As usual, Exoto has excelled itself with this superb model of the Ferrari 312B, as driven by Jacky Ickx in the 1970 Mexican Grand Prix.
The 312B was introduced by Ferrari for the 1970 season with a new horizontally opposed or "flat" 12 cylinder engine. The "B" in the cars designation referred to the "Boxer" layout of the engine. The idea behind the boxer engine was that it allowed the height of the engine to be lowered to allow more air to the rear wing.
1970 was a good year for Ferrari and for Ickx, the Belgian driver finishing 2nd overall in the Drivers championship. His win in Mexico was his third of the year, and his team mate Clay Regazzoni came 2nd, making it a Ferrari 1-2.
The man who did win the championship that year was the ill-fated Jochen Rindt. The Austrian was killed in his Lotus 72 near the end of the season while leading the championship. No other driver managed to overtake his score in the final races, and so he became the sports only posthumous champion to date.
As usual with Exoto, the level of detail on this F1 car is incredible, as is the general finish and paintwork. The tire valve stems are represented as are all twelve plug wires on the engine. Of note however, one of the leads had come adrift of it's mounting, but was easily pushed back into it's place. The figure of Ickx (better known for his sports car racing career, with a record number of LeMans wins) is realistically reproduced, and greatly improves the appearance of the model.
85.75%
