Japanese Senna

Minichamps 1/43 Ayrton Senna MP4/4 Japanese GP

Another car that is exclusive only to the Japanese market. This diecast was available only at the Suzuka track. The car has a lot of details and is a big improvement of their previous MP4/4 release. This model is not a part of the Ayrton Senna collection. It has a special packaging that has a picture of Ayrton Senna.



The McLaren MP4/4 was one of the most dominant race cars in the history of Formula One, thought by many to be the most dominant. It was designed by Gordon Murray, who based the design on his lowline Brabham BT55 car of 1986, and American engineer Steve Nichols.

Before 1988, the most dominant car seen in F1 had been the Lotus 79, however the MP4/4's successes made the Lotus seem almost ordinary. The season was an almost embarrassing walkover for McLaren, who took 15 victories from 16 races, including 10 1-2 finishes. The dominant run was only interrupted once, at Monza, when Senna had an accident while lapping Jean-Louis Schlesser making a one-off appearance for Williams. With Prost already out after a rare engine failure, Gerhard Berger of Ferrari took an unexpected victory. Perhaps the most telling example of the MP4/4's emphatic domination was seen at Monaco that year. Senna qualified an astonishing 1.5 seconds faster than Prost using the same car, while Prost was again a second ahead of the rest of the field. At the end of the season, McLaren had taken both the Constructors' and Drivers' titles (Senna edging out Prost by default - only the eleven best results counted but Prost scored more points with less wins) but the relationship between their two top class drivers had soured, and they would not reconcile until the rostrum of their last race together.
The MP4/4 took 15 wins from 16 races, 15 pole positions, and 199 points, all in a single season.

Fernando Alonso Day

Minichamps 1/43 Fernando Alonso Minardi US Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso visited the Philippines in 2004. Though it was only a short visit, I was fortunate enough to have Fernando Alonso sign my diecast model. I waited for 5 hours to have my diecast signed. A lot of people were there during the Mild Seven event.
It took Minichamps a long time before these 2001 USGP models were released.
Well, the worth was definitely worth the wait as the car was done really well. Too bad they didn't do more cars but I heard that the Jordan of Jean Alesi is in the works.




Fernando Alonso and his Minardi.

Renault R25 with Michelin Man

Minichamps 1/43 Fernando Alonso Renault R25 (Michelin Edition) Japan Exclusive

This model was produced by M Creatives for Michelin. The model was made by Minichamps and was only available in Japan for a limited time. This Michelin exclusive was produced in small numbers.
Trivia: The Michelin’s man is called Bibendum in French-speaking countries, “drinking” in Latin. The first ads for Michelin had something for a slogan as “Michelin tyres drink kilometers”, hence the nickname.




The car is known for its elaborative implementation of the 'shark gills' which were previously used by Ferrari on a smaller scale. Although being usually slower than the McLaren MP4-20 in the second half of the season, Renault took the advantage in the first half of the season where they won the first 6 grand prix.