First announced over five years ago, it appears as if Minichamps’ long-promised 1955 Vincent Black Lightning may soon be hitting the road (#MIN122134600). The manufacturer’s web site is currently showing an October release date, although no photo of the 1:12 scale replica has been posted as yet and no one at the Company will confirm or deny if this is a hard-and-fast roll out date.

So here’s where we stand with this hotly anticipated bike if it should show up. For anyone that has already pre-ordered the bike, be it five years ago or yesterday, we will be selling the ride for $144.99 less a 15% sales discount. Our dealer cost has gone up substantially since this bike was first announced half a decade ago, so this is going to be the best we can do in terms of pricing. We will not be offering free UPS ground shipping, since the revised price falls below our free shipping threshold of $140. You can, of course, add other merchandise to your order to clear the threshold, thereby getting free shipping to boot (so long as the ship to address is within the lower 48 States). Now, since many of the pre-orders have aged substantially, we will need anyone truly interested in taking delivery of this item to immediately contact us by phone with their current billing information.

Bear in mind that Minichamps still has not posted any updated release information for their 1948 Vincent Black Lightning with Rollie Free figure, so please do not ask us to hold the 1955 bike until the 1948 bike arrives. Frankly, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the 1955 bike isn’t a mirage given the hot summer we’ve had. So, that’s it in a nutshell and let’s hope it was all worth the wait.