This fifth day of Car Week is for black cars, and is also the second Tomica in a row for my selections. Today we take a look at a popular period piece. This is Tomica F24-2, the Lotus Esprit. This casting entered the range in July 1979, and is another fine example of why people embrace this brand:
The angular wedge Esprit - an example of 70s futurism that was in production in various forms for eons, and was likely modeled best in small scale by Tomica. This casting features excellent proportions, ample fine line casting detail, and fantastically sharp tampos. Scale is claimed to be 1:60, as always, likely accurate, and will be called 1:64 for Car Week. As expected, this model features the crisp glazing and springy suspension we know and love from vintage Tomica, but instead of opening doors, it has a different fun feature. There’s a detailed and accurate interior too. From all angles, it is a sight to behold:
Front and rear have similar high detail, the heating element lines in the rear windshield and the cast-in Lotus script adding realism:
The base on this model is plastic, which allows respectable detail. Sharp eyes will catch the fun bit, too:
Here’s the fun part. The little lever on the front corner operates pop-up headlights. Such a cool feature on a casting of this size:
I am definitely glad to have this in my collection. I actually reviewed this years ago, but I figured nobody would remember or mind, and I only have so many black models. I found a wide wheel variant of this casting last weekend, but these photos were already made, so here they are. The gold button wheels coordinate with the gold tampos, and really look like something from the era, so they work. Just a cool car:
Now some 1:1s from bringatrailer.com, car-from-uk.com, and a period promo piece from jpsesprit.com. The gold button wheels work well for another reason - the “World Champion” edition of the Esprit has gold wheels. When I was a kid and had one of these Tomica models (it was old even then), I thought it was just a play on JPS livery, but learned it is a real thing. Black and gold:
