A brief look at Minichamps F1 “taxi” cars

After noticing recent eBay resales of the famous Senna taxi by Minichamps in 1:18 scale (Nigel Mansell’s Williams Renault FW14 giving Ayrton Senna a lift at the 1991 British Grand Prix) fetching consistently EUR250+, I thought it would be useful to look at these Minichamps ‘driver taxi’ models.

The Senna ‘taxi’ is actually Mansell’s Williams Renault FW14 1991 British GP version (in 1:43 and 1:18 scales) with a Senna figurine clutching at the airbox and riding on the left sidepod.

The 1:18 taxi model is identical to the standard Minichamps 1:18 Williams FW14 which includes removable front suspension and rear engine cowling (Camel decals separate), the only addition is the extra Senna figure. In 1:43 scale, the cowling is obviously not removable and while the Senna driver overalls is nicely detailed, the proportioning of the arms and legs are definitely on the “skinny” side.

The 1:18 model has a more natural proportioned driver figure and this larger scale model delivers more bang for buck when you consider the 1:43 model resells for around GBP150+.

Other notable ‘taxi’ Minichamps models include:

• Senna Nakajima Lotus Honda 99T 1987 Italian GP (1:43 and 1:18) ~GBP40-80+ (1:43) and GBP200+ (1:18)

The Lotus 99T comes with Camel tobacco livery (also note the detailing including wiring to rear wing).

• Piquet Rosberg Williams Honda FW11 1986 German GP (1:43 and 1:18) – this is a new release model so prices are still decent ~ EUR75 (1:43) and EUR220+ (1:18)

Detailing of the driver figures for the 1:43 Rosberg taxi is good

• Schumacher Alesi Benetton Renault 1995 Canadian GP (1:43 and 1:18) ~USD60+ (1:43) and ~EU160+ (1:18)

The 1:43 drive figurines are a little stiff

Outer display case sleeve

I think the last time a driver hopped a lift it was Fernando Alonso aboard Mark Webber’s RB7 – maybe Minichamps could consider releasing that one…

[Ed note 21 Jan 2021: F1.com posted an official video on F1 taxi rides, which I’ve included here. The last ride was actually Sebastian Vettel hitching a ride in Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber in the 2017 Malaysian GP.  Mind you, the 3 riding of Stefan Johanssen, Rene Arnoux, Philip Alliot on Nelson’s Piquet’s Williams FW11 at the 1986 Mexican GP would be an awesome candidate for a diecast reproduction model!!]