Opel Astra V8 Coupé

The 2000 season of the DTM (German Touring Car Championships) thrilled European motorsports fans with plenty of fender-to-fender action unfurled by three major car manufactures: Mercedes-Benz, Opel, and Audi. Building on this excitement for the 2001 season, the race format was changed from two 100km races on the same day to one 35km super sprint qualifier race, followed by the 100km main race with mandatory tire change. As in the 2000 season, Opel entered eight finely tuned machines in the race. Various improvements were made to some of these machines including extended wheel bases and modified aerodynamics. Although the basic form of these racecars did not differ greatly from the production version of the Opel Astra, some were given large bumper spoilers, over-fenders, side-skirts, rear-wings, and other race-oriented goodies. But perhaps the most salient characteristic of the 2001 cars was the gull-wing doors that opened and closed via roof-mounted hinges. The machines were equipped with 460hp outputting 4-liter V8 engines, which transferred power to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential transmission. Behind the wheel for one of the three machines entered by Team Holzer was expert driver Joachim Winkelhock in his vivid orange colored machine. Although Opel Team Holzer had a difficult time obtaining noteworthy race results during the first half of the season, the team's winning potential was revealed when Winlkelhock took 4th place during the 5th race at Norisring, where the cars battled it out on public roads closed to traffic. 1/24 scale, total height: 196mm, total width 81mm. Model replicates machine driven by Joachim Winkelhock under Opel Team Holzer. Gull-wing style doors can be smoothly opened and closed even after assembly via metal hinges. Parts for propping up gull-wing doors have been precisely recreated in this model. Roll-cage and car-interior have been replicated with the utmost authenticity. Taillights employ transparent, clear red, and clear orange parts. Metal transfer marks are included for grille, emblem, bonnet and door-catch.