May 30, 2014

Back from an exciting Memorial Day weekend in Indianapolis. Sunday's race was one of the most competitive on record. Perfect weather, two full hours without a yellow, great performances by Karem, Bell, Busch, Carpenter and others set the stage. Then the late race duel between Ryan Hunter-Reay and Elio Castroneves and the second closest finish in the 98 runnings of the Indianapolis 500. It brought back memories of some of the great 500s of the past: Johncock/Mears in 1982, Mears/Andretti in 1991 and Unser/Goodyear in 1992.

Great stuff. Buy your 2015 tickets early!

This year's Indy Memorabilia Show (IMME) was a huge success. The aisles were crowded with buyers all day in the Pagoda Plaza Pavillion and smiling collectors and vendors could be found everywhere. Our book signing for 'Black Noon: The Year They Stopped The Indy 500' with author Art Garner was a complete sell-out. The buzz on this book has been tremendous since its release earlier this month, some calling it the most important racing book of 2014. Art Garner kindly signed a few extra bookplates for us at the Show, and these will be inserted into copies when our restock shipment arrives. Reserve HERE.

Another book we were asked about quite frequently at Indy was 'Beast' byJade Gurss, the story of the top secret Illmor Penske engine that shocked the racing world and dominated the 1994 Indianapolis 500. That shipment did not arrive in Indianapolis in time for the Memorabilia Show but we have been told to expect delivery in the next week or so. You can reserve your copy HERE.

BBR has announced a 1/18 scale #3 Corvette C7R to commemorate the first IMSA win by the new Corvette at the Long Beach round of the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship series in April.

After earning pole position, defending GT drivers champion and Corvette Racing's Jan Magnussen and co-driver Antonio Garcia led all but one lap to score the first win for the latest evolution of the racing Corvette in the highly competitive GT LeMans class.

The model (resin, no openings) will be delivered on a hand-stitched numbered leatherette base with a clear dust cover, as seen here. A late summer release is expected. Reserve HERE.

A North American Auto Show (Detroit) C7R Launch version is expected later in the year, along with the 2015 ZO6 in three colors (Velocity Yellow, Silver Shark & Cristal Red - click on a color to order). All will be delivered in the special Luxury packaging described above.

The US Distributor has set a June 6 deadline for advance orders on these new BBR models. We will honor a $495.00 pre order price on reservations made by that date. No deposit required.

For those of you who ordered BBR's 2014 Stingray Coupe in Torch Red last year, we've been told they will (finally) arrive in the US in June. These have been shipped with 'standard' packaging. We have one piece available, priced at $325.00.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Ayrton Senna, a new book focusing on the time Senna drove for Team McLaren has been written by journalist Maurice Hamilton. Many books have been written since that freak accident at the wheel of a Williams 20 years ago, but none captures the warm relationship Senna had with McLaren, the team with which he enjoyed his greatest successes. 'Ayrton Senna' paints a picture of the sport's most charismatic driver through the voices of the people who knew him best; the team-mates, engineers, mechanics and management personnel who were part of the McLaren family during Senna's six seasons with the team. Although 'general' US distribution will not come together until later this year, we have contacted the Publisher and will have copies in stock by mid-June. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Ayrton Senna Foundation. $64.95. Reserve HERE.

In other model news, the 1/18 scale Minichamps Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W04 (2013) of Hamilton and Rosberg arrived this morning and are priced at $135.00 each. Few remain.

The next batch of new arrivals from Spark, Fujimi and TSM Model can be found HERE.

We'll be heading back to Indianapolis in a few days to participate in what looks to be one of the biggest - if not THE biggest Vintage racing event ever to be held in the US. We're hearing between 700 and 800 cars will be running on both the oval and road course next weekend in the Inaugural SVRA Brickyard Vintage Invitational at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It should be something!

Look for our display in Gasoline Alley Garage C31.

- Paul

WE WILL BE CLOSED SATURDAY, JUNE 7. SEE YOU AT INDY!

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