Are toy cars the future of motoring?

In a couple of days time, acres of wrapping paper will be torn from uncountable Christmas presents in a frenzy of happy, Santa-and-chocolate-fuelled magic. In amongst those presents will doubtless be some toy cars — whether by Matchbox, Corgi, Hot Wheels, Lego, Scalextric or a thousand other makers of scale models, static or moving.

Most of those presents will be directed towards the pre-teen brigade, of course, but there will be more than a few adults who would appreciate a toy car in their stocking, or under the tree. Of course, there are toy cars and then there are toy cars. For that second category, you’re going to need a considerably larger stocking…

Buying a Ferrari Testa Rossa is normally a cripplingly expensive business. The last one that came up for auction sold for more than €45 million. However, there is a far, far more affordable way to do this, and it even comes with the bonus of being Ferrari’s first fully factory-approved electric car. Sort of.

This is a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, based on the original 1957 design by the legendary Sergio Scaglietti, and faithfully replicates that car’s gorgeous ‘pontoon’ bodywork. And it costs €93,000, plus taxes, shipping, and any options you fancy. Oh, and there’s the small issue that it’s, well, small. It’s actually a 75 per cent scale model of an original Testa Rossa, designed to be driven by the young budding Schumacher in your family — kids of up to around 14 years of age should fit nicely.

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While the Testa Rossa toy will be made by The Little Car Company (which has earned fame for its perfect scale recreations of such as the Aston Martin DB5 and Bugatti Type 35) it is fully approved of and sanctioned by Ferrari.

The body isn’t some plastic replica either, it’s made with hand-beaten aluminium panels, just as the original would have used. The instruments are perfect recreations, using the original style of lettering, with dials such as oil pressure and water temperature re-purposed to monitor the state of the battery health and electric motor temperature. Even the seat (just about wide enough to take an adult sitting next to a teen driver, for supervisory purposes) uses the same leather as modern Ferraris (but with classic-style 1950s piping) and the wood-rimmed wheel (which detaches to make getting in and out easier) is actually made by Nardi, the company which made the wheel for the original racing car.

There are three batteries, which when fully charged (through a plug where once would have sat the fuel filler) can allow the tiny Testa Rossa to drive for around 90km. Look down into the cockpit, and you’ll find a Manettino — just like the driving mode selector on a modern Ferrari — which allows you to choose between a starter mode (labelled Novice) which keeps the speed down to 20km/h max, and eases back on the power delivery. Got a confident young driver? The ramp things up to Comfort mode, which raises the top speed to 45km/h. Sport and Race modes allow for 60km/h, maybe even a little bit more… To help keep it all in check, there are genuine Brembo brakes, and even a regenerative braking system to help keep the batteries topped up.

And if €93,000 (plus taxes etc) sounds a bit steep for a child’s toy, consider this — it’s a heck of a lot less than 75 per cent of €40-odd-million…

What if we can go one better, though? The toy Testa Rossa is delectable, but it’s still a toy. However, the Little Car Company can actually now offer you something that’s fully road legal.

The Tamiya Wild One was first launched in 1985 — part of a long line of deeply brilliant Tamiya kits and radio-controlled (R/C) cars, dating back to its first (a Porsche 934 racer) from 1976. Tamiya has become synonymous, since it started making Airfix-style plastic kits in 1959, for its precision and high quality. The phrase ‘Tamiya Standard’ is no mere marketing puff…

Now, The Little Car Company is taking on the Tamiya Wild One and turning it into a real, driveable thing, it’s also making it sized for adults and it’s even going to be road legal.

It’s coming with proper race-car specification too. That suspension uses Bilstein damper and Eibach springs. Those are Brembo brakes (just like a Ferrari!). Those a proper Cobra bucket seats, and the digital dashboard is made to marine specifications so that it’s waterproof and dust proof. The whole thing weighs just 500kg.

For off-road enthusiasts, ground clearance on the Wild One MAX Launch Edition is 270mm (better than a Range Rover…), the approach angle is 34.1 degrees, the breakover angle is 28.4 degrees, and the departure angle is 50.8 degrees. The Little Car Company has also developed an optional windscreen and wiper mechanism to make the car more practical.

It will come with a 14.4kWh battery pack, and will have a top speed of around 96km/h. And road legal? Oh yes. It conforms to EU L7e quadricycle regulations, and in markets such as Ireland and the UK, which don’t officially recognise quadricycles, it will come with a special kit to make it compliant with local laws.

Ben Hedley, CEO of The Little Car Company, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be one step closer to revealing our Tamiya Wild One MAX Launch Edition. Our team have done a tremendous job of bringing an R/C car to life at full size , and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“I want to thank all our Tamiya deposit holder community, who have provided us with some invaluable contributions and suggestions for how we can make the Wild One MAX the best possible vehicle. We have listened to every single one of them since the first unveiling and have taken their ideas on board. Their feedback has helped us develop a new type of vehicle which illustrates that electric cars can be fun, without having to rely on brain-scrambling acceleration. By simplifying the design and reducing weight, this car is a perfect example of not requiring 500 horsepower to make an enjoyable drivers’ car. We are incredibly excited to show you the finished car and can’t wait for everyone to experience it for themselves.”

There’s another, though. The Little Car Company will also now build you a fully-road legal (again, it conforms to EU L7e regs) 85 per cent scale 1929 ‘Blower’ 4.5-litre Bentley. Powered by a 15kW electric motor, and with a top speed of 72km/h, and a range of more than 100km, you could seriously consider commuting in one of these.

As motoring for pleasure becomes, slowly but surely, socially untenable, maybe turning to toys is the answer? After all, who could possibly upbraid you for simply playing?

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