NEWS: Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

Flying Lizard's Le Mans tribute
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

For those of you that didn't watch Le Mans this year, Flying Lizard Motorsport released new race liveries for their Porsches and I'm sure you'll agree with me that they're bloody stunning!  If the liveries seem familiar to you then you'd be correct, Flying Lizard Motorsport have based the new liveries around Porsche's famous Le Mans winning Porsche 917K Gulf cars of the 1970s.

So what odds do you think we have of seeing FlySlot release these liveries within 12 months?  Personally I can't wait...

This from Car and Driver: 'The blue-and-orange livery offers a subtle nod to the 1970 J.W. Automotive Gulf 917 Kurzhecks made famous by Steve McQueen’s Le Mans, while the scheme incorporates the names and national flags of all the drivers who have secured overall victories at Le Mans behind the wheel of a Porsche.'

Want to find out more about Porsche and slot cars?

Be our guest and CLICK HERE

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MOVIE: Porsche 917K

Porsche 917K, (chassis 025)
4.5 liter Flat-12, music to your ears.

Just found this amazing video of a Porsche 917K racing at Monza, Italy on YouTube, the sounds is just awesome.

I took the below photo of a Porsche 917LH was taken in the Le Mans Museum in 2011, such an epic car in the flesh.

Want to find out more about Porsche 917 slot cars?

Be our guest and CLICK HERE

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NEWS: NSR Porsche 997/917K

1143AW - Porsche 997 GT - Daytona 2007 Playboy #35 "black"
1153AW - Porsche 997 GT - Daytona 2007 Playboy #35 "green"
1152SW - Porsche 917K - LM Le Mans 1971 #57

NSR are about to release some impressive new Porsche 917K/997 GT liveries at a slot shop nearest you.  I'll be honest and say that I never really enjoyed the Fly Playboy releases that much but did like the Scalextric C2684 Playboy Opel released a few years back.  Like the Scalextric release, these NSR cars look impressive in my opinion, particularly the black livery.

The #57 Porsche 917K was raced by the Zitro Racing Team at Le Mans in 1971 by Dominique Martin (CH) and Gérard Pillon (CH).  Le Mans is considered by some to be the toughest endurance race in the world so its with no shame that the Zitro Racing Team entry was a DNF with gearbox issues.  The blue/white livery is simple but impressive and will work very well on the track in terms of visibility.  

You can read more on the NSR Website Here

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MOVIE: Porsche 917K Goodwood

Some beautiful footage on board a Porsche 917K (and 908/3) at Goodwood hillclimb, what's really interesting (except for the amazing sound of the 917K) is how tight the hillclimb is in places.

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NEWS: NSR's Devotion

NSR's devotion to the highest

standard in slot cars

As a massive classic slot fan I was very excited early on in the year when I heard NSR was going to release the Porsche 917K. The 917K has a huge fan base and has always been the domain of Fly Slot Car Models. If a criticism could be made of the Fly 917K it would be that it takes quite a bit of work (and aftermarket parts) to make them a strong runner on the track. Not a problem we can expect from NSR.

I was recently reading an article from NSR regarding the production of the 24hrs Daytona 1970 Set. I was very impressed with how seriously NSR takes the production of their cars, these guys really love their job and that means we all win.

This article from NSR: 'Dear readers, I have to explain some important things:First of all, please remember always that NSR produces slot cars only for competitions.ALL NSR cars are MADE IN ITALY. NSR is small artisan company producing directly into the factory except paint and tampo. Our costs to buy molds for 1 car only, is about 60.000,00 eur (yes, it is sixty-thousands-euro!!) because all molds are Made in Italy. For this reason we cannot change things as a Chinese wizard could do. Our costs are very high; all NSR employers have regular work-contract, insurance, and we pay royalty to all Companies and Sponsors (as Gulf for example ) that give us licence, as we are not bandit.'

"We LOVE slot cars, and we try every day to make our best. We are not big industry, we are only few guys.So please, before make your comments about details, bigger lights, smaller windows… think always about NSR philosophy: NSR produces competition slot cars racing on the tracks, winning around the World, not to put on the desk! NSR makes slot cars only for competition! To WIN competitions, not to play!We invite you to found on the market for 69,50eur or 75,00eur a slot car (equipped with alu. Wheels and gear, steel axles, bronze oilites, high torque motor…) faster than NSR car “straight of box”!"

"Yes, because NSR cars are absolutely fastest slot cars “out of box”. (some cars without magnet are absolutely a disaster…)  THIS is our mission, our filosophy, and we try every day only to improve performance.Our competitors are not Racer or Fly or other Brands… our competitor are Tracks, Lap Timer, Race result! We think only about performance!I like to explain this first, just because some people couldn’t know how it is difficult this work for a small company as NSR."

