Siku Lamborghini 4200GT Espada and Alfa Romeo Montreal

Sports car automakers always stride to provide the best driver’s experience from behind the wheel with cars that are built for the track and open road, and while their vehicles are icons they do not keep the company afloat.  So in order to keep the company running they need vehicles that can satisfy other customers depending on market demand; today Sport Utility Vehicles are hot and are key players in keeping smaller automakers alive.  Back in the 1960’s it was these two four-seat grand touring cars that kept Alfa Romeo and Lamborghini alive, and both are made by Siku in small scale form.

Lamborghini 4200GT Espada

Lamborghini started life as a tractor maker before the company founder wanted to go after Ferrari and in return created the first mid-engine exotic sports car, the Miura.  For a second follow-up is the Espada, based on the Marzal show car (one that Matchbox made.  The styling is angular and has a roofline that seems to flow from end-to-end even though it retains the long hood.  It looks quite contemporary for a sports car until you see the dual NACA ducts on the hood and the prancing bull badging.  The interior is lavish and plush with seating for four, reasonable trunk space, and a center console that rises to the dashboard and would be transmitted down the line in the Countach.  The engine is located up front and is the 3.9L DOHC V-12 that produces 325 horsepower through a 5-speed manual or the first automatic transmission adopted to handle the V12’s torque.  The suspension is all-independent and the gas cap is cleverly hidden on the C-pillar vents.  The car lasted for ten years and helped get Lamborghini off to a good start for a brief while.

This blue with red interior Siku example looks pretty good at first and is the only 1:64 model of the production version (most diecast replicas of this car in this scale have been the Marzal concept).  The front has a front grille and four round headlights that are part of the metal base and a hood with visible NACA ducts; adding side trim to this car really helps it out a bit as it is rather plain from some angles.  The sides showcase the slab-sided beltline and upward sweep of the side windows along with 5-spoke Siku wheels.  Out back the taillights and license plate are part of the metal base with a grille pattern just above and below the rear window, while the base is rather plain in detailing and would benefit from the quad exhaust pipes of the actual car to stick out of the rear.  The doors open up to a detailed four-seat layout with a steering wheel, but no dashboard and the green windows seem off-fitting to the rest of the car.  Again it looks nice at first, but this casting could benefit from a few more details.

Alfa Romeo Montreal

Over at Alfa the Montreal was billed as a special show car for the 1967 Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec and somehow would end up in production for a seven-year run starting in 1970.  The car uses the Giulia Sprint GT chassis and the Giulia Ti’s 1.6L I-4 before moving to a more powerful 2.6L DOHC V8 that produces 197 horsepower through a 5-speed manual transmission.  The front has headlights that are one quarter concealed at the top with eyelid covers and they retract up when the headlights are turned on, while the hood scoop is not functional and is designed to conceal the power bulge on the hood.  The styling is beautiful, the interior spacious and typical Alfa Romeo sporty, and unfortunately despite the Montreal name it was never sold in North America because the cars could not comply with new emissions standards in U.S. and Canada.  It was also pricier than a comparable Porsche 911 and Jaguar E-type at the time as well.

The one thing that bugs me on this fantastic Siku casting is that the paint color offered is silver with black doors.  Why????  You want a perfect Montreal, go for all-red and that is what I did as I gave this one a repaint to match the original.  Add a touch of detailing to the lights and trim and voila! A perfect Montreal!  The front grille has the half-hidden quad headlights and Alfa shield, all part of the metal base, and the faux hood scoop on top.  The sides have that sleek fastback roofline with detailed side vents and Siku’s multi-spoke wheels that work really well with this car, while the rear has taillights just above the metal bumper and a round gas cap just below the rear window.  Like the Espada the base lacks detailing aside from the usual Siku vehicle specs and could benefit from the dual exhaust tips to be visible at the rear, while the doors open to an interior with no dashboard even though the black dash/steering wheel and red seats are a nice touch.  If you want more fine detailing there are a few Montreal models out there, but most of them are larger than 1:64 so this Siku model is the best that you can get; just be prepared to repaint the car to a proper color like Alfa red.