Project Premiere/World Class, Day 12: The Real Deal

If yesterday's Porsche was a little underwhelming, this one won't be. And it isn't. It's another legend. It's the Porsche 959, and Matchbox got this one right.

By the way, see what I did there with the time of this post?

At last, I have a 959 in my hands again. When I was a kid, I had a silver 959 from Maisto, amongst many other models from them. For those of you who remember, the Maisto cars were essentially knock-offs of Matchbox castings back in the day. They were fine castings, yes, but they looked and felt cheap, which is why I threw them out when I started taking collecting seriously. The 959 has been a gaping hole in my collection since. I've struck out on a couple of releases from Hot Wheels: first, the Valentine's Day version from a few years ago, and most recently the one from the Porsche series.

Well, I've got the real deal now, not the knockoff. And I'll gladly take this one over any of the aforementioned examples, any day of the week.

This casting is certainly showing its age, but my god, is it perfect or what? The proportions are just right, from the body lines to the ride height. Yes, it's a bit wide, but that's the norm for older Matchbox. The details are plentiful as you would expect from this series. Most shockingly of all, the wheels don't stick out like a sore thumb! While I'm not a fan of the Porsche decals on the doors (and if you're attentive enough, you'll notice that it's higher on the left side than the right), they don't detract from the model at all. Sure, one can nitpick about the spoiler being solidly cast to the body, and you may groan about the chrome windows once again, but let's not forget this is a toy. A rather excellent one at that.

To make this even sweeter, it's one of the more common (and least expensive) World Class models you'll find. Quite the opposite of the real thing.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 11: Back on Track

Oh, yes.

It's another racecar.

We're moving on to Stuttgart, ladies and gentlemen. Surely this will please many of you collectors out there. Legendary racing history, legendary cars. This is the Porsche 935 from the Matchbox World Class series.

If I were to summarize this model in one sentence, it would be this: it's both seriously awesome yet seriously flawed. OK, maybe more of the latter.

I was extremely hyped when I found one of these at a very reasonable price. I thought I had just acquired another gem for my collection. This is one of those World Class releases you don't see too often, and I absolutely had to jump at the chance to own one of these.

Then it came in the mail, and I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Worth the price? Sure. But it could've been better. So much better, in fact.

For starters, there's the egregious ride height. I expected something low-slung, like a proper racecar should be. I had no idea that the 935 was a rally car. Second, take a good look and zoom in on the photos, any of them. The flaws really come out with these close-up shots. The casting is very rough and so is the pearlescent white paint. In case you were wondering, this 935 was mint-in-package when I received it, and despite that, it already looks play-worn. This is one of those times when Matchbox failed to do justice to a model, and it's a shame because it had so much potential. I can't help but think about how a good racing livery would've been able to mask these flaws.

And did I mention how wide this thing is? I retract my earlier statement about the BMW M1 being the widest 1/64 I own because this one takes the cake. It's hilariously wide at the rear. I've yet to complain about this issue with all of the other Premiere and World Class models, but this is getting a bit ridiculous, don't you think?

At the end of the day, I know many of you will be searching eBay as you're reading or browsing through this feature. And if you're not, I'm sure you'll be getting that itch very soon. You're welcome.

It's a 935. 'Nuff said.

P.S. It's also available in yellow, which might be even harder to find!

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 10: Getting Some Air

I apologize for the numerous delays recently. My goal is to have every feature up on the blog, every morning, at 6 AM PST. That means I have to photograph the cars, edit the photos, and write my posts the night before and schedule them to go live in the morning. Lately, I haven't been able to fulfill that goal. There are days when the ideas are flowing and everything happens effortlessly. Then, there are days when the tank is running low and everything is a drag. You can tell by the quality of my work. On some days, the photography is uninspiring; on others, the writing is rushed and I feel like I'm repeating the same thing over and over again. I've been caught up in some other interests, which leaves me less time and energy for blogging. However, I will get one feature done every day for the rest of this month, and that's a promise. They just might come a little later than usual.

