An Ariel Atom V8 costs over $200,000, although that probably doesn’t matter because Ariel Motors->ke563 only produced 25 units and all 25 units have been scooped up a long time ago. So what is it that you have to do to get one? Well, you can technically still get an Atom V8,->ke564 but what you’re getting is a 1:18 scale model of the actual track toy that’s arguably one of the most detailed scaled models to have been created.

We all know what the Atom V8 looks like so it comes as no surprise that Ariel has resisted past offers from toy manufacturers to create scale models of the car. The intricacy of the Atom’s design and the open-body styling makes it incredibly difficult to pin down on a small scale. Eventually though, Ariel gave the green light to Spanish scale model builder Soul Models to bring the 1:18 scale Atom V8 to life.

So Soul Models went to work, carefully modelling the scaled Atom V8 to “exactly replicate the real car, right down to the builder's plaque on the seat”. According to the company’s website, it builds its models using polyurethano resin and plastic with each model being hand made and hand painted. It’s hard to imagine the work that went through in fitting every part and equipment of the Atom V8 to their exact specifications and yet, one look at the finished product is all you need to see to know that Ariel Motors found the perfect company to do it.

Unlike the actual Atom V8s, each of the 1,500 available pieces of the 1:18 Atom V8 replica costs just $200. Interested buyers can order their 1:18 scale Atom V8s at the company's website, www.soulmodelsweb.com.

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Why it matters

I got curious on how accurate Soul Model’s scaled depiction of the Ariel Atom V8 really is so I did a little experiment. I looked at the official photos of the Atom V8 that Ariel released back in 2012 and compared them with the product photos that Soul Model took of its creation. I gotta say, the similarities are downright incredible to the point that when I asked somebody to shuffle all the photos together, it literally took me a few minutes to get through it.

At the very least, it shows how much attention to detail Soul Models used when it was hand building these scale models. Even the paint job, which is also done by hand, is impeccable. There are no bubbles and no loose surfaces and when you consider how small some of those parts are, getting them to look close to identical to the real thing is a feat in it of itself.

The price is a little steep when you compare it to Bburago or Maesto toys. But that’s the thing, you can’t compare Soul Models to other scale model builders because the Spanish outfit is a relatively new and whose aim is to “commercialize exclusively on its website a limited series of 1000-1500 units of new or non-existent models in the current market.”

So yeah, $200 is a lot of money, but for what you’re getting with it, I think it’s going to be money well-spent.

Ariel Atom V8

Read our full review on the Ariel Atom V8 here.