Kurt Thiim is a Danish racing driver. His first success came in the Kartsport.In 1978 he changed to Auotomobil racing. Starting in Formula Ford he then went to Formula Super V and then Formula 3. After winning the German Formula-3-Masters in1984 Thiim tried for a drive in Formula 3000 or Formula 1. unfortunately this did not happen so he went the route of sports cars. At this time the DTM represented private teams only. The large work teams of Mercedes, BMW, Opel or Alfa Romeo, who many people connected with the DTM, had not put in an appearance In the following years DTM became a pure works championship. Kurt Thiim remained active during this development as a driver and belonged from 1988 to 1997 to Mercedes. To the end of the DTM/ITC Thiim changed first into the super route car Cup (STW). Beginning in this time to become active as CO moderator with engine haven transmissions It started in the V8STAR.

The 1979 RAC Rally started in Chester on 18th November covering 2120km, 687km were over 56 special stages of the 175 starters only 74 finished  with David Richards with Ari Vatanen finishing in fourth place.

Timo Mäkinen, born 18 March 1938, in Helsinki, Finland, was one of the original "Flying Finns" of rallying. He is most famous for his hat-trick of wins in the RAC Rally, at the wheel of a Ford Escort, preceded only by Erik Carlsson (Saab 96) in that feat.His start in international rallying came in the 1959 1000 Lakes, He came 2nd in the RAC of 1965, again in a Healey. He was later to dominate that event, with the Ford Escort RS (1973-1975). In 1971, 'Spectator Stages' were introduced and, by 1975 had become an important part of the event, usually at stately homes and other public venues like Sutton Park. The first day was, by then, devoted to these stages. Drivers did not enjoy them, and referred to them disparagingly as "Mickey Mouse stages" because of the lack of challenge they offered, but nonetheless they contributed to the results.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint 2a S " Winter Marathon 1997 " Driver Brusciotti Cangiotti.

Stunning model in this scale overall white with red piping, super interior detail with spare wheel in the boot, length approx 103mm, moveable wheels with treaded tyres.

Round 10 of the FIA World Rally Championship 1976. Started in Bath on the 27th November and finished on 30th November. The rally was run over 3248km including 504km over 76 gravel with some asphalt special stages. 200 teams started the event with only 71 finishing.B.Culcheth and J.Syer finished in 9th place.

British Leyland ran a team of TR7s in rally competition from 1976 to 1980. These cars used the 16 valve Dolomite Sprint or Rover V8 engine and had disc brakes on all four wheels. They were reasonably successful on tarmac events but did not do well on off road sectionsRoger Clark competed on the 1980 RAC Rally in the TR7 for the British Leyland Works Team. It was to be the last rally in whch he competed as a works driver.

In 1999, Peugeot Sport unveiled the 206 WRC, and it competed for the first time in that year's World Rally Championship. The car was soon a success, and won the drivers' championship in 2000 in the hands of Marcus Grönholm. In 2002, Grönholm again won the WRC title in his 206 WRC. His dominance that year was compared to Michael Schumacher's dominance of Formula 1. In addition to the drivers' championships in 2000 and 2002, Peugeot also won the Manufacturers' title three years in a row between 2000 and 2002. However, by 2003 the 206 WRC was beginning to show its age and was less effective against the competition, notably the newer Citroën Xsara WRC and the Subaru Impreza WRC, so it was retired from competition at the end of the season, to be replaced with the 307 WRC based on a 307cc.

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL was conceived initially as a purpose-built racing sports car In 1952, the coupe notched up an impressive record of success in the year’s major races. The car that re-established Mercedes-Benz as a formidable power in sportscar racing after World War 2 was the exotic 300 SL. It started out as a thoroughbred road-racing car in 1952 and ended its era as an extremely fast convertible for the very wealthy .At the Grand Prix in Bern the 300 SL sealed a clean sweep of the podium places, an awesome performance Also, this was the only occasion on which Mercedes cars didn't race as the Silver Arrows. Expect for Rieß' 300SL, which remained silver, Caracciola's car was red, Kling's dark green and Lang's pale blue, backed up by a one-two finish ahead of a stunned field in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Nürburgring duly yielded another one-two-three, and the new Mercedes racing sports car also claimed victory in the Carrera Pan Americana in Mexico.

1952 was the comeback year for Mercedes-Benz's motorsport division - and it was a return with a bang. The sportscar codenamed W194 was launched as the 300SLR and made its first racing appearance at the Mille Miglia on May 4. Fittingly, one of the Stuttgart cars was entrusted to Rudi Caracciola, who went on to finish fourth, Two weeks after the Swiss sportscar GP took place at Berne, where Mercedes scored an emphatic one-two-three with Kling leading Lang and Rieß, there was sorrow as well as Caracciola rammed a Bremgarten tree, putting an end to his distinguished racing career. Also, this was the only occasion on which Mercedes cars didn't race as the Silver Arrows. Expect for Rieß' 300SL, which remained silver, Caracciola's car was red, Kling's dark green and Lang's pale blue.

Mercedes 300SL Spider Nurburgring 1952 - H.Riess

Vic Preston with navigator Bev Smith finished in 6th place in the 1971 East African Safari Rally.

