ManicSlots' slot cars and scenery: GALLERY - MRRC Toyota Celica LB Turbo

MRRC Toyota Celica LB Turbo

GSR Release

The Toyota Celica LB Turbo is a Group 5 special production race car built by Schnitzer via the German Toyota division to compete in the German Racing Championship (DRM). It only competed in the series during 1977 and 1978 but was plagued by reliability issues and only managed to finish twice. It was the only non-German car to compete in the German series.

The race car was built in an effort to compete with the dominant Porsche 935. Based on the first generation Toyota Celica 2000 GT it was extensively modified with plenty of work undertaken on the bodywork to substantially change the look of the car.

Originally the car's color scheme was blue but was changed to red part way through the 1978 season. The cars best result was a 4th place at Nurburgring in 1977. The majority of the time the car barely made 3-4 laps before retiring.

In 1979 the car was taken to Japan to compete in the Fuji Super Silhouette Series and out of five races it retired on four occasions but managed to win the 3rd race.

More recently the car was spotted in a junk yard in Japan - it's current condition is unknown.

The pictured model MC-0008 can be difficult to acquire at reasonable prices due to it's limited edition status. This particular model was sourced for 30Euros from Europe. You can still pickup the blue version (#45, #60 and #68) fairly easily for around $55USD. The red and white version (#1 and #6) is substancially harder to acquire particularly in brand new condition.

I'm sure you'll agree it is a stunning model and quite unique. It is becoming very popular due to it's mean/tough look and it's simple chassis design. With a little bit of effort it can be made to run very, very well. Some of the NZ slot racers have advised that these cars have been easily beating some of the newer Group 5 releases from other manufacturers (most likely with the swapping of running gear to Slot.It or NSR).