DOPPLER WOULD HAVE BEEN grinning from ear to ear, as it were. The sound was a turbo howl that bounced off the dry hills at Laguna, found its throat in the sandy corners of the roadway, and arrived in furious full surround. Someone had uncorked something hellacious, and it was Headed. This. Way. 

Then, the visual: Roaring out of the chute from the Andretti hairpin and exploding around turn three, impossibly low and impossibly red - a white ribbon along the sides and “Coke” on the front; just enough time to read that and the driver’s already gathered up the car, the sound hitting like direct hammer blows as the car streaks away under the giant half-tire bridge. And in the next second, one of Bob Akin’s Coca-Cola Porsche 962s is gone again, leaving its echoes twisting behind as it shoulders into turn four, and out of sight.

Whether you’d seen them back in their various heydays, or, as we had, at the Monterey Historics this past August, the Porsche 935 and 962 race cars that wore Bob Akin’s Coca-Cola livery always make for an impressive sight. And now, by virtue of a groundbreaking agreement between the real kings of pop and TrueScale Miniatures, that sight will be a whole lot easier to take in. The cars - and that livery - are being replicated in 1:43 and 1:18.

We only had a short time to take in all of the models as a group; TSM was knee deep in face-to-face licensing meetings and needed the samples (save for one of the 1:18 cars) back quickly for a hands-on final approval review in Atlanta. That’s the kind of clout a licensor like Coca-Cola can wield, and we knew we had a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it in.

So, here’s the upshot: The larger diecast cars - they being a brace of 935 K3s, from Daytona in 1980 and Le Mans in 1981, replicating two of the late Mr. Akin’s more famous rides, will be joined, as time goes by,  by several other high-quality resin models in 1:43. These smaller cars will be a Porsche 962s in both long and short-tail configuration, replicating the cars that raced at Daytona in 1985 and won at Sebring in 1986, respectively, and the 935 K3s from Daytona and Le Mans in 1980 and 1981, successively. Throw in yet another 935 - this one, in IMSA Mid-Ohio config from 1982 (not reviewed here), and yet another 962 a la IMSA Mid-Ohio 1986 (not reviewed here), and you’ve got a truly impressive lineup with eye-popping color and variety. 

Did we mention the 1:43 Goggomobil? They’re even doing the team pit row transporter in scale, right down to the famous bottle graphic on its side.

Hey, why not? The TSM crew did much bowing at the waist and jumping through hoops to secure the license, so it seems a good idea to get the most out of the deal. Which, from sourcing tools to gathering up licenses, is something these guys seem to be very good at. The larger cars are yet another re-pop of the fabled Carousel 1 mold sets - the very same castings that have yielded many 935s for the Chino, California company. But that doesn’t mean that TrueScale hasn’t toiled like Trojans to get the details and features right. Both of the 1:18 cars are impeccably well realized, with flawless paint and a hybrid mix of thick tampos (necessary when applying white over red) and decals. The fitment of the doors and lift-off boots and rear decks is accented by painted-on detailing around the greenhouses. Though some of the vents represented on the cars’ sloped noses or hammered-out fenders aren’t actually punched through the surface, they’ve been deco’d well with a deep flat black. This goes very well with the cast-in scoops that do offer a through-the-body experience, including the screened area in the nose and the NACA ducts on the rear fender tops of both cars.

Open the panels - any panels - and there’s a slew of well-cast (and even better painted) detail parts. At the front, that includes a cool set of tanks cast to look like fiberglass; these are fully piped and secured beneath a brace. Go to the rear, and the flat six is equally well contained behind silvered styrene frame elements. This is where TSM really gets the most out of the castings. From the straight ahead detail of the cast plastic linkages to the sublime heat effect painted onto the complex, multi-piece twin-turbo’d exhaust, cast-in detailing has been perfectly mated to slick paint and masking and joined by hoses, wires, and real rubber drive belts for the alternator and the water pump (the cars’ 3.2 liter, 950 horse engines featured water-cooled heads). Duck inside for a look at rubber-wrapped roll cage bars and struts, a full dash, fabric and photoetched harnesses, and a few tidy detail pieces attached to the pod containing the shifter and turbo controls. Favorite sights? The heat-mellowed twin pipes emerging from beneath the rear bumper on the Daytona car and the stainless braid that’s running almost everywhere on the hoses; the spring steel ducts that run below the Daytona racer’s tail, and the finesse of the BBS wheels, with steel brake discs behind them, on both cars. These are pretty little beasts, for sure.

So are the equally toothsome 1:43 models, all of which came to the party wearing great paint and decoration, and bodies that were tweaked with what seemed to be the correct scoops, slats, and decorations. On the long-tail 962 from Daytona, that meant a larger turbo “bump” on the rear deck and a neatly screened pair of scoops in the doors, as well as a delicate wiper arm and neat BBS wheels. Only a skewed headlight cover marred this pre-production car, which also featured a full interior. We chalk that up to this sample’s many travels; we’ve always been impressed with TrueScale’s build quality in production. Ditto the detail and finish on the short tailed Sebring-winning car, which also featured photoetched bracing below its rear wing and cooling vents in its side glass.

The 935s were maybe a little cooler - mostly because we could A/B them with the 1:18 cars so readily. The stances were great, as were the braced, well-turned-out interiors and their finishes. Decals were the norm, here, but that’s about what you’d expect from models that will be as limited as these will be. We liked the steel skirts on the 2nd place 1982 Daytona car, and the photoetched screening each model wore in its nose.  The decos are killer - in fact, TSM had to go to the mattresses on more than one occasion to prove their correctness to Coke’s Atlanta brass - which they did with several reams of historical photographs and documents.

Overall? From the little visor on the Goggo’s roof to the oil lines running to the 1:18 turbos, this is a great set of models . The 1:43 cars lack the finesse of high-end hand builts, but the finish and presentation of the cars is excellent throughout, and they display beautifully. The larger cars are proven winners with the Porsche collecting crowd already; add in the distinctive liveries and they become desirable all over again. Our only complaint is the lift-off boot and deck lids; we would up toasting the spoiler on our sample by dropping it. Magnetic catches might be a good idea going forward.

Other than that, the only thing we can think that’s missing is that sound. Given TrueScale’s propensity for cleverness, we’re thinking that can’t be too far away.  - CRM

TrueScale Miniatures’ 1:18 and 1:43 Porsche 935 / 962; 1:43, typically $70.00, 1:18, $175.00. Check www.truescalemini.com for final pricing and availability.

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