No matter what the competition, the climate, the surface, the conditions, or the country; the Ford Escort was consistently successful, at all levels of the sport. Even the less modified Group 1 Escorts (sometimes called 'showroom' category cars) were victorious. Memorably, there were three consecutive outright wins by Escort RS2000s in the 1974, 1975 and 1976 Tours of Britain, multi-discipline endurance events that combined racing with long-distance rallying.

Jacky Ickx was born in Bruxelles and is Belgium’s top champion in motorsport He started his career in car racing in 1964. By 1967, he is European Formula 2 Champion. Then he commenced racing in Formula One. He won 8 Formula One Grand Prix: France in 1968, Germany and Canada in 1969, Austria, Canada and Mexico in 1970, Holland in 1971 and finally Germany in 1972. This feat has yet to be bettered by any other Belgian driver. He left the Formula One in 1979, after having been twice World vice-Champion of Drivers, in 1969 and in 1970Between 1967 and 1979, Jacky Ickx was 11 times winner of the Belgium Drivers Championship. Receiving the sports national trophy in 1968.

Roy Salvadori raced for the factory teams of Cooper, Aston Martin, Vanwall, BRM and Connaught. He also drove F1 Ferrari Maserati, Cooper - Maserati and Connaught for private entrants. His best result in the FIA F1 World Championship was 4th position in 1958. He has established outright or Class records for every circuit he has raced on in England and has won 98 races during his career, including the 1959 Le Mans in an Aston Martin, co driving with Carroll cars were entered in the 25 laps GT Trophy race on the twisting, undulating circuit at Oulton Park. They were entrusted to Graham Hill and Roy Salvadori, who were up against competition Ferraris and Aston Martins. The two E-types led until Salvadori experienced brake trouble and was passed by Grand Prix driver Innes Ireland in a DB4 GT Aston Martin. Try as he might, Ireland could not pass Hill who used all his skills to fend off the Aston and the three finished in close formation. It was a brilliant victory first time out and unassailable proof of the E-type's prowess.

Twin escorts finished in maroon with silver roofs, detailed interiors, model length approx 90mm, the cars are mounted on a pit lane display base, drivers Chris Craft / Roger Clark - John Fitzpatrick/ Henry Taylor.

Peter embarked on a driving career as early as 11 years old. His first move into cars came in 1993 when he competed in the Jim Russell Racing School at Donnington Park. Peter progressed into Formula Vauxhall Junior Here, he dominated the championship taking eight wins on his way to becoming overall champion. Between 1995 and 1996, Peter advanced up to Formula Vauxhall driving for Jackie Stewart’s team he took 10 wins becoming ultimate series champion. 1997 saw Peter continuing with Jackie Stewart’s team, he moved in to Formula 3. 1999 saw Peter contracted for Mercedes-Benz to race in their high-profile Le-Mans project whilst still competing in Formula Nippon, (Japans equivalent to Formula 3000). Peter spectacular Le-Mans crash (caused by aero dynamic instabilities) has been well documented, earning him front page coverage of national newspapers and various television interviews. For the next five years Peter joined the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagn Masters) Championship, continuing his link with Mercedes-Benz and later joining Opel. A third place in the 2001 championship and race victories in Sachsenring and Lausitzring were his highlights.

Marcel Fässler is a Swiss racing driver.He was competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Mercedes-Benz since it was resumed in 2000.Marcel also drove the F1 Mercedes Safety Car for one event in Canada, while regular driver Bernd Maylander was off due to an injury.Fässler had finished 3rd in 2003 with a Mercedes-Benz CLK before moving to Opel and an Opel Vectra GTS V8 for 2004 and 2005, when the brand retired from the DTM.In 2007, he drove for A1 Team Switzerland in the 6th round of the A1 Grand Prix series held in Taupo, New Zealand, and in the 9th round at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico.

A range of 1/43 Mercedes racing trucks.Our Special Antics price £7.95  - were originally  £15.00

At our special price these models  would make an ideal extra to your collection of model trucks

Paris to Dakar is one of the toughest races around, a marathon race crossing the Sahara desert. In 2000 Mercedes M-Classes participated for the first time and placed first and third in the toughest category - unmodified production class. Philippe Alliot (born 27 July 1954 in Voves, Eure-et-Loir, France) is a former Formula One driver who participated during the years 1984 to 1990 and 1993 to 1994. He raced for RAM, Ligier, Larrousse and McLarenAfter announcing his retirement from Formula One in 1995, he decided to try a career in politics, also did some TV commentary and competed in ice racing and the Paris-Dakar Rally, but ended running his own GT racing team.

Rovanpera took part to his first World Rally the 1000 Lakes Rally in 1993.Harri drove a Seat Ibiza kit car in the 2-litre class of the 1996 World Rally Championship. In 1997 and 1998, the Finn won nine victories in the 2-litre category and scored his first point in the World Championship by finishing fifth in the 1998 Safari Rally. Between 1998 and 2000, Rovanpera competed in around twenty WRC events in a Seat WRC and clinched his best performance in the 1999 Rally of Great Britain when he finished in third place.