Sometimes, you just need to get some air, which makes today's feature the perfect one.

The BMW Z3. It's not the ///M Roadster that all of us car guys love, but it's the one you actually have a chance of seeing on the streets every day. You see it here in two different styles. The blue one has the multi-spoke wheels with the tan interior. The silver has the BBS-esque wire wheels with the red interior. There's a third, in red, that eludes me.

You'll also notice that they sport different license places. James-Z? Not a clue what that means. Z3 4 ME? No thanks. Not my ride of choice but that doesn't make these Matchbox Premiere models any less desirable. Curiously, the blue one has some black trim between the taillights. I don't think I've ever seen that on any Z3, but I guess it goes along with today's trend of people "blacking out" parts of their cars.

These are the last BMW's from the Premiere or World Class series that I own. There are a couple more castings, the 5-series and 6-series, that are quite hard to come by. The 5-series, in particular, is especially rare despite the claimed "25,000" production number. I missed my chance of getting one a couple months ago, but I won't make the same mistake the next time.

I'll see you again tomorrow then! I think you'll like what I have coming up!

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 9: It's M1-Day!

We're gonna keep it going with the Teutonic features. There's just so much good stuff that comes out of Germany. There's the Big Three of the luxury car market, and there's a certain sports car maker whose name starts with a "P". Today, we'll showcase a legend out of Bavaria. It's none other than the BMW M1.

It's BMW's original supercar. You could say it's the only supercar they've ever built (I'd say the i8 doesn't count). This one is all dressed up in racecar attire. The M1 Procar, as it should be called. It has the low-slung bodykit. It has the huge wing in the back. In my opinion, this is the way it should've looked to begin with. While the street version (see: the Hot Wheels version) looks incredibly tame in comparison, this one has that supercar aura that you expect from...a supercar.

To take it even further, Matchbox stretched the body out even more. Then, they threw on their signature fat rubber wheels. You can probably tell from the photos that this monster is super wide. In fact, it might be the widest 1/64 scale (-ish) model I own. A little ridiculous, yes, but it's a racecar for crying out loud.

This comes from the World Class series and is the only variant you'll find. With a model like this, one is enough to satisfy your wants and needs. The detailing is everywhere; every single vent and duct on this car has been highlighted in black, as well as the window trim and door handles. I love the added touch of the BMW badge behind the doors. The printing on the taillight cluster is a little off, but that's what quality on a 25 year old release looks like. Overall, spectacular.

Project Premiere/World Class, Day 8: Topping It Off

Now, we come to the last of the Benzes. We've already seen a trio of stellar examples: the beastly AMG 560 SEC, the classy 600 SEL, and the racy C-Class GTC. Picking a favorite or a "best" among the three is a rather difficult task. I picked the GTC as my favorite, but there's no loser in the group. Allow me to throw another one into the mix. The Mercedes-Benz 500 SL.

This is one good-looking convertible, unlike the abomination that is the current SL. What happened, Mercedes?

Matchbox's 500 SL casting appears in both the World Class and the Premiere series. The World Class release is a stunning black-over-silver two-tone while the Premiere colorways are the two you see here in addition to a solid black. I'm going to patiently wait for the right price on the World Class model. It looks to be the best of the bunch, but I must keep my bidding finger from being trigger-happy.

I've always felt that silver was the most fitting color for this car, but since that's not an option, the dark blue is the Premiere you want. It comes with the multi-spoke wheels that are my favorite among the wheel variations. It also comes with a two-tone interior in dark and light shades of grey. We need another space on the ballot for this one.

This concludes the Mercedes-Benz portion of the Project Premiere/World Class features. Tomorrow, we move on to another manufacturer. Should I keep it going with the Germans? Should I represent the other Europeans? Should I switch it up and move across the Atlantic, into domestic territory? Let me know what you would like to see most! I've got a lot of ammo left and I'm not afraid to use it!