that the quality is lacking. Autoart, Exoto and BBM, are top notch builders that should do these cars.
Oh mama! What I would do for a diecast shop like this here.
I would have given in to temptation and bought on estimate.... five on the day.
wonder what the underside of that ferrari f2008 model looks like....
"Curiously there was a reasonable selection of JCTC/Super GT cars. I wonder if anyone in Italy knows what these cars are..."
Sure!!! we dont know only italian cars!!!...and not from video games....^_^
having lived in italy as a child...
i remember my own share of "collecting" die-cast models in italy...
italians take their die-cast models VERY VERY VERY SERIOUSLY...
I want that 787b!