The Acropolis Rally has been held for 51 years by the Greek Automobile Union (ELPA), making it one of the longest-standing in world rallying. Due to the nature of the rally, with a mix of rough, twisty mountain stages and coupled with blistering heat and choking dust, the Acropolis Rally is one of the toughest on the world rally circuit. Cars that are used in this race have to be built with extra sturdiness in order to cope with the fast but rock-strewn stages. Drivers and co-drivers also have to contend with the pounding terrain and high summer temperatures which often reach 50°C within the cockpit.

The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as "The Paris Dakar Rally" and now as "The Lisbon Dakar Rally") is an annual off-road race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race is open to amateur and professional entries; amateurs typically make up about eighty percent of the participants.Despite its name, it is an off-road endurance race rather than a conventional rally – the terrain the competitors traverse is much tougher and the vehicles used are true off-road vehicles rather than the modified sedans used in rallies. Most of the competitive specials are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks.

The Rally de Portugal is the largest rally racing event held in Portugal. First held in 1968, the sixth running of the race was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Championship in 1973. It remained on the calendar for the next 29 years, but from 2002–2006 it was no longer a WRC event. However, the WRC will return to Portugal in 2007. Of note was the Turkish Driver Volkan Isik driving a Toyota Corolla who finished 23rd in the 1999 championship.

The pedigree of the diminutive T15 suggested that is was never going to be a race winner. Its small 1.5 litre supercharged 4 cylinder engine was only capable of 195bhp , forcing the car to be content by playing the role of grid filler.

The Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles - pronounced "mee-lay meel-yah") was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before the war, eleven from 1947). Moss returned to the Mille Miglia in 1957, again teamed with Jenkinson. This time they would drive a 400 bhp Maserati that had a top speed of over 200 mph! Not to be out done, Ferrari produced a model with almost 450 bhp to be driven by Collins and Taruffi. The winner surly must come from one of these three cars. They would be last to leave Brescia. Seven miles out Moss suffered a broken brake pedal and his race was done.

Maserati 450S (built 1956-1958) were nine racing cars made by Maserati of Italy, and used in FIA's endurance World Sportscar Championship racing Between 1956 and 1962, the 450S had 119 appearances, 31 of these being winning.

Peugeot 406 FTCC 1999 Driver. W. David

The 2001 rally season began inauspiciously for Burns - neither of the season curtain raisers, the Monte Carlo Rally or the Swedish Rally, yielded points scores, placing in peril before it had began, the Englishman's title bid. A sturdy fourth place in a rain-drenched Portugal kicked his campaign into action prior to second place finishes on the arresting gravel of Argentina and Cyprus, on both occasions to Ford Motor Company's Colin McRae. Nonetheless, both the Scotsman and Monte Carlo victor Tommi Makinen were later to hit upon snags of their own - and, one victory over McRae later, this time in New Zealand, on Sunday November 25, 2001, Burns became the first Englishman to win the World Rally Championship. Richard drove his Subaru Impreza to third place in the Rally Of Great Britain. When Richard passed the finishing line at the final stage of the final rally in 2001 the famous words popped out of Richard's mouth paying tribute to his codriver Robert Reid: "You're the best in the world".

The Corolla WRC car was first introduced in the Monte Carlo WRC event in 1998. Toyota officials stated that during its development stages the car was already 0.7 sec/Km faster than the Celica on tarmac! The Corolla WRC has proved a very competitive car and ultimately made it to become World Champion. The car vaguely looks like the street Corolla version but the resemblance stops there. It was a 4WD turbocharged monster (whereas the commercial Corollas are 2WD and have no turbo engines), which was compact and powerful enough to defeat any competitor. To produce a Corolla WRC chassis from a street version chassis, 400 work hours were necessary. A total of 57 Toyota Corolla WRC cars left the TTE workshops between 1997 and 1999. Among these 33 were used by the works team while the other 24 were sold to private teams.

Rally of Monte Carlo:- The Principality of Monaco kicks off the 2000 World Championship on Thursday in what promises to be one of the most closely fought seasons for years. Mitsubishi's Tommi Makinen will be aiming to clinch an unprecedented fifth world title but Ford and Subaru both have strong line-ups. The Rally of Monte Carlo will be decided over 15 special stages Toyota may have withdrawn from the championship but Cologne-based Toyota Team Europe are still supplying cars to private teams. Bruno Thiry will drive a Corolla entered by Italy's Grifone Team and Henrik Lundgaard and Oliver Burri will compete in privately entered vehicles.

A return to the classic route sees the rally begin once again in France and end in Senegal. The organisers return to the core values of the rally to once again make it one of the toughest rallies on earth. Assistance by aircraft was greatly reduced, requiring teams to have assistance vehicles. Jutta Kleinschmidt rises above the rest to become the first woman to win the rally. The German driver Jutta Kleinschmidt has become the first woman to win the Paris-Dakar rally, after the final stage in the Senegalese capital. The Mitsubishi driver beat her Japanese teammate Hiroshi Masuoka, while the winner of two previous years, Jean-Louis Schlesser of France, finished third.