The Mazda 787B has gone down in racing history as a legend. It is the only Japanese car that has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And it is the only Rotary-powered car to do so at that. And all that is still true as of current writing.
The model that I have with me is the Le Mans-winning number 55 car. This is a Tomica Limited Vintage Neo model, and that means you can expect nothing less than the very best of what Tomica/Tomytec has to offer. And indeed, it does not disappoint.
It comes in a bigger box than your normal TLVNs and the top flap is adorned by hand-drawn art of the car. It appears to be on Mazda’s Laguna Seca raceway, but I can’t be 100 percent sure so don’t quote me on that. Kudos to Nakajima-san whose signature appears together with the art. Unfortunately, I can’t read Japanese text so I can only assume that the cover introduces the car as the Mazda 787B 1991 winner of the 24 Hour of Le Mans.
Open the flap and a display window only teases with the three parts that the model comes in. The main body and chassis come with the engine, suspension, cooling system, and enormous wing. Beside it are two race car panels to cover the front and back of the half-naked race car. And since this is number 55, you can already see the orange and green RENOWN livery screaming at you even at this bullish 1:64 scale.
Taking it out of the box gives you a substantial feeling die-cast model. The metal on this thing feels very much premium. The level of detail on the plastic mould is what you would expect of a TLVN model. There are supposed to be 2 aerials that need to be attached to complete the car, but I didn’t put those in for fear of eventually losing them. The two panels attach perfectly on the car and you are rewarded with a fully built race car. The wheels are also what you would expect from a TLVN model, which are a pretty darn accurate representation of the wheels on the actual car. Again, the level of detail on this small scale is amazing. The livery, sponsor decals, internal parts, even the headlights all come at you with great presence.
Then again, you do pay a premium for this car. But as a collector and a Mazda nut, it has been worth every penny.
Toy Box Garage 