The world’s finest model-makers apply their extraordinary skills to creating fine 1:8 models of the iconic F1’s spiritual successor
     
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Bristol, UK, 6th of November 2023
The world’s leading model makers at Amalgam Collection today showcased their most recent development at 1:8 scale: a 54cm (21-inch) long recreation of the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50. The spiritual successor to the Gordon Murray-designed iconic F1, the T.50 revisits the same supercar territory, refining the singularity of Murray’s vision yet further, but this time equipped with technology 25 years newer and significantly more efficient. Amalgam’s fine limited-edition models of the GMA T.50 are now available to order directly from the Bristol-based artisans.
Restricted to just 199 pieces, the edition of GMA T.50 models necessitated over 3500 hours of development, and the resulting prototype only received the approval of the designers and engineers at Gordon Murray Automotive once they were fully satisfied with its accuracy of representation. Each model in the edition will require 350 hours to cast, fit, fettle, paint and assemble the 1093 individual parts together, perfectly capturing every visible detail of the car. The edition replicates the T.50 in its launch specification, with a Magnesium Silver and satin carbon exterior colour scheme, dark grey gloss wheel alloys and light gold brake callipers. The model features openable doors, allowing close examination of the details of the central ‘jet-fighter-style’ driving position, perfectly reproduced in miniature at the front of the iconic three-seat format that Murray pioneered for the F1. Every detail of the Matrix Orange and Chromite Black Alcantara and leather interior has been perfect replicated, right down to the orange Lozenge Spine embroidery and central analogue rev counter. The model’s rear engine covers can also be opened, revealing the beautiful detailing of the super-compact, naturally aspirated, 3.9-litre 670 PS Cosworth GMA V12 engine.
Founder of Amalgam, Sandy Copeman, said “Having modelled the McLaren F1 and F1 GTR as well as the MP4/4, we are tremendously excited to be working with Professor Gordon Murray CBE and the GMA team once more, creating the reference level model of the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50. Our team’s meticulous craftsmanship has been poured into every model, with the target of matching the extraordinary standards that Gordon infuses into his team, on their mission to achieve Engineering Art. Every one of the models we make, whether it be for a private collector or a world-famous driver, is the physical expression of our unwavering pursuit of excellence with no effort or expense spared, an ethos we have long shared with Gordon Murray.”
The GMA T.50 model is the latest addition to Amalgam’s impressively wide-ranging collection of luxury 1:8 scale models that beautifully and precisely capture the entirety of each original icon. Working from CAD data supplied directly by Gordon Murray Automotive, Amalgam’s team of craftspeople developed a prototype, meticulously scaling down the data to ensure that the details were fully captured at 1:8 scale. Moulds were taken from the master components for the individual parts, with metal, carbon fibre and rubber used to cast or machine each piece of the intricate construction, while some parts are produced by 3-D printers. Copeman adds “The target is to produce a model that looks exactly like the real car. There should be nothing that dispels the illusion that you are looking at the original full-size car. If you can take a high-resolution photograph and put it in front of somebody, and they have no idea whether they’re looking at a model or the real car, then we’ve done our job.”
Amalgam’s astonishingly realistic and strikingly detailed large-scale models are already widely recognised as engineering art by luxury car owners and model collectors worldwide, and the GMA T.50 further extends the close cooperation between Amalgam and Gordon Murray that has been established for over a decade. Each of the 100 customers ordering a new T.50 from Gordon Murray Automotive will be offered a bespoke model precisely replicating every aspect of their own cars specification through Amalgam’s exclusive tailor-made service. Copeman explains: “Utilising our close relationship with Gordon Murray Automotive, we have access to key specification data to allow the most faithful representation of a client’s vehicle in all details. From the paint colour of the exterior and wheel alloys to the license plates and brake callipers, right down to the topstitching of the seats and the material of the steering wheel, every visible aspect of a car will be perfectly reproduced in miniature.” Each bespoke model is unique, and only available through Gordon Murray Automotive, so every client can be assured of complete exclusivity in their purchase.
Conceived as the spiritual successor to the Gordon Murray-devised iconic F1, the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 has rewritten the supercar rulebook, becoming the purest, lightest, most driver-focused supercar ever built. Created by an experienced team applying the same uncompromising approach to design and engineering that shaped every facet of the F1, and inspired by Murray’s 50 years at the pinnacle of Formula One and automotive industry engineering and design, the T.50 is an unflinching dedication to lightweighting, highly-advanced active aerodynamics and world-leading standards of advanced engineering.
Copeman continues: “The T.50 breaks from performance-car convention, just as the F1 did in 1992. Gordon has been and still very much is one of the automotive visionaries of our time. His constant innovative approach to race and road car design continually breaks new ground and stretches the boundaries of what is possible. We are honoured to be involved in such a project and delighted that our model captures every aspect of the original so precisely.”
Models of the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 at 1:8 scale are available from www.amalgamcollection.com.
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High resolution images can be found here >
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Director of Brand and Business Development: Sandy Copeman sandy.copeman@amalgam.com
Business and Sales Enquiries: enquiries@amalgam.com
ABOUT AMALGAM COLLECTION AND THEIR HISTORY
- Amalgam are recognised worldwide as makers of the finest hand-made large-scale models. Their work is unique in its attention to detail, with a focus on creating models that truly capture the style and spirit of each car. They have dedicated all their skill and passion to achieving a level of excellence that raises the impact and value of each finished piece to a level far above anything previously created.
