“Dooz-Aw-Sank.”
This is the Peugeot 205 GTI from Minichamps’ new “budget” line, Maxichamps. The idea behind this line is that they’re going to re-release some old castings with the detailed dialed down a bit to help keep the costs under control. (At least they’re being honest about this.) From my perspective, $40-ish seems to be an acceptable price for 1:43 Minichamps-light. The big difference between the two lines seems to be in interior detail...there’s much less definition in the lower-priced cars.
As for the 205 GTI itself: it’s a great little model of a fast-appreciating classic. This is the 1990 version of the car in Malibu Blue, which in the 1:1 world was a limited run color of 300 units. If the hood opened on this miniature (which it does not) we would see the later 1.9-liter engine. Mini- er, Maxichamps have done a fantastic job with all the little trim pieces. The badging on the hatch is especially cool...this is obviously NOT where they cut corners in the name of cost. The late-production wheels are really nice too.
Minichamps have developed a reputation for inconsistent detail and quality over the last decade or so, and in my experience it’s somewhat justified. However, you can count me among the supporters of the Maxichamps experiment. Based on what I’m seeing with the 205, they stack up well against other 43-scale cars in the price range (AA, Ebbro, etc.)