The Adorable Replicas and Kei Cars at K-Car Global 24H Endurance 2019

The human brain loves novelty. So much so that something new can be completely unimportant but still draws our attention. That’s how social media works. There’s nothing really great on it, but you get a constant feed of new things so we can scroll for hours and hours without feeling time pass by. The reason I bring this up is because when I looked back at my photos from this year’s K Car Global 24-Hour Endurance Race, the library was full with pictures of 2 Porsche replicas with Martini Racing Livery. The rest of the cars were equally interesting, but I’ve already seen them back in 2017.

- Here is a link toour report of the 2017 K Car Global 24-Hour Endurance race -

The last K Car Endurance Race in Sepang was in 2017, and during that time, no one really paid attention to this very interesting race. This time, Perodua was present as a Sponsor and more automotive media outlets were present. The crowd was bigger too this time around. I came across the event in 2017 by accident and was lucky enough to get some very interesting shots of the race. I was lucky enough that Team iidacars Pekeske loved my shot of their Ferrari 512M replica and decided to use it as the cover of their printed photo album. They were even kind enough to post this all the way from Japan FOC.

Cover image photographed by yours truly

The main attraction during K Car Global is the interesting line-up of vehicles on the grid. All cars have engine capacities of less than 1.0L and aren’t very huge. There are interesting replicas of legendary race cars with legendary racing livery. Back in 2017, I had the treat of seeing replica Ford GT40s, a replica Ferrari 512M, a replica Alpine M63, and a replica Austin Healey Sprite. They are featured again in this year’s coverage, but let’s talk about these ‘Martini Racing’ cars first. I’ve tried my best to provide you with some interesting photographs from the event and I hope you enjoy them. Keep scrolling.

A Porsche 935 based on a Suzuki Cappuccino (Katz Racing)

The Porsche 935 has a RR layout with a 3.3L flat-6. The Suzuki Cappuccino has a FR layout with a 0.6L in-line 3. Hence it is very unlikely that one would relate those two together. The execution was great though, and this really caught my eye when I got the first tease of this car on a social media post by kcarglobal. The Martini livery is iconic and has adorned iconic race cars such as the ‘Moby Dick’ Porsche 935, the tin-can Lancia 037 Rally car, and the boxy-but-aesthetic Alfa Romeo 155 Touring Car. It was fun photographing this Cappuccino 935 and I thought it looked menacing from certain angles.

A Porsche 936 Replica (Image with T.T.R.C)

Sharing the same livery during the endurance race was what I believe, a Porsche 936/77 replica. It does have a unique silhouette and the kit car can look huge from certain angles. It is only when you see it next to a Suzuki Alto that you realise just how small the kit car really is.

Austin Healey ‘Frog Eye’ Sprite (Team AMS and Team Shiroma)

There were 2 ‘Frog Eye’ Sprites this time. One in orange (Team Shiroma) and the other in Kermit green (AMS). This is the latter with some really serious splitter action. It looks like it’s stuck to the tarmac. However, this ‘Frog Eye’ didn’t manage to finish the race.

Kermit the Frog (Team AMS)

The more poisonous frog (Team Shiroma). Team Shiroma was also present in the 2017 Sepang Endurance race.

An Alpine M63 (CZR Racing)

Prior to the release of the Alpine A110, many modern enthusiasts probably weren’t aware of the brand. CZR racing also participated in the 2017 race, but back then their car didn’t have a rear wing. The Alpine M63, which this kit car is modelled after, also did not have a rear wing like most racing cars in the 60s. If I recall correctly, this ‘Alpine’ did not finish the race in 2017. However, they managed to turn that around this year and lasted the entire 24-hour duration completing 378 laps in total.

New rear wing on the Alpine M63 replica

A Ferrari 512M (Team iidacars PEKESKE)

Also present again this time was Team Iida cars Pekeske with their Ferrari 512M replica. They managed to complete 363 laps in 24 hours. It was nice to see this Sunoco Ferrari replica again since 2017.

A Couple of Ford GT40s (Team Dementia and Team Nuovo Kasai)

If there were more Ferrari replicas, we could have had a Ford vs Ferrari situation at Sepang. Both GT40 replicas revisited Sepang but unfortunately, car number 53 from Team Dementia didn’t complete the race this year. Car number 14 completed 417 laps with the overall fastest lap time of 2:42.377.

More Pictures for you to see

It was a good event with a good crowd. It’s always interesting to see these small cars battle it out. Malaysia and Japanese participation were almost equal. I was just more biased with the replica kit cars (Hence more photos of the Japanese Cars). Here are more pictures. Hopefully we get to have this event again next year. You can always visit the K-Car Global official Facebook page for more information.

Honda Beat from Team Chiba Peanut Racing