MODEL CARS XMAS FUN
Kit and caboodle
Pocher model cars are tabletop facsimiles of the real things and coveted by enthusiasts and collectors. John Evans tries not to glue his fingers together
PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN BRADSHAW
Won’t be a sec –I’m just trimming the fuel lines of a Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8, the engine that powered the Lotus 72D Formula 1 race car in which Emerson Fittipaldi scored five victories to claim the 1972 Drivers’ Championship. It’s a fiddly process, requiring each of the vital arteries to be cut to a specific length in order that, once attached to their respective injectors, they can be correctly arranged around the top of the engine.
Okay, it’s not the real engine and these aren’t real fuel lines. Instead, they’re miniature parts from a 1:8-scale model of the legendary car, resplendent in its black and gold John Player Special livery. However, costing nearly £800, the remarkably detailed Lotus may as well be the real thing for all the nervous tension it generates. Who spends £800 on a model car? You could buy a couple of four-day passes to the 2024 British Grand Prix for the same money. Still, this being Chrimbo, what model maker wouldn’t wish to find something as challenging as this Lotus under the tree?