Honda's racing division is releasing a limited run of highly detailed model cars at Monterey Car Week.
Honda's famous RA272 race car is available in 1:18 and 1:8 scale, with the latter limited to just 30 examples at nearly $30K apiece.
While they're eye-wateringly expensive, the level of quality and detail is world-class.
In October of 1965, Honda's RA272 race car emerged victorious at that year's Mexican Grand Prix, becoming the first Japanese team to win in Formula 1—a historic event. Now, 60 years later, the company can point to numerous F1 victories, including providing the power unit for last year's championship-winning Red Bull R20. To celebrate its first win, Honda will now sell you a scale-sized bit of that history, but it does not come cheap.
Pricey but Realistic
Boy howdy, does it not. Just 30 examples of a 1:8-scale RA272 model will be made, built by Amalgam Collection models of Bristol, U.K., and Honda will charge $28,995 for each one. That's enough for a very nicely equipped Honda Civic (almost enough for the Si version, in fact), and you can actually drive around in a Civic. The scale-sized RA272 is just for looking at.
Having said that, this is as accurate a model as you can get. Amalgam's team was granted access to the actual RA272 at Honda's Collection Hall in Motegi, Japan, where they digitally scanned every detail. It was deeply obsessive work, taking a claimed 4500 hours of development, and stretching to 1600 pieces. Assembling it takes 450 hours.
A More Affordable Model
If you're a die-hard Honda performance fan with a slightly less chunky wallet, there's also a 1:18-scale model that's limited to 300 examples. It's still relatively pricey at $1735, but at least that's more like a freight charge on a full-size Honda rather than paying for an entire car.
Both sizes of the model come with a display case, certification, and a booklet signed by the president of Honda Racing Corporation, Koji Watanabe. They'll both be made available during Monterey Car Week, at The Quail show and the Rolex-sponsored vintage races at Laguna Seca.
Car Week has no shortage of deep-pocketed enthusiasts, so both scales of RA272 models will likely sell out quickly. Amalgam is very well respected in the modelling hobby, and even the 1:18-scale car is finely detailed enough to get a place of pride in any display.
If you miss out or if neither model is within budget, then there is one other option. Tamiya, the longtime Japanese model kit maker, started out with models of early Honda F1 cars and currently offers a 1:20-scale RA272 for less than $50. You'll have to do your own gluing and fine-tuning, though.
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