"Starting from SET01, all new NSR cars (1030 Punto S2000, 1031 MK IV Usa, 1032 917K Piper) have complete nice detailed cockpit: hand painted driver helmet, belts, gloves; roll-bar, driver, helmet, steering wheel, seat reproduce same colour of real car; also bodies have more and more details then previous years. Always made in Italy, made directly in NSR factory !NSR is well know as manufacturer of high performance slot cars straight out of box. Now it is right time to improve look of NSR models, so our cars will be fast and nice too!"

"The reason is not simply, I try to explain to our clients and fans:Paint and tampo are not made in our factory, and these two steps required very long time; also the final transparent paint has to make very careful, otherwise car is destroyed….Tampo is hand made, it is made by simply hand machine, not by computer-automatic machine.More than extimated time; so we received 500 of n.1 + 500 of n.2 only last 06 december. We worked as devils to assemble cars quickly, but there are many complicated and “extra” steps that required more time (drivers with different helmet, accessories included into same mold produced in more different colours to make nice cockpit, fan, motor, steering wheel, head…) … and we cannot work 20hours day, because quality MUST be high."

We can only hope that production issues for NSR get better as they certainly are producing a stunning looking slot in the Porsche 917K.

Want to find out more about NSR slot cars?
Be our guest and CLICK HERE

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IMMORTAL: Porsche 917K

IMMORTAL SLOT CARS
Fly Porsche 917K - Part II

From time to time, ManicSlots is going to take a look at some of the 'immortal' slot cars that have been produced since the 'Fly' revolution of 1996. In 1996 Fly released the Viper, a slot car that would change the direction of the 1/32 slot car industry forever! Fly let us know that slot cars could actually resemble a racing car and introduced the slot car industry to the 'D' word, detail!

Of all of Fly's releases, the Fly Classic range has to be the most successful and sort after by collectors. Classic slots such as the Porsche 917K, Ferrari 512 and the Lola T70. More recently Fly has released other classics such as the Porsche 917LH and Ferrari 250 GTO but these models have not enjoyed the same success.

Without a doubt, the 'King' of the Fly classic range has to be the Porsche 917K. I have split this edition of Immortal Slots into two parts because there are just too many stunning versions of the Porsche 917K to fit in one post. The slots I've photographed are not the rarest 917Ks available but they are some nice examples. If anyone has some of the rarer 917Ks they'd like photographed and featured on ManicSlots, by all means send them my way. ;)

The number 18 Porsche was driven by David Piper and Gus Van Lennip in the 1970 Le Mans 24h. The car did not finish and retired after 112 laps. The race was won by another Porsche 917K driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood.

The below 917K is the special re-issue of SM3 24hr LeMans 1970 and was released by Fly in 2007 to celebrate their 10th anniversary, (1996 - 2006). The car was driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman, the car did not finish the race and retired after 156 laps.

This from Wikipedia 'For the first time the traditional "Le Mans start" was replaced by an "Indianapolis start". For Porsche's 20th participation, Ferry Porsche himself dropped the tricolor flag at 16:00.'

So where did the 'K' model come from, this from Wikipedia: 'Disappointed by the poor results of the 917 in 1969 and facing a new competition, Porsche contracted John Wyer and the Gulf Team to become the official Porsche team, and also the official development partner. During tests in Zeltweg, Wyer's engineer John Horsmann had the idea to increase downforce to the expense of drag, a new tail was molded with aluminum sheets taped together. This worked well as the new short tail gave the 917 better stability. The new version was called 917 K (Kurzheck).' Kurzheck means 'short back'.

The below 917K raced at Can-Am Watkins Glen in 1970 and was driven by Brian Redman. Brian finished the race in 7th position, his only race points for the Can-Am 1970 season. The race was won by Danny Hulme driving a McLaren M8D #1.

This from Wikipedia: 'Watkins Glen International (nicknamed "The Glen") is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. The facility is owned by International Speedway Corporation. It was long known around the world as the home of the United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for 20 consecutive years (1961–1980), but it has been home to road racing of nearly every class for over 50 years.'

The number 6 Porsche 917K is part of the recently released Fly Team Gulf set, Ref 99046. This set was released in 2007 and is already getting hard to come by. If you have the means to collect one I strongly recommend you do so as the set is stunning and very collectible. You can read a review on the Team Gulf set here: http://manicslots.blogspot.com/2007/11/fly-gulf-team-set.html

Find out more about the 1970 running of Le Mans here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans

You can find out more about the Porsche 917K here: http://www.research-racing.de/917-a.htm

You can find Part I of Immortal Slot's Porsche 917K here:http://manicslots.blogspot.com/2008/02/immortal-porsche-917k.html

ManicSlots Collectibility Score, (non LE 917K): Extremely High!
ManicSlots Collectibility Score, (LE 917K): Off the Scale!

