1/43 Model Review: 1999 Arrows A20

Background

Arrows made their own engines, based on the Hart engines whom they had purchased, but the car was disappointing and unreliable. Only at the first race in Australia did it show any pace, with De La Rosa scoring a point in 6th place on his debut, with Takagi behind in 7th.

The team joined Minardi with a point to show for their efforts at the end of the year, with only the more competitive but unreliable debutante BAR team not scoring behind them.

At the beginning of the year, Nigerian prince Malik Ado Ibrahim bought a share in the team and t-minus logos appeared on the car for his global brand. But it turned out this venture did not take off and the team received no money at all. The prince had disappeared before the season was out and his payment on investing on the team did not materialise by the September deadline.

Minichamps

Minichamps 430990085

This is the show car, the 1998 car with the launch livery. Personally I loved the shape of the Arrows A19, and in all black it was a pretty car, so forgive me for indulging in seeing it in this post. But I did like the t-minus mirrored logo on the sidepod, with the countdown to something that never happened.

Minichamps 430990015

The A20 looks very similar to the A19, with little money to develop it, and even Brian Hart left the team before the end of the year due to a lack of resources to develop the engine properly. Takagi didn't know English too well and he too left the team at the end of the year. The model itself is a reasonable representation of the car.
Score: 7/10