Our Story

About Amalgam Collection

Amalgam Collection occupies a unique place in the history of fine car models, fashioning unrivalled examples of the world’s most iconic and luxurious cars at scale. The only maker of model cars that can be considered alongside a maker of fine watches like Richard Mille, we have developed close partnerships with the world’s most important designers, engineers, drivers and manufacturer brands, not only delivering editions of models for their own internal use, but supplying development models, one-offs and displays of every kind. Every one of the models we make, whether it be for a private collector or a world-famous driver is the very best we can achieve with no effort or expense spared. We are continually striving to reach new levels of craftsmanship and to create masterpieces of model-making art with enduring value.

Originally founded in 1985, Amalgam focused on creating fine architectural models for the leading British and German architects of the day, particularly Foster & Partners. We also offered product prototyping services, notably creating parts for the very first Dyson vacuum cleaners. Amalgam has been creating fine model cars since 1995, after our founder Sandy Copeman approached the Jordan Grand Prix and Williams Formula 1 teams. Ferrari came on board in 1998 and Amalgam has since developed strong and lasting relationships with the most important manufacturers and teams across the world of car manufacturing, motorsport and design. With the precious data from these partners, using skills developed over decades of experience, we honour their history and their DNA, delivering with passion and taste the authentic spirit of each car.

The Amalgam Team

With workshops in Bristol (UK), Dongguan (China) and Pécs (Hungary), Amalgam Collection is a multi-national, multi-cultural operation. Our heart and headquarters remain in Bristol, where we are inspired by Bristol’s long history of engineering innovators like Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the Bristol Aeroplane Company, who imagined and realised connecting the old world with the new. We take huge pride in our mission to honour the designers and drivers of the gloriously engineered art we love.

Amalgam’s team in the UK has deep connections into every part of the automotive world. We have developed a deep knowledge of the history, the people and the cars of Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Bugatti and the other leading luxury car manufacturers and race teams. Alongside our deep knowledge of the cars, we have developed the highest and most innovative modelmaking skills and techniques in the world. Our workshop in Bristol creates design models, special projects, and one-off models of extremely high value.

Our China workshop was first established in Zhuhai in 2004, moving in 2009 to Dongguan to draw on the abundant skillsets of craftspeople involved in product prototyping in the locality. Our 160 strong team in Dongguan are carrying on the highest skilled work of creating the patterns and tooling, casting the parts and completing the finishing and assembly of many of our 1:8 and 1:18 models.

In 2015, we established a new workshop in the beautiful city of Pécs in the south of Hungary, on the former site of the Zsolnay art porcelain factory. With 40 skilled craftspeople in our newly refurbished building, the team in Pécs are finishing and assembling many of our 1:8 and 1:5 models for Ferrari and Porsche.

Prestigious Clients

Amalgam not only collaborate with the top luxury automotive manufacturers, motorsport teams and their sponsors, famous designers and champion drivers, many are our clients too. Ferrari, the most exciting name in the entire history of cars, has been a partner of Amalgam since 1998, when we first started developing the dominant F1 cars of Michael Schumacher. We have been a supply partner to the incomparable Bugatti since 2005 and our journey of collaboration with the pioneering McLaren started in 2007, when we first worked alongside the McLaren Formula 1 Team. Leading figures in motorsport, such as Zak Brown, are close friends of Amalgam, decorating their offices and homes with our models. Richard Mille, a patron who recognised a shared passion for engineering detail, has commissioned many unique models of a number of superb cars in his collection and for display in his boutiques. Since 2010, Amalgam has also collaborated with Ralph Lauren, to create deeply detailed models of the cream of the cars in his collection, available exclusively from his flagship stores worldwide.

Creating Perfect Models

Amalgam models beautifully and precisely capture the entirety of the original, and are impossible to discern from a real car in photographs. To create these perfect scale replicas of modern cars, we use confidential CAD data supplied by the manufacturer and cooperate closely with their design and engineering teams to perfectly replicate the interior and exterior finishes. With regard to classics, in our quest for supreme accuracy and authenticity when it comes to our classic car models, we go to great lengths to locate the best examples of original cars and digitally scan them, capturing the precise shape and proportions of every visible part of the car. We also take around 1000 reference photographs, capturing every aspect and detail of each car in order to completely understand and replicate the finishes and detailing.

Amalgam models are made using the finest quality casting resins that replicate our perfectly designed patterns in every minute detail. CAD design, 3D printing and CNC machining are combined with traditional machining and hand working techniques to create the world’s most precise, accurate and faithfully detailed models. It can take over 4000 hours to develop a 1:8 scale prototype, and each subsequent model takes between 250 and 450 hours to cast, fit, fettle, paint and build. Our models then face detailed scrutiny from the manufacturer, motorsport team or client to ensure the model accurately represents every detail of the real car.