Most of us fell in love with the automobile when we were children, staging wild races with our toy cars on the living room carpet. And for many people, life has worked out sufficiently well that they have had the privilege of buying and driving the real-life versions of the cars they once played with. But even if there is a real Ferrari, Porsche or Jaguar currently sitting in your garage, there is a certain satisfaction that only a scale model can give you – that feeling of holding it in your hands, rotating it in front of your eyes to find the perfect perspective, following the shapes with your fingertips and placing it on your desk so you can catch a glimpse of it every now and then.
Of course, the model cars from our childhood days were often poorly made, produced in their millions and lacking the perfect proportions and details of the real machines. For us Classic Driver especially, we have learned to appreciate the quality of handmade watches, high-end mechanical cameras and bespoke works of art and design. The perfect scale model would therefore need to be a true masterpiece – just like those that are crafted in the Bristol atelier of Amalgam Collection, the maker of the world’s finest model cars. Model cars that are now for sale on Classic Driver.
The artisanship, effort and attention to detail that’s invested into each scale mode to ensure it’s as true to the original is spectacular. One Amalgam model of a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa even carried the grime from 24 hours at Le Mans, although unfortunately it’s now sold out. Amalgam offers models in two different sizes. The 1:8-scale pieces cost the same as a premium Swiss mechanical wristwatch and are similarly complicated, while the smaller 1:18-scale models are affordable. Quite often, it’s the owners of the real deals who order bespoke one-off models of their cars to put in their offices or living rooms. That way, should the real car ever be sold, they can still enjoy a souvenir of their time with it… or simply wheel it around the carpet when nobody else is watching.
