1:18 scale 1970 & 1971 PORSCHE 917K

This pair of Porsche models is so nice that we found it hard to choose between them… and so may you. Will it be the red-and-white winner of the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours or the Martini-liveried car that won the following year?

The 917K (for kurzheck, or ‘short tail’) debuted in 1970 and the Porsche-backed Salzburg team’s car no.23, driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood, beat the official works team to first place. For 1971, Porsche Salzburg sold its cars and race equipment to Martini, which duly won that year’s event with a magnesium-chassis 917K in the hands of Gijs van Lennep and Helmut Marko. Externally, the biggest difference between the 1970 and ’71 winners is the twin rear fins on the later car.

Aside from an oddly applied ‘22’ decal on the right-hand side of the Martini model (covering up a mistake?), the finish of both cars is excellent and the detail superb, right down to the fixings for the headlight cowls. Picking just one will be a tough call.

1957 Ferrari 250GT Speciale

Matrix £97.95

Holland’s Prince Bernhard ordered one of two ‘special coupés’ by Pinin Farina; it wa s originally painted black, as here.

2020 Bentley Continental GT3

TrueScale £95.95

With its complex decals and superfine details (note the roof aerials), this US race-car model is state of the art.

1979 Lancia Beta Monte-Carlo

Spark £58.95

The dramatic black-and-white livery of a Silverstone Six Hours turbocharged Beta has been brilliantly reproduced.

1969 McLaren M12

Marsh Models £197.95

Made in England, this handbuilt is a neat replica of the car run by Chaparral for John Surtees at Bridgehampton.

1950 Ferrari 195 Inter

Kess £89.50

Early Ferraris were remarkably understated machines, typified by this fine model of a Ghia-bodied 195.

2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S

Minichamps £59.95 All-over black does nothing for the Taycan’s shape, as this blob of a model – accurate though it may be – proves.