1:43 SCALE WORLD RALLY CHAMP CITROENS ROAR ACROSS A REAL-LIFE 1:1 SCALE DS3 CAR

Citroen is a master of the World Rally Championship (WRC) and the latest rally car to be raced by the French company is the uber-chic DS3 model. To celebrate its many wins, Citroen has covered a road-going DS3 with a 1:43 scale model rally diorama.

INCOMING - AIRFIX FIESTA RALLY CAR, 0/400 BIPLANE BOMBER

It's good to see production cars in the Airfix range, and here's one of the best Euro-hatchbacks around, the Ford Fiesta RS, here produced in its hot WRC version.

BRAVE NEW FORD FOCUS RALLY RACER FROM SIMIL'R - A NEW FRENCH NAME TO RECKON WITH?

Mat Irvine spots something new

It’s a brave move to create a new model kit company these days, but that is what appears to be happening with the new French company, Simil’R. 

WRC Ford Focus

Spotted at a recent trade model show was the first Simil’R kit, a World Rally Car (WRC) version of the Ford Focus. This will be a comprehensively produced injection-moulded traditional styrene kit that will also come with high-detail photo-etch and other metal parts.

CITROEN ROARING TO VICTORY IN THE 2009 WORLD RALLY CHAMPS?

If you’re into rallying and the World Rally Championships (WRC), then Frenchman Sebastian Loeb is likely to be one of your star drivers. He’s currently World Champion, having been at the top no less than FIVE years running. But not even the reigning champ gets it right every time, as the video shows. At the Greece rally stage this year, Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elana barrel-rolled a spectacular five times before coming to a halt - unsurprisingly the car was a right-off, but both men were unharmed, which says a lot for the construction of their Citroen C4. The road version is a tidy little machine (Loeb and Elana drive a three-door coupe) that comes from the showroom fitted with a modish central digital instrument display and mini-spoiler built into the two-part glassback tail.

For model fans, the rally scene is well catered for, and there are rally cars in most standard scales and at hugely varying prices. By and large, vehicles with the latest markings are most expensive, with prices falling as they become ’last-year’ models. Diecast collectors are spoilt for choice really, but here are ones that look good to SMN.

The Ixo 1:43 scale team pair (top picture) are good little models in 2009 markings. Loeb’s machine is the one he drove to victory in the Cyprus rally - his 50th win. Extremely fine rooftop aerials, Red Bull markings, and the wide rally-style tail spoiler are all included.

The Citroen team waves the flag for France, so it’s good to see Solido from the home country making a decent C4 (bottom). This one’s to 1:18 scale and shows Loeb’s car in 2008. Like many large-scale models, it’s actually cheaper than smaller ones: to grab a bargain you could try the offering on eBay here.

The Ixo 1:43 scale C4 is available from retail and online stores, including Amazon, here.