Extract from our Diecast Monthly Magazine BR69 - July 2009

Due for delivery shortly after the 1:18 replica of Paddy Hopkirk’s 1964 Monte Carlo Rally winning Mini Cooper S is the Mini that Timo Makinen and Paul Easter took to victory the year after.

It was Hopkirk’s unexpected victory on the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally that really put the Mini Cooper on the competition map. But BMC was determined to show that their victory was no flash in the pan and so, for 1965, no less than six Coopers made it to the starting line.

1965 Monte Carlo
The 1965 event is still regarded by many as one of the most arduous and dangerous ever to be held. The weather conditions were simply atrocious. Instead of the normal final circuit race around the Monaco Formula One track, the teams were sent back into the mountains fora second set of special stages.

Racing through the Alpes Maritimes, the teams were required to cover nearly 400 miles on a tormenting night drive from Saint Claude to Monte Carlo. Visibility in the densely falling snow was almost zero. The drivers were dazzled as the headlights reflected against the ice and snow. The lucky ones merely got lost; the less fortunate fell into ditches or hit obstacles hidden by the snow.

But the conditions were perfect for Makinen and he excelled. Entering the last night eight minutes in the lead, he won no less than five out of the six special trials to take overall victory. Hopkirk and Liddon in another Cooper finished 26th; Don and Erle Morley, 27th. In total, just 35 out of the 237 teams who entered the event made it to the finishing line.

The Kyosho replica
Kyosho is one of our favourite model makers. They are not flash, they don’t go for high profile easy winners; they do, though, consistently turn out 1:18 replicas of the highest quality. Their models easily bear comparison to those which come out of Minichamps and AUTOart. And whilst we sometimes get a little tired of the models they produce for the motor manufacturers to sell in the showrooms, we very much approve of the classic road and racing subjects often tackled by the company.

Later this year, we are going to see a great model of Lamborghini’s Urraco, a couple of superb Caterham 7s and, excitingly, a number of the Big Healeys. But the most exciting releases, which we expect to see in the third quarter of the year, are the Monte Carlo winning Minis from 1964 and 1965.

As you can see from the photographs, the detail will be superb - everything you would expect. But like most Kyosho 1:18s these days, you shouldn’t expect them to sit on the shelves for too long. We are caught short more frequently on Kyosho’s models than we are with any other brand. If you don’t want to miss out, you know what you need to do!