But two years ago I didn’t have this car, the Yatming Maserati Bora. It’s a classic Yatming, with a metal base, from the golden age of Yatming (wait, was Yatming ever really good enough to warrant having a “golden” age?!? Maybe a “chromed plastic” age is more appropriate....). Anyway, as a kid the real Bora was one of my dream cars, the last of the big V8 Maserati sports cars before Maserati became all about the BMW 3-Series-sized BiTurbos... So with a new Yatming Golden-Age model of a favorite car, its time to determine whether the merits of this model put it into the same category as the best Yatmings?
Lesney’s matchbox also did a Bora model. Unfortunately, while 1970’s Lesney turned out absolute gems of models, like the superb Silver Shadow II, Mercedes 450SEL, Audi Quattro, Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Fury police car, it also turned out a number of oversized duds such as the recently reviewed BMW 3.0CSi (or worse, the Ford Capri) and many others. The Bora was one of the better of the oversized models, but the combination of its size and unfortunate maroon paint conspire to make it a less-than-fully-favored Lesley model. Can the benefits of this Yatming model exceed that of Matchbox, and does it deserve a place on my “Best-of-Yatming” list?
In short... Not Really! While the size of the Yatming Bora is slightly smaller and more appropriate than Lesney’s Matchbox Bora, and while the Yatming has the critical metal base that characterizes many of the higher quality Yatmings, overall the model is not one of Yatmings best attempts. Particularly galling is the plastic chromed front and rear lights/grill/bumper panels, which just look chintzy and plasticky. Given that they are attached to the metal base, it’s hard to see why they couldn’t have been better done as part of the metal base (in dramatic contrast to the excellent metal detailed trim on the Matchbox model).
The bottom of the side door windows were formed poorly, almost looking as if they were incorrectly stamped out, with too much metal remaining in the rear. The models’ typically poor later Yatming plasticky wheels don’t do it any favors. The lack of side mirrors is notable. The body has a few examples of metal detail (air vents, etc.), but even those are offset by poor body lines that just make it look poorly designed/executed. The Yatming relies on somewhat garish graphic stickers to try to add some excitement to the body, an approach that serves only to further cheapen the overall feel. This is a car that feels like a cheap drugstore-brand toy, vs. a high quality diecast model.
In short, this is not one of Yatming’s finest attempts. So obviously it won’t be a top 10 model... but is it good enough to at least crack the top 30? I reviewed the top 30 list from 2 years ago, and in doing so I wondered about whether I even ranked those 30 models correctly. How did the ugly brown undersized Thunderbird deserve a #21 spot, while cleaner Corvettes were in worse spots? But I had a hard time putting the Bora with it’s poorly executed body, ahead of any of the 30 cars making up my list. The top 30 list is safe...
So if it doesn’t make the top 30 list, is it even a worthwhile model to have? For me, the answer is unclear. It feels cheap - definitely an inferior model to the less-than-perfect but highly detailed (and much easier to find) Matchbox model. If you are an avid Yatming collector you might have to have it, but for the rest of us...? I'd advise you not to spend too much time looking for it.
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