Bburago were a fixture of my childhood collection. I had many of their 1/43 cars due to the local newsagents stocking a wide variety. I had Fiat Cinquecentos, Ford Escort Cosworths, Porsche 993s, various Lancias, a brace of MCA Centennaires. I also had a number of their larger scale cars including a 1/24 Escort and Alpine A110 as well as a gorgeous 1/18 scale Bugatti EB110S that I still have to this day. They’re a brand that I am sure will be quite familiar to a lot of us, and will always be close to my heart. But recent collaborations with TimeMicro aside, I have to admit I really haven’t taken a lot of notice of their 1/64 efforts. That’s not to say they’re worthy of being ignored completely but more often than not they’re a bit too big, a bit oddly proportioned, too overpriced. And sometimes they fall flat entirely. The Ferrari “Evolution” line for example seemed to serve only one purpose: to show how badly someone can balls up an F40 LM. Maybe I’m being a little harsh, but when I saw this Roma from the “Race and Play” line hanging on the pegs in the local TK Maxx, I expected more of the same. But I noticed immediately one big difference from the Evolution line: it had an interior. I also noted the proportions were rather neat. And I liked the colour. And here we are.
The Ferrari Roma was unveiled in 2019 and according to the Ferrari website the Roma “is a contemporary representation of the carefree, pleasurable way of life that characterised Rome in the 1950s and ‘60s”. In layman’s terms: it’s bloody gorgeous.
Powered by a 3.9 litre twin-turbo V8 developing 612bhp, the Roma can hit 100kmh in 3.4 seconds and rocket to a 199mph top speed.
The Bburago version really isn’t bad at all. The proportions lead me to believe it’s close to if not bang on 1/64. The colour is great and those gorgeous lines look just as good in miniature as they do on the real thing.
The decals on this are pretty damn good; well placed and sharp and the paint is decent quality. I’m not sure of the genuine shade but it’s very close to Ferrari Grigio Alloy and nevertheless looks wonderful, with a gorgeous blue tinge in the light.
The Mattel faithful will be no doubt be screaming about the wheel choice but to be honest I don’t think they’re that bad at all. And they ride on nicely sprung suspension which is a nice touch.
It’s just a very pleasant little model and with none of the Mattel brands possessing a Ferrari license, it’s maybe the best place for Ferrari fans to look besides Tomica’s mainline. It’s certainly one I’m happy to have picked up and added to my hoard.
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That’s a very pleasing model indeed, not quite expected from Bburago.. The casting looks accurate , can’t wait for them to do a 1:64 Purosangue