Solido is greeting us with another Porsche – this time a 1977 model year 911 (930) 3.0 Carrera. I have recently reviewed their 964 RWBs which were very good models indeed. Let’s see if the trend continues here, on this 1977 example painted in gulf orange. If orange is not your colour, I am sure other colours will follow as Solido tends to release models in various paint schemes. Personally, I do like the orange as I find it very accurately resembles the 1970s.

For those of you who are new to the hobby and buy models on a budget, I would like to inform you that Solido (www.solido.com) produces a wide variety of budget scale models which will not drain your wallet. All their models on sale today are packaged in a Solido branded box with see-through plastic in the front, top and both sides. All models are crafted in die-cast metal with opening doors. Some come with mirrors attached and others require assembly – I am glad to see that mirrors on this 1:18 scale 1977 Porsche 911 (930) 3.0 Carrera come attached and no additional assembly is required.

Let’s take this classic 911 out of the box and take a closer look. The orange colour does look nice, but my example has a smudge line. It looks like some random black paint on the roof – very unfortunate. When purchasing yours, take a good look to make sure yours has no obvious quality issues like my example. On the positive side, I do like the Carrera script on the side of the car. I think Porsche is doing a very good job adding scripts to their cars and it is a pleasure to see a scale model replicate this. I do like the black frames around all windows as it gives them a nice outline and accurately resembles the original car.

Door shut lines are reasonable for a budget model, however, the real car has a tighter fit. This orange Carrera 3.0 example comes with very attractive rims, which are one of my favourites for Porsches from that time. I think the silver lip breaks the blacks in between the tire and the center part of the rim. Rotors and calipers are visible but not very much as the fan rim design covers most of that detail. This is also true on the real car and I think there is nothing to fault Solido here. Tire tread is present on all four tires, but tire branding is not. I would like to point out the door handle, although it looks very nice on the outside, the real car had an additional small lever on the inside to open the door– this is not present on the model.

Looking inside, you will see a lot of black – the real one was just as black inside. You will only find a few drops of red in the seatbelt buckles at the front and rear seats. I admire the accurate long gear lever – it is amazing how long they used to be back in the day. Floors are finished in plastic and no carpeting or flocking is present. Models in this price range usually do not have this feature.

At the front, I approve the orange turn signals reproduced as separate plastic pieces. There are two black lines around the front bumper and stand out very well against the orange paint. This is again true to the original. I do however think Solido forgot to put two black nozzles on the top of the bumper just above the turning signal. Looking at the front windshield, I think the wipers look very nice but should sit lower in the turned-off position. On the model, they seem to have started wiping the window. Nothing major but should be noted.

At the back, I think the model looks fine but has one major flaw. I like the black Porsche script in between the rear lights; Carrera 3.0 license plate is a nice touch too. All rear lights are painted in the correct colours – nothing to complain about here. The rear exhaust shows depth with the inside of the tailpipe painted black. The rear window has defroster lines, and Carrera 3.0 script below the engine vent adds to the appeal. So what is the major flaw? The engine vent cut out in the diecast is too big and the black engine vent (which is the correct size) does not fill the top! I think Solido designed the rear engine cover for a wing spoiler – this is very disappointing.

To sum things up, l think there are a few shortcomings with this model. The rear engine vent is a huge miss, and the black smudge on the roof tells me that quality control is just a term used very loosely. Everything else on the model is good. Looking at my previous reviews I know Solido can do better. What are your thoughts?