- Honda has revealed a startlingly detailed scale mode of its legendary RA272 F1 car.
- The model is available two sizes, each individually numbered with certificate of authenticity.
- Models will first be made available for purchase at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering on August 15, before online sales begin
To compliment its lucrative sideline in flogging off old racing engines, Honda Racing Corporation has announced an extremely limited run of "premium" scale models of the legendary Honda RA272 (chassis #103) Formula One racing car, honouring the very car that won Honda its first F1 victory at the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix.
Available in two scales, 1:18 and 1:8, Honda is calling the model a "meticulously crafted collector's item" and is producing it in partnership with UK scale model specialist Amalgam Collection. The model features an authentic painted livery, hand-built bodywork, and more than 1600 "precisely engineered" parts, most excitingly including a fully replicated Honda V12 engine.
Founded in 1985, Amalgam Collection produces "unrivalled examples of the world's most iconic and luxurious cars at scale made using the finest quality materials" and says its team of craftspeople are "recognised worldwide as makers of the finest hand-made large-scale models."
For cars they have already modelled at 1:8, Amalgam offers a tailor-made service, customising a model to perfectly match the specification of an owner's real car, but for "unique very high value cars" the company offers even bigger 1:5 or 1:4 ‘one-off' model builds from their UK workshops in Bristol, England.
Amalgam Collection will digitally scan a car "wherever it is in the world" and take up to a thousand pictures of every detail, allowing them to perfectly and accurately replicate everything at scale, which is what it id for the creation of the RA272 model, travelling to the Honda Collection Hall in Motegi, Japan to get accurate digital scans of the original car which allowed them to perfectly recreate every detail at scale.
The patterns for the model were created using the digital scans captured in the Honda Collection Hall, along with hundreds of in period photographs of the original car during the 1965 season and specifically as raced in the Mexico GP.
The patterns were then used to create silicon rubber moulds, with prototyping resin being used to cast the parts from them. Around 20 to 30 parts can be cast from each mould before a new one must be created.
Honda says each 1:8 scale model is built from 1600 parts including castings, photo-etchings and CNC machined metal components, and that genuine car paints and archive colour references were used to spray the bodywork. In total, around 4500 hours were required to develop the tooling for the 1:8 scale model and 450 hours to cast, fit, fettle, paint and build each model.
The 1:8 scale model is limited to just 30 examples and will costs a whopping US$28,995 (NZ$48,665), but if that is too rich for your wallet, the 1:18 scale model costs a considerably more affordable US$1,735 (NZ$2,910) and will be limited to 300 examples.
"This RA272 model is more than a tribute, it's an invitation to own a piece of our motorsport history. Racing is deeply embedded in the DNA of Honda, and this model is a reminder where our success began," said Koji Watanabe, President, Honda Racing Corporation.
Each model will be accompanied by a bespoke display case, certificate of authenticity and commemorative booklet signed by Watanabe. Both will be available for purchase during Monterey Car Week, at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 15-16, with online sales starting soon after.
