The Porsche 935/78, nick-named Moby Dick, has been keenly awaited ever since Carrera announced it earlier this year. The original car was developed with one purpose in mind - to crush all opposition, especially at Le Mans. They weren't successful at Le Mans. Moby Dick was the fastest car that year, recording 227mph! But the 3.2 litre turbo-charged engine was heavy on fuel and too much time was lost in refuelling stops, relegating the 935/78 to 8th place. Martini withdrew their sponsorship at the end of 1978 so Moby Dick retired to the Porsche museum.  

The car certainly looks striking in its Martini livery. Paintwork and tampo-printing are flawless. The colours are really strong and completely opaque with no fading or break-up. The lettering for the various sponsor logos is very sharp and legible despite their tiny size. My only quibble is that the door numbers are possibly a bit too big - hardly a major concern!

The body is fairly neat and tidy, though my car has a couple of (just) visible mould lines. Fit and finish is very good, all the detail parts are precisely fitted. The front light lenses look a little odd, the mounting tabs are visible and I can't help thinking that this could have been done better.  

The roof aerial looks vulnerable and isn't particularly flexible. But it's only a push-fit and is easily removed. Two spare aerials are supplied in the box, along with spare braids and a shim for the rear magnet.

Four (very tight!) screws hold body and chassis together. Carrera chassis usually look rather busy. Front and rear lights, and a reversing switch all connect to a large circuit board. It's a wonder that they can fit it all in!

The important bits are a nice sturdy chassis, solid axles with front and rear brass bearings, standard Mabuchi type motor with 9:27 plastic gearing. Two magnets are fitted - a sliding magnet in the centre of the car and a bar magnet under the rear axle. This can be lowered to increase the 'down-force' using the supplied shim.  

The first run with this car was a bit odd. The car bounced and rattled round the track and I thought the rear axle was bent, or something equally drastic. It turned out that one of the rear tyres had a lump of excess rubber on the inside! With this removed the car ran smooth and quiet.

On Scalextric track the 935 is a lot of fun. Both magnets are adjustable to some degree, so you can set the car up to suit your driving style. With the sliding magnet in its rearmost position and the rear magnet lowered with the shim, the big Porsche is really stuck down. This does cost you some speed on the straights though. Raising or removing the rear magnet, and/or sliding the other magnet forward really does alter the car's handling, so you can have the car stuck down or slide around rally-style, or something in between. The choice is yours.

The car will drift quite nicely, but sometimes that long rear overhang takes over and the car will try to spin. The guide travel is quite limited, so if the car slides too wide the guide reaches the end of its travel and the car de-slots.

The rear overhang also means the rear lights are almost invisible, which is a shame. The fronts are bright blue-white Xenon and look really effective, even if they're not quite in keeping with the original car.

On the routed track the car runs smoothly, but it's not exactly quick. Carrera have something of a reputation for strong but heavy cars, and their motors are quite 'mild'. The combination doesn't work well for my car at least. The original may have set the lap record at Le Mans in '78, but this model won't be setting any records on my track! 

Having said that, it's a fun and easy car to drive. The tyres worked well on my track so it had good traction. Despite its relatively short 71mm wheelbase (overall length is 152mm) it's not a twitchy car. The tail will step out of course, but at sensible speeds it's easy to catch. 

I doubt that this would ever be said of the real thing, but Carrera's 935/78 is a great car for building confidence. It's very forgiving so you can push it quite hard, safe in the knowledge that it won't bite too hard or launch itself into the scenery.

Two minor problems when running the 935. The guide blade is very long and the car got stuck at the tight hairpin (I didn't have this problem on the Scalextric track, the tightest corner is radius 2). I trimmed about 5mm off the guide and this solved the problem. The second problem was the nose lifting over bumps and de-slotting the car. A little weight at the front, around 5 grams, solved the problem.  

The 935/78 is a distinctive and unique car, and Carrera deserve kudos for producing it. The model is well made and nicely proportioned, and with lights as standard. Some may be put off by the fact that it's relatively slow compared to some other brands. But if ultimate speed is your aim, you could get the 935 and a hotter motor for less than the price of a Fly 934.

As it is, it's a very nice car, and fun to drive. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race...

Bigger pics in the Gallery