In This Article
Category:
Classics
1938 Buick Special
1/43rd scale
The Buick Collection
708-246-1543
www.route66modelcarstore.com
$104
When it comes to ubiquity in white metal, The Brooklin Collection's got everyone covered. One of its subgenres is the Buick Collection. While its span of 1934 to 1939 models is a little off-step with our issue theme here, we'll go with this 1938 Special four-door sedan regardless. Sharp, in the right Corot Beige with scarlet rims. That wonderful art deco Buick lettering is cast into the wheel covers. Paint thickness, and evenness of application, looks just about spot on. The highly complex vertical grille is delightfully accurate. Unlike some 1/43rds, this Special looks very good from every conceivable angle. Brasilia Press imported it; the Route 66 Model Car Store in Western Springs, Illinois, has it.
1965 Ford F-100
1/18th scale
Sun Star
800-829-1520
www.diecastauto.com
$42.99
1965 Ford F-100
While lamenting the blowing-away of so many other standbys of life, at least we can be happy the ice cream truck's still around. This jingling standard of summertime is now wonderfully represented in scale. Sure, it's a truck, but a Good Humor truck's as much an element of childhood nostalgia as any old-time car. Sun Star hits all the right details here: mirrors, semi-cab interior, freezer compartment door, refrigeration unit. The signage and lighting are perfect, as are the atypical body contours. From the kiddie days in Brooklyn, we remember these chillers having Ford sixes, not V-8s, but still. Admit it, you want one. Diecast Auto of Friendswood, Texas, will hear your cry.
Recent
Porsche
Perhaps the most impressive tests took place on the famous Nürburgring circuit. Porsche claims that Le Mans World Champion driver Jörg Bergmeister took the wheel, piloting the hybrid-powered 911 around the course in just 7:16.934 minutes, which is reportedly “8.7 seconds faster than the corresponding version of the predecessor model.”
Porsche has not yet released full performance data for the 2025 911, so it’s difficult to say exactly what those comparisons look like. Since the math makes sense, Porsche could be comparing the hybrid 911 to the 992 Carrera 4 GTS, which lapped the Nürburgring in 7:25.632. What we do know is that the 493-horsepower GT4 RS completed a lap at the Nürburgring in 7:03.121 minutes, just 14 seconds quicker than the road-going hybrid.
“For the first time in our icon’s 61-year history, we are installing a hybrid drive system in a roadgoing 911. This innovative performance hybrid makes the 911 even more dynamic,” Frank Moser, Vice President of 911 and 18 said. “We left nothing to chance during development and tested the new 911 under all sorts of conditions all over the world. Whether at a high drivetrain load in the demanding conditions of mountain passes or in the stop-and-go traffic of an urban environment, the new 911 has mastered even the most difficult challenges with aplomb."
Stay tuned for more details on May 28, when Porsche is scheduled to reveal the beginning of a new era, the hybrid 911 sports car.
Like the original, the Elan +2S featured a backbone frame and a fiberglass body. Though still compact by almost any definition of a car from the 1960s, the four-seater was bigger in every dimension. Lotus designers and engineers were tasked with creating a car that “must be capable of transporting two adults and two children 1,000 miles in comfort with their luggage.” The Plus 2’s 96-inch wheelbase was a foot longer than the original. And its overall length of 169 inches was a full two feet longer than the earlier car. Additionally, it measured 10 inches wider and two inches taller. The Plus 2 was still relatively small, itself measuring one foot shorter in both wheelbase and overall length compared to a 1965 Ford Mustang Hardtop.
Those plus-size dimensions greatly contributed to the comfort inside the car, but with road testers of the day still praising the car for maintaining the Elan’s adroit handling. Motor Sport magazine from the U.K. described the Plus 2’s steering as “incredibly light and precise.” In detail, they wrote, “The all-round independent suspension with its racing-like wishbone and link lay-out gives the car superb handling, of that there is no doubt. The glory of it is that you can whip along country lanes with their twists and turns without drama, in complete safety and not working hard while drivers in lesser vehicles struggle to keep up.”
Powertrain
The “big-valve” version of the 1,558-cc Lotus-designed/Ford-based twin-cam four-cylinder engine in the +2S 130 was rated at 126 horsepower and 113 lb-ft of torque, giving the car brisk acceleration, as it weighed a little over 2,000 pounds. A four-speed manual directed power to the rear wheels. Road testers of the +2S and +2S 130 models reported 0-60 mph times at right around, or even just under, eight seconds.
Technically, by 1972, there was no such model as the Elan +2S. Rather, Lotus dubbed the car the +2S 130, or alternatively the Plus 2 130. In either case, despite the obvious origins and former use of the name with the model, “Elan” was dropped from the moniker by that time. The Elan name did reappear the following year. Though Elan production ceased in 1973, the Elan +2 continued through 1974.
Restored Elan +2S 130
The notes on this 1972 Lotus Elan +2S 130 currently listed on Hemmings Auctions indicate that this Plus 2 has been restored, including a rebuild of its original engine and four-speed manual transmission, completed some 3,000 miles ago. The seller shared that the water, oil and fuel pumps were replaced, while the radiator was rebuilt. Additional fresh components are said to be the brake discs, updated Rotoflex drive couplings and wheel bearings, all as part of a chassis rebuild.
The seller reports that the fiberglass bodied was disassembled, repaired and professionally refinished before reassembly. The original brightwork was rechromed as necessary and the original glass reinstalled with new seals. Fresh Pirelli Cinturato rubber was mounted on refinished original Lotus 10-spoke alloy wheels. According to the Classic Lotus Elan Register, this +2S 130 is one of 1,879 +2S and +2S 130 models built out of a total production run of 5,139 Elan +2’s.
Take a look at this 1972 +2S 130 at Hemmings Auctions to see what a right-sized Lotus Elan looks like.
Trending
╳