$15,000 can buy a lot of things. You can split that money up and pay for a year’s worth of rent. You can indulge on something like the Tonino Lamborghini Alpha One smartphone and save the rest for a rainy day. You can even use all of it in one go and buy a Ford Fiesta. All those things are on the table, though you can also use your $15 grand on something far less useful, though still pretty awesome: a 1:8 scale model of the Bugatti Veyron Vitesse.

I’ve seen my fair share of immaculate supercar scale models, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never seen anything quite like Amalgam’s scale model of the Veyron Vitesse. The details of this scaled down Veyron Vitesse are incredible. All the little minutiae of the supercar’s design are accurately depicted to the extent that you’d be forgiven if you thought that it was an actual Veyron Vitesse that was shrunk down by some kind of shirking device that Amalgam has at its disposal. Jokes aside, the company did say that the scale model is completely hand-crafted using the original CAD data supplied by no less than Bugatti itself. The involvement of the French automaker is enough reason to understand why the accuracy of the details of the Veyron is absolutely stunning. Amalgam even said that it takes 310 hours to build one scale model, and that’s just one part of a development process that roughly takes 3,000 hours, the equivalent of 125 days! It’s no wonder that the whole thing costs $15,000, and even after talking about it, I still haven’t gone to the best part of the scale model.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

What’s the best part of Amalgam’s 1:8 scale model of the Bugatti Veyron Vitesse?

Normally, picking out the best detail of a scale model is tricky business because the choices can be difficult. Is it the body of the car and how close it is to the actual thing? Is it the interior and the choice of materials that are used to replicate what you’d normally see in the real version? is it even the functional aero brakes? Amalgam’s 1:8 scale model of the Bugatti Veyron Vitesse has a clear answer though, and not because any of the other elements don’t stand up in their own right.

Remember when I said I haven’t seen a scale model quite like this? That’s because I haven’t seen a scale model that actually comes with detailed lighting systems that replicates exactly what the real car does. You’re going to have to see yourself how it works because it’s absolutely insane. The headlights and the taillights work. So do the turn signals. And the coup de grace of them all is the interior lighting, which lights way exactly the same as the actual Veyron Vitesse. From the instrument cluster to the center console and even the digital display, a flick of the switch immediately brightens up the cabin just like the real supercar. Even better, the backlights are complemented by ambient lighting on the lower section of the cabin and interior lamps that light up when the car’s doors are opened. It’s sick stuff.

Obviously, this kind of scale model commands a premium price and there’s nothing more premium in this sense that paying $15,000 for it. In some ways, it’s debilitatingly expensive, and yet, there’s also a part of me that thinks that whoever buys one will have put his money to good use.

References

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse

Read our full review on the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse.

Bugatti Veyron

Read our full review on the Bugatti Veyron.