Big Dreams, Small Size: Exotics and Halo Cars In Scale

Last time we looked at some exotics, I mentioned that they’re not a major area of interest for me, but regardless, they’re the stuff many dream about. Today we’ll carry on from where I finished with Part 1, with the Lamborghini Silhouette and the Jaguar XJS. More Lamborghinis and Jaguars await us. Ferraris too.

Alpine A310

We’ll start with something more attainable. Representing the eighties we have this Alpine A310. I ventured out of 1/24 scale for this one, an old 1/20 scale kit from Fujimi. Built from 1971 to 84, I bought this kit around 1980. Something about that rear-mounted V6 is strangely appealing, seeing those six intake trumpets under the rear cover, and the styling seems so distinctive. It came with the additional parts and decals to make a rally car, but I preferred a street version.

Lamborghini Diablo

We saw my sole Countach last time. Here’s a Diablo. An old Revell kit, this one has been reissued. It was a bit awkward to put together, and required more test-fitting and adjusting than is usual these days. Orange is almost conservative for one of these.

Honda/Acura NSX

Honda’s idea of a supercar. Refreshingly different, not visually intimidating, but able to do pretty much what the others could. Did it really need more cylinders for street cred? I don’t feel the Honda (Acura for US) was lacking so much as showing what could be achieved without brute force; a scalpel compared to a carving knife.

Ferrari Modena Spider.

Visiting the state capital one day, I saw one of these in traffic, and immediately looked for the kit. Found a hobby shop, bought the Revell kit took it home with me, and this is the result. Of course, it ‘had’ to be red, but I chose a creamy colour scheme for the interior. Because the interior is on show, I went to extra lengths, shading the upholstery for an inviting 3D effect. I hadn’t tried this before.

Jaguar XJ220

Another one I just had to have. I was just blown away by the look of this car when it broke cover. The front cover lifts off and the engine cover opens on this AMT kit. The engine might ‘only’ be a turbo V6, but from what I’ve read it does the job quite nicely. Only downside to this kit is the wheels; instead of 17s on the front and 18s on the rear, AMT chose to cheap out and use existing 15” tyres and sized the wheels to suit. Spoils the look.

Porsche Cayman S

Another one that grabbed my eye. Being smaller it seemed more akin to the 356 I occasionally saw as a child. It scored points for me for being attractive, mid-engined, and a coupe. An unusual car demanded an unusual colour, hence it got this coppery orange metalflake; again, with a creamy interior. Nothing predictable for me.

Shelby Cobra CSX4000

I’m in two minds about this one. It’s a classic, but is it exotic? Exotic enough? Is it a reproduction, or what? Certainly, its performance puts it up there. This Cobra is a model of one of Shelby’s CSX4000 continuation cars, this Fujimi kit is an odd combination of detail and relative crudity. Like the real thing, perhaps?

2005 Ford GT

There was a big retro/nostalgia thing in the noughties, and Ford (being cashed up at the time) decided to revive the sixties Ford GT40, brought up to date. Undoubtedly an exotic supercar, the supercharged modular V8 stood in for the previous small block-derived engines (and the Mark IV’s 427). Unfortunately, this one’s a curbside (no engine) snap kit, without a whole lot of detail. But it does capture the body lines quite well.

Nissan GTR

Nissan threw everything they had at the exotic market, and came up with this. It was built on its own platform, with its own 4WD system, a development of the one which had done so much to bring previous GTRs to the world’s attention. From 2007 to 2025 it was continually developed to keep it abreast of current performance ideals, engine output increasing from 473 to 560 in the regular versions, with 720 in the ultimate GTR-50. Many models exist; this Fujimi represents a 2008 car – I think! Differences can be subtle…

Audi R8

Another one I had to have. The Audi R8 just looked so different – that long wheelbase accented by the (usually) contrasting-coloured ‘blades’ behind the doors, and that classic Audi nose, which somehow didn’t look out of place on a mid-engined supercar. I was going to do the ’blades’ in carbon fibre (with decals), but rather liked the all-red effect, so stopped there. This Revell kit has a detailed engine (this one’s the V8), and came with license plates for about a dozen European countries – as seems to be their norm now they’re based in Germany. This one’s Dutch…

Lamborghini Reventón

Less familiar perhaps, the Lamborghini Reventón was a limited production hypercar from 2007 capable of 330km/h, with supposedly a fighter-jet-inspired body. It was only made in a matt grey-green carbon fibre – but mine isn’t! Produced by the Italian firm Bburago as a metal kit (which I don’t often build), it was very easy to assemble; only the wheels spoil it.

Ferrari California

This one as a present from my son. Not my favourite Ferrari, it took a while to come up with a different colour scheme – those who didn’t like my candy red 275GTB-4 will hate this deep mica blue California. Or will they? I don’t mind. As near as I can tell, Revell nailed the shape.

2006 Corvette

Over the years the Corvette became increasingly exotic. From being mostly about brute force in the sixties, increasing emphasis on chassis dynamics brought us to the point where it may not have the same degree of street cred among Italian exotic drivers, but that’s not necessarily due to any shortcoming in the car itself. This ’06 is a Revell kit.

Dodge Viper

Dodge in ‘me too’ mode. Ten cylinders to Chevy’s eight. Eight litres plus to Chevy’s seven litres max. “Anything you can do I can do better”? Well, no. If the NSX was a scalpel and the Corvette a good kitchen knife, I think the Viper was more akin to a chainsaw! Plenty of performance, but requiring more skill to drive fast. This Revell kit is of a second-gen ACR (minus the stripes), with a ‘regular’ Viper in the background.

McLaren F1 LM

We’ll finish with the ultimate. The F1 has been surpassed, but still stands for me as The King. Bugatti may be faster – but when a car is as fast as this, does it really matter? It is so far beyond the capabilities of most drivers…. This is an older kit from Fujimi; I would have preferred the stock version, but none seems to be available. This LM has that outrageous rear spoiler, a much more subtle one under the nose, and a stripped competition-style interior. Aoshima also does the long-tailed GTR version; I haven’t built it yet.

 

That’s it for today. See you with something mostly American next time!