GRAN BRETAÑA - MRE NOS PRESENTA LO NUEVO DE CARRERA EN NUREMBERG 2020

MRE Nuremberg Report CARRERA It is usually a pleasure to visit CARRERA at Nuremberg - a real racing car at the entrance, several very pretty Carrera girls to greet and entertain you, and a chance to have your lunch, drinks and snacks when you visit. Not this year though ! The first job was to find where they had gone, the usual huge stand in Hall 6 had disappeared. In fact they were now located at the far end of the world, the furthest extremity of Hall 12 which is a 20 minutes walk away. The reason is that Carrera are now sharing a stand with Revell, as both companies are now owned by the same parent. So, a smaller stand, far away, and less amenities. Lets hope it was interesting inside. A small Carrera Digital track was on show, with various cars available to demonstrate and drive - OK but not as exciting as in the past. The car ranges were displayed in basically three tiers, one each for 1/24 scale and 1/32 scale digital cars, and another for 1/32 scale Evolution analogue cars. CARRERA concentrates hugely on 1/24 scale and we always look forawrd to new cars. This year the highlight is the Lola T70GT, presented in blue Sunoco livery and the yellow car driven by Jo Siffert. New versions of the classic Ferrari 512S and Ford GT40 will be available as well. Other eye-catching 1/24 cars included the Zakspeed Capri in the brilliant Mampe livery , and the Ford GT-E in a couple of 2019 racing liveries, Motorcraft and Ecoboost. During my visits I was able to have a chat with the chief development manager and ask about the questions I asked a year ago - why has the Ferrari 512S not been reproduced in 1/32 scale to pair with the Porsche 917, and why isn't there a 1/32 model of the Pink Pig that is only available in the larger size ? As he has only been in the job a month after coming from a model railway background, he wasn't aware of the questions or any issues with the car ranges, but did say he hadn't seen any plans to address them. Shame - the Pink Pig would be a nice addition to the range that already includes the sister Rothmans Porsche from Le Mans. On the 1/32 scale displays, there are as usual several models that will only be available as digital versions. These include the latest incarnation of the real Porsche 935 in Martini livery, and an original type Porsche 935 K3 in the pink scheme of Artz, plus a few others. Other new toolings will be available as analogue cars as well, some with unique liveries. On to the brand new 1/32 scale cars, and CARRERA were promoting the Ford Mustang GTY, the Porsche 935 GT2, and the Aston Martin Vantage GTE cars. Two liveries on each except for the reissued Capri which will only appear as a DRM car from 1975. Most previous releases have new decorations, although they are split between digital and analogue models. See the full list on the MRE website for how they will look and what system they will use. As the CARRERA digital cars are special orders for the UK in both scales, we are only showing the ones with unique liveries on the MRE website to avoid duplication. Please email us if you want anything different..... The new models need some extra discussion. The real Porsche 935 GT2 car has been on track and is expected to make a big impact this year. There is a digital Martini model, plus one other. It has CARRERA and REVELL sponsorship stickers on it, so an obvious choice for a slot version, see further down this report. It will be a welcome addition to the increasingly popular GT cars racing in the FIA, ALMS, Blancpain, Le Mans, and GT2/3/4 categories. Spectators have really taken to these classes, mostly because they can identify with real cars and not the specialist LMP1 & LMP2 cars which are pretty far removed from reality now. The Ford Mustang GTY can be seen racing in a lot of places around the world in different categories, except for the popular Australian V8 Supercar series. That car is just a bit too deformed from the standard silhouette to be replicated - SCALEXTRIC turned it down, but CARRERA may try some Australian identities in the future. As expected, our friends in the USA are very happy to see it. Likewise with British fans who are pleased with the announcement of the Aston Martin Vantage. Here is another GT car that has lots of potential as it is racing with lots of liveries, and CARRERA will be releasing two versions this year. Back to our American friends, and some delight with the reintroduction of four classic muscle cars. The high-wing General Motors icon is coming back as both the Dodge Charger Daytona and the Plymouth Superbird. Backing them up are the Dodge Charger 500 and the Plymouth Roadrunner, all in new liveries and available as digital and analogue versions. A Ford Torino Talladega remains in the range from last year. Finally on the car displays was the ubiquitous CARRERA truck. Long slated for not being 1/32 scale, or indeed a model of anything at all, it now becomes an Emergency Ambulance vehicle. Only as a digital model with its lights and sirens, and this year including a figure of a nurse in a miniskirt, collectors will be keen but it is a very limited market. One of the nice things about CARRERA is their facility at CARRERA WORLD. Once again I had my invitation and trotted along one night for some behind-the-scenes gossip and some racing. Of course the free food and drink had nothing to do with it - this was strictly business ! On show this year was the real Porsche 935 GT2 car, looking just like a Richard Petty STP car in blue and red, but proudly showing its model sponsors logos. As usual during Nuremberg week the whole venue is taken over for company guests, and tables were laid out with free drinks and gifts - I came home with a REVELL radio control car in HO scale presented in a drinks can. Nice food, good company, slot car racing, and able to browse the whole CARRERA and REVELL ranges - what a nice way to end a hard day. Many thanks to Pete Binger of the Hobby Company, the UK distributors of CARRERA, for help with products and CARRERA information. Pete was also proud to announce that CARRERA logos will appear on another real racing car this year, alongside another of the Hobby Company distributorships, TAMIYA plastic model kits. The Dragonspeed Oreca 07 LMP2 car will be competing in the ACO European Le Mans series. You can see all the 2020 CARRERA releases and make your advance orders here : CARRERA 2020