Amalgam, a toy car company famous for its meticulously detailed hand-crafted replicas, has reproduced the iconic 1935 Bugatti Type 59 along with a figurine of the legendary French driver, Jean-Pierre Wimille. You can buy one if you have a spare $28,020 lying around.
As per the tradition, the company conducted had some in-depth research into the life of Wimille before even attempting to replicate his appearance. The designers paid special attention to the racing pro’s constitution, the exact color and design of his overalls, and his winning pose. Amalgam claims it was able to reproduce the color of his face before the Belgium Grand Prix of 1935.
The 1:8 replica of the car itself got just as much attention. The company used a surviving Type 59 example as a reference (chassis number 59122, owned by fashion industry tycoon Ralph Lauren). If you look closely, you will even see the brake lines and the leather straps holding the hood in place.
Amalgam claims it spent around 5,000 work-hours designing the replica. Even so, it takes another 500 hours to build just one copy of the car from several thousand pieces. In view of the sheer difficulty of the project, only five such replicas will see the daylight, three of them already preordered. Owners can choose between a clean vanilla design or an alternative version with dust and dirt traces all over the body – just like after an actual race.
