Last year, AUTOart stunned us with their 1:18-scale diecast Nissan Fairlady "Devil Z," hero car of the Japanese manga series Wangan Midnight. Well, every hero needs a villain, and in this beloved graphic novel that villain is the Porsche 930 Turbo "Blackbird." In the story, the Blackbird is piloted by a surgeon with a speed jones who takes his modified Porsche to the Shuto Expressway's Wangan section for a nightly dose of high-speed illegal street racing.

AUTOart have picked up the mantle of producing premium-quality diecast replicas of iconic cars from Japanese pop culture. Besides the Devil Z, they've also released arguably the most famous comic-book car of all time, the Toyota AE86 from the Initial D manga, as well as the kitschy-cool Nissan Skyline RS Turbo from the TV police series Seibu Keisatsu. The Blackbird 930 stands to broaden the appeal of this line of pop-culture cars by welcoming Porsche fans into the fold with a superb model that can stand on its own without the halo effect of the cherished comic book that spawned it.

The Blackbird stands out from other 930 Turbos thanks to a few slick modifications. You'll note aero bits including a bespoke chin spoiler, side skirts and low-drag side mirrors. Other performance mods include fender vents, as well as an absolutely enormous intercooler. Inside, there's a roll cage...a necessity when one is dodging dekotora trucks on the Wangan at 200 miles per hour. Also included are gorgeous wheels that mirror the "real" car's 18'' units.

We are still awaiting an estimated release date for the Blackbird 930, but as the car was announced by AUTOart last year, we predict it will arrive late winter or early spring. We will keep customers posted on any release updates we receive, as this is one of the most hotly anticipated 1:18-scale cars in recent memory.