- For owners of cars they have already modelled at 1:8 in a limited edition, for which the tooling already exists, they offer a tailormade service, customising a model to perfectly match the specification of the real car.
- For owners of unique very high value cars, Amalgam Collection offer an even bigger 1:5 or 1:4 ‘one-off’ model build from their UK workshops in Bristol, England. They will digitally scan the car wherever it is in the world and take up to a thousand pictures of every detail, allowing them to perfectly and accurately replicate everything at scale. Given the significant number of hours required to develop a unique model the costs are high, so the model is built at a very large scale to maximise the impact and detail, and to deliver the ultimate finished piece.
Amalgam Collection’s design, management and development heart is in England, with extraordinarily skilled and dedicated teams producing the bigger editions in Hungary and China. They are a multinational, multicultural team of crafts-men and women, dedicated to creating the world’s most precise, beautiful and exclusive models. Inspired by the F1 teams and iconic luxury car marques of England and Italy that they serve and partner with, they take huge pride in their mission to perfectly capture the designs, and honour the designers, drivers and creators of the automotive art they love.
Originally a partnership of four talented model-makers formed in 1985, from the start Amalgam created finely tuned models for the most important UK and German designers and architects. Working closely with Norman Foster’s team on the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and on the Hong Kong Airport project was a fast, steep learning curve which quickly opened their eyes to subtle aesthetics and refined engineering. Working with such gifted architects their passion and desire to model the very best designs was ignited, which in due course led them to Williams F1 and Adrian Newey who were dominating the F1 championship in 1995, then on to Maranello and to the massively important design heritage of Enzo Ferrari in 1999, and latterly to the works of Pininfarina and Ettore Bugatti.
The seminal performance and luxury car designers of the early to mid-20th century were obsessed with achieving ever higher speeds, lighter and more powerful engines, more streamlined bodies, an impassioned quest that inevitably resulted in elegant and beautiful solutions as a consequence of stretching the supreme excellence of the craftsmanship and engineering to the very limits of what could be achieved at the time.
The companies that today bear these iconic names continue to be inspired, and their creativity is still fuelled, by the extraordinary passion and genius of their founders. Amalgam Collection too find inspiration in the creations of the founders and their companies who continue to design and create automotive artworks.
Recognising the beauty and importance of these designs Amalgam Collection have utterly dedicated their energy and passion to modelling these cars to a level of accuracy, precision and excellence that raises the finished replica to a level far beyond anything previously created. Amalgam have chosen to work at a scale of 1:8 which is widely acknowledged to be the most satisfying scale to comprehend the entirety of a car’s design at a glance, whilst in addition showing the most minute details.
To create perfect scale replicas of modern cars they use original CAD data supplied by the manufacturer and work closely with the design team to perfect their rendition of the interior and exterior finishes.
With regard to classics, in their quest for supreme accuracy and authenticity Amalgam’s team goes to great lengths to locate the best examples of original cars and digitally scans them to capture the precise shape and proportions of every part of the car including the chassis, engine and drive train. In addition, 600 to 800 photographs of every aspect and detail of each car are shot, to ensure a complete understanding of the finishes and detailing. The resulting models beautifully and precisely capture the entirety of the original and are impossible to discern from a real car in photographs.
Amalgam is the only maker of model cars in the world that can be considered alongside a maker of luxury watches like Richard Mille or Hublot. In fact, Richard Mille is an Amalgam patron who recognising a shared passion for engineering detail and perfection has commissioned from Amalgam Collection many unique models of his own cars and those he sponsors.
HOW THE MODELS ARE CREATED
- The patterns are created using original CAD from the manufacturer, or extraordinarily accurate digital scans and hundreds of photographs of an original classic car.
- The patterns are used to create silicon rubber moulds that capture every detail.
- Prototyping resin is used to cast the parts from the silicon moulds. Around 20 to 30 parts can be cast from each mould and then a new one must be made.
- Each model is built from thousands of parts: castings, photo-etchings and CNC machined metal components.
- Genuine car paints and manufacturer or archive colour references are used to spray the bodywork.
- It takes between 2,500 and 4,500 hours to develop the tooling for each model.
- It takes between 250 and 450 hours to cast, fit, fettle, paint and build each model.
Every Amalgam Fine Model Car is made entirely by hand from thousands of parts. Detailed original CAD data is supplied by the car's manufacturer or the race team of the car to be modelled. The process of developing each model and creating the master patterns takes between 2,500 and 4,500 hours of skilled work depending on the complexity of the car, with classic cars taking the longest.
In the case of the classic cars an extremely accurate digital scan is made of the car, and hundreds of photographs of all the details of a carefully selected original car are taken, to ensure complete accuracy and adherence to the authentic finishes and materials. Many parts of the model are machined from metal with the major components hand cast from prototyping resin. Each model is individually assembled by a small team of highly skilled model-makers. In total the time taken to machine, cast, hand fettle, paint, polish and assemble each model is between 250 and 450 hours of highly skilled work depending on the complexity of the car.
The finished model is a very precise scale replica of the original car with every detail perfectly and authentically represented at an 8th of the original size. This is modelling elevated to such a high level that it becomes an art form.
Since 1995 Amalgam have been admired and hugely respected by leading designers and engineers in the European automotive industry, as well as F1 designers, drivers and team principals. Amalgam's models appear on the desks of CEOs and presidents of the world's most important car companies. Due to the extreme accuracy and authenticity of Amalgam's creations, made in small limited editions, they are also much sought after by devoted collectors of fine handmade objects across Europe and in the USA.
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