The Mercedes-Benz W196 is an iconic racing car, one that secured both of the F1 World Championships it competed in and won a staggering 75 percent of its 12 races. Perhaps the most notable moment for the W196, though, was the 1955 British Grand Prix. Four W196s competed, securing first, second, third, and fourth, with legend Sir Stirling Moss behind the wheel of the lead car. Now, that’s been painstakingly immortalized in a series of near-perfect 1:8 scale models.
The models, produced by the Amalgam Collection, detail the car in race-worn spec. Using period imagery of the winning car, the craftspeople at Amalgam created a perfect model, replete with the imperfections a car collects over a wheel-to-wheel race. There’s grit and soot near the exhausts, strakes of caked dirty and hot debris decorating the lower body panels. Even the steering wheel is worn from the imprints of Sir Moss’ hands.
The mechanical and material details, too, were deeply researched to create a near-ideal recreation. Amalgam worked directly with Mercedes to verify engineering details and materials choices, including the weave and fabric pattern of the original seats.
“Modelers often go wrong by trying to use original materials. Our specialty is using splatter finishes and other painting techniques to give the illusion of depth—like the imprint of a rear end on a worn seat,” Amalgam Director of Brand Sandy Copeman said in a release. “In fact, our models are so finely detailed that they’re hard to tell from actual cars in photographs. That’s why we try to have a hand or something in our photographs, so people can see the scale.”
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