Bburago 1:18 2007 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

At the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show, Alfa Romeo introduced a two-seat concept car called the “8C Competizione”. With unique and bold lines, this concept car was so well-received, that Alfa decided to put the automobile into a limited production run of 500 possibly to be used as a homologation special. Appropriately, Bburago, recently acquired by the May Cheong Group, parent company to Maisto, has brought out a 1:18 scale version of the 8C Competizione as Bburago’s first post-Italian-produced car.

I have long been a fan of Maisto. They have produced a large number of fine 1:18 replicas that, particularly considering their reasonable price, are quite competently modeled and built. I was interested to see how this company would do on their Bburago-branded product. Additionally, years ago when I started collecting large diecast cars (1:14 & 1:18), Bburago was the “go-to” brand and I still have a soft spot in my heart for them. Well I can report they did pretty well!

But first a little about the car they chose to replicate. The 8C Competizione is so-named to honor the 1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competizione which Alfa used to place third in both the 1949 and 1950 Mille Miglias and to win the 1950 Targa Florio. The new car is a composite of parts from other manufacturers: It has a carbon fiber body built by the ATR Group, bolted to a steel chassis built by ITCA Produzione. The car uses a modified Maserati platform and powertrain and uses a Ferrari/Maserati cross-plane, dry-sumped, 4.7 liter V8. In the street configuration, it has a top speed in the 190 mph/300 kph range.

Additionally they have racing aspirations for the car and Dallara will be constructing a competition version to be raced at Nurburgring, Le Mans, and Daytona in 2008 and 2009.

The paint is bright and deep looking much like a candy-apple, but it displays a little more orange-peel than I’m used to even in this price range. This may be a problem particular to my sample, because I’ve seen pictures of other cars that didn’t seem to suffer from this problem.

The body and all of the opening pieces…… bonnet, doors and rear glass hatch all fit together with tight shut lines. Although the chrome silver window trim and drip rails are painted on, they are nicely done and look quite realistic. The interior is all black plastic with molded seat belts and seats. They’ve accented the instrument panel with orange and silver tampo’ed knobs and gauges, and they’ve done a reasonable job of texturing the foot wells to replicate floor mats/carpeting. Alfa badges have been tampo’ed on the steering wheel air bag cover, the nose emblem and each of the hub covers. Additionally “8C Competizione” has been applied to each red brake caliper. The tampo quality is first rate ! The windshield is an individual piece with the only other glazing being the rear hatch which is hinged to open as a separate piece with its own dog-leg hinges. The doors open with the leading edge tucking into the body as a real door would. This is a nice touch on an “entry-level” model.

The engine is rendered as a “spider-web” or lattice of black plastic that fills the bonnet opening and that represents all of the hoses, intake tracts, wiring, etc. This sits above a red molded piece that represents the main elements of the engine block and heads. Although fairly rudimentary, this is not unexpected at the modest price point. The underside of the car is detailed with working suspension components and a chrome exhaust. My only issue is they interrupted the exhaust with two large integral chrome rings to accommodate the openings for the mounting screws. While ingenious, model accuracy took a back-seat to packaging requirements.

In summary, I love their choice of subjects for Bburago’s first new product. It’s somewhat of a salute that says to the Italians, “Bburago hasn’t forgotten our roots !” This car can easily sit on the shelf next to models two or three-times as expensive and not feel any embarrassment. It isn’t an AutoArt, but at thirty dollars, it shouldn’t be held to that standard. Instead, it’s a beautifully-rendered car that is almost too nice to be given to a child to use as a toy. This model could easily be taken up-scale as Mattel does with their Hot Wheels Elite series with fabric floor mats, more engine detail and a revised exhaust and command twice the price. As it is, I can say Bburago’s back and better than ever. I hope they continue in this direction. Welcome back, Bburago !

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