Introduction: As you can see below, UT's 3 Turbo 911 models display beautifully together. UT picked 3 good colors: Arena Red (burgundy), Silver, and Metallic Black. All 3 cars are basically identical, except for the following items: they all have the same Turbo-look rims, but the Red has silver lugnuts while the Black and Silver use smaller black lugnuts. The Silver is the only one with carpeting (felt-feel material). The Black and Silver were always made with red "Porsche" brake calipers, but the burgundy was made in two different production runs, only the earlier version coming with the red calipers. Most of the burgundy Turbos you see on ebay these days come without the red calipers. How can you tell easily, if the seller's photograph isn't a clear side view image? Look at the photo of the box; in the earlier version, with red calipers, the words "911 Turbo" is printed in basic block letters. On the later versions, without red calipers, those same words are in a cursive script. Naturally, I prefer the version with calipers.

Highs: Excellent replication of the Turbo's aggressive styling, powerful stance, and classically beautiful proportions. I've said it before, I'll say it again: whatever details these UTs might have or lack, one thing that's always perfect is the "look" of the car. They really look like miniatures of the real thing. The high performance low-profile tires on Turbo rims are a big part of the "look", as are the rear spoiler and flared rear wheel arches. I do like that both the front lid and rear engine lid will stay up on their own, making for creative displays. Overall, considering their original retail price point, these are sweet diecasts that would give even the most discriminating collectors a smile.

Lows: Not much underside detail. Interiors are basic: steering wheels, seats, and other parts are hard plastic and only the Silver has any type of carpeting material. Engine isn't much to look at, but that's a function of the design of the real car, not the diecast. Mounting posts are visible in the front fog light fixtures.

Summary: They're not easy to come by, now that UT is defunct. Prices on ebay for the black and silver can range anywhere from $25 up to $60. If you can get anywhere in the lower half of that range, you're getting a bargain and purchasing a diecast with quality equal to or beyond its price. The Burgundy with red calipers is much more difficult to find than the newer ones without calipers; they'll run up to $75 in some cases, while the non-caliper burgundy can be had frequently for $25. I think they make an excellent addition to all but the highest-end collections, especially considering the beauty of the real car and its significance to the storied history of Porsche.

Then again, I might be slightly biased, having had the opportunity a few years ago to drive a 1995 Arena Red Porsche Turbo through the Swiss countryside about 1 hour south of Zurich. My colleague, who owned the car, was demonstrating how quickly the car could accelerate up to 140 mph, then bring it back down to 35 mph as if we'd caught the landing hook on an aircraft carrier. This all happened on rural roads, with posted speed limits of 40-60 kph, with no shoulder and ancient pavement. It was the most exhilarating (and a little scary!) drive I'd ever been on. He let me take the wheel, and frankly, I didn't have the moxy to drive the car like he did, partly because I don't have the experience to really extract maximum performance from a car like that, and also because I couldn't afford to wreck it! I think I got it up in the 120mph range, and my heartbeat up into the 500 beats per minute range. Unbelievable. I think of that experience every time I look at my Burgundy UT. After all, it's one thing to drive a Porsche to work every day, in traffic, on an off the gas, at 30-50mph. It's another to open one up on quiet country roads in Switzerland, passing homes and buildings that are 700+ years old, and hoping that there's some straightaway pavement on the other side of the onrushing blind hill.