Italeri 1/24 1998 Porsche 911 Hard Top

By Michael Benolkin

Introduction

If you were to ask anyone on the street today to name any model of the Porsche, the leading answer would be the 911 series. Indeed, Porsche has produced more versions of this type over the years than any other Porsche product. The 911 is not the fastest, nor the most expensive of the Porsche family, but it is certainly the series that has put Porsches into the hands of drivers from the Autobahns of Germany to the Interstates of the US.

The 1998 Porsche 911 featured a sleek, aerodynamic body encompassing the standard two-place cockpit and rear-mounted, 3.4 liter six-cylinder engine. The 1998 Porsche 911 is 4.43 meters long, 1.3 meters high, can accelerate from o-100 kph in 5.4 seconds, with a top speed of 280 kph.

Italeri has just released this version of the Porsche line-up with a hard top. The majority of the parts are molded in black plastic, with the body parts molded in a dark blue. Of course the kit includes nicely transparent windows and lenses, and also features chromed wheels.

While there in no separate engine in the kit, Italeri starts construction with a detailed exhaust system that mounts to the underside of the chassis. The kit also includes detailed four-wheel disc brakes and suspension system. The fit of the major parts appear to be spot-on, with no problems observed. The molding of the kit is sharp, flash free, and the body only has the slightest hint of mold-lines on the front fenders – nicely done!

The interior is nicely executed, with two-piece front seats that eliminate the open backs found on some car its. There are a total of 15 parts that make up the interior, which includes all of the pedals, stick shift, emergency brake handle, steering wheel on a detailed control column, and a nicely detailed dash with instrument faces provided as decals.

As with any other modern car project, you'll want to stock up on Tamiya's line of clear acrylic colors – red, orange in this case for the brake and turn signals (respectively). Decals are provided to adorn the 911 with the appropriate logos on the hood, trunk and wheels.

This kit is a beauty, and will be seen as a build-up project within the next few issues. My sincere thanks to Testors Corporation for this review sample.