If you like these photos, head over to ManicSlot's Wallpapers: http://manicslots.blogspot.com/2007/11/manicslots-wallpapers.html

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IMMORTAL: Porsche 917K

IMMORTAL SLOT CARS

Fly Porsche 917K - Part I

From time to time, ManicSlots is going to take a look at some of the 'immortal' slot cars that have been produced since the 'Fly' revolution of 1996. In 1996 Fly released the Viper, a slot car that would change the direction of the 1/32 slot car industry forever! Fly let us know that slot cars could actually resemble a racing car and introduced the slot car industry to the 'D' word, detail!

Of all of Fly's releases, the Fly Classic range has to be the most successful and sort after by collectors. Classic slots such as the Porsche 917K, Ferrari 512 and the Lola T70. More recently Fly has released other classics such as the Porsche 917LH and Ferrari 250 GTO but these models have not enjoyed the same success.

Without a doubt, the 'King' of the Fly classic range has to be the Porsche 917K. I have split this edition of Immortal Slots into two parts because there are just too many stunning versions of the Porsche 917K to fit in one post. The slots I've photographed are not the rarest 917Ks available but they are some nice examples. If anyone has some of the rarer 917Ks they'd like photographed and featured on ManicSlots, by all means send them my way. ;)

This silver limited edition is the S81 Porsche 917K Roadcar 'Conde Rossi'. This from Wikipedia; 'Astonishingly, despite the car's impracticality, at least two 917s were road-registered. One, for Count Rossi of the Martini concern, was painted silver and given the Alabama plate 61-27737 to circumvent red tape in Europe, and the second, for Joachim Grossbad, was painted white and given the German registration CW-K 917.'

The Conde Rossi is truly a beautiful example of Fly's 917K and can still be found occasionally on ebay and is still stocked by a few slot shops. Whether you race them or shelf them, I advises collecting any Fly 917K and therefore strongly advise the limited edition versions. Apart from being very collectible, they will soon become the flagship of your collection. No serious collection is complete without at least a few.


The below 917K is from the Fly Team 12, Porsche Martini Racing 2 car set. It is also known as the ‘Psychedelic’ Team Set because of the outrageous paint finishes the cars have. The first car in the set is the #3 917LH which raced at 24 hours of LeMans in 1970 and was driven by Willy Kauhsen. The second car, (photographed here) is the #31 917K which raced at the Monza classic endurance race in 2004 and was driven by Juan Barazi.

The Fly Porsche Martini Racing set is still occasionally available, but commands high prices as it is a team set. Prices are around the $US250 mark.

This from Wikipedia: 'The Porsche 917 is a racecar that gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. Powered by the Type 912 flat-12 engine of 4.5, 4.9, or 5 litres, the long-tailed version was capable of a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of less than 2.5 seconds and a top speed of over 248 mph (394 km/h).'

'The 917 is one of the most iconic sports racing cars of all time, largely for its high speeds and high horsepower outputs, and was made into a movie star by Steve McQueen in his film Le Mans.' If you haven't already seen the Steve McQueen movie LeMans and you love these cars, then you owe it to yourself to get a copy quickly.

The below 917K is part of Fly's Racing Films Collection and was raced in the 1,000 km Buenos Aires event in 1971 by Vic Elford and G. Larrousse. The recently released LE car comes with a DVD documenting the event and a 20 page book outlining some of the history of the event. Of particular interest is Vic Elford's account of the race which makes for fantastic reading. This race was the first time a Porsche 917K had been raced in the now famous Martini Racing Team livery. Vic set the fastest lap time during the race but was later disqualified for receiving outside assistance, (outside of pit lane).

The DVD details the history of Las Temporadas Argentinas from 1947 to 1972 and has extensive coverage of the 1971 1,000 km Buenos Aires race including the fatal crash that claimed Ignazio Giunti in his Ferrari 312PB. The crash is quite disturbing as Ignazio's car and Jean-Pierre Beltoise's car burst into a massive fire ball on impact. The tragedy is the entire incident would have been avoided if yellow flags had been deployed more effectively.

Enough of the history, I'm sure you'll all agree the Martini Racing Team 917K is spectacular. This car is still available so if you have the means, get one while you can.

You can read the history of the Porsche 917K on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_917

For a more comprehensive history of the 917K and dozens of excellent photos, head over to IMCA here:

1969 http://porsche917.com.ar/index_i.htm

1970 http://www.imca-slotracing.com/Porsche917-1970.htm

ManicSlots Collectibility Score, (non LE 917K): Extremely High!

ManicSlots Collectibility Score, (LE 917K): Off the Scale!

You can view Part II of Immortal Slot's Porsche 917K here: http://manicslots.blogspot.com/2008/02/immortal-porsche-917k_24.html

If you like these photos, head over to ManicSlot's Wallpapers: http://manicslots.blogspot.com/2007/11/manicslots-wallpapers.html

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