The brand new Ford GT. So much of this car has been said already almost everywhere else that i think there’s no real need to re-introduce this car again. It is a beautiful car, it is very fast and very exclusive. Oh! And it has two crazy white stripes running down the top from end to end. Although it looks like the original GT40 from the past, everything inside it is totally high-tech and high-end.

So what do we have here? It’s an Autoart 1:18th scale version of the Ford GT. “Great! An Autoart, that’ll be a superb model then!” You might say… Well, you’ll be right, and you’ll be wrong as well. Very wrong… Let’s begin the review…

Paint

Take a look at this car and truely enough, there is nothing wrong with the paint throughout the model. The white stripes on the top and the sides of the car are nicely painted on and the red paint of the car is applied nicely, not too thick and not too thin. This car also comes in yellow, which is a color that’s easy to spot color mismatches, but mine’s red so i can’t comment on that as yet. On my car, the color matching between the metal and plastic panels is pretty decent and mismatches (very slight) are not too noticeable. A nice paintjob overall from the folks at AA.

Exterior

The Ford GT has a very beautiful shape, it has a legendary form which dates back many years before. So why spoil something that works? AA’s model faithfully recaptures that alluring shape of the 1:1 car nicely. The stance is great, the shutlines are not too big and all is looking well. Pretty much what you see on the 1:1 is replicated into 1:18 scale for the car. The logo emblems are nicely done with a raised surface and painted on. Front mesh is properly perforated and front light sit nicely behind clear light covers. Side indicators do have the problem of a noticeable attachment stub though.

Lift the front hood (with visible perforated mesh vents below) and we can see the nicely made fans underneath. The front hood nicely stays open. The same cannot be said for the rear engine covers, it just drops shut when you let go of it. If a budget manufacturer can make hoods that stay open, why can’t Autoart? This has been a nagging problem for pretty much all Autoart cars. Why can’t they rectify the problem?

Side vents are all proper openings as is the mesh on the rear. But the vents on top of the engine hood are closed shut. The mesh just above the rear diffusers are perforated as well and the rear light are nicely made with seperate pieces of plastic. The rear side repeaters do not have the attachment stubs visible unlike those up front. The lip spoiler just on top of the rear engine cover is a nice touch and very nicely done.

Lift up the rear engine cover (and prop it up with something), and we can see the rear engine remade in all it’s 1:18 scale glory. Detailing-wise there is really nothing to complain about, but i just can’t help but feel that it all looks kind of, “plasticky”. What is on the the 1:1 car does seem to be here, but the whole execution of the engine, does give it a rather plastic-ish feel to it. I might be the only one out there feeling this way though, so i’ll let you be the judge.

Interior

Oh the interior, and what an interior. Filled with nice retro and modern touches all round. The model’s interior replicates the real car nicely and faithfully, but again, it just looks too “plasticky”. The seats are made of hard plastic, and it just doesn’t give the quality feel most other Autoart Millenium cars provide. All’s not lost though because detailing-wise again, is faultless. From the steering wheel to the nice instument clusters, it’s all good. It could have done better if the top sun-visors could be flipped down though. A good job overall here but, it just feels like Autoart could have put in a bit more effort into making it better.

Wheels and Brakes

The rims of the model are faithful reproductions of the real thing, probably also helped by the fact that the rims are of a rather simple (but effective) design. The brakes’ detailing is superb, with static calipers and cross-drilled disc which spin with the wheels. For the rear, dual calipers are visible. Tires again, are brandless but have a nicely made thread pattern to them. Could have done with some proper branding though.

Summary

So what do i really think of this car? I honestly belive that this is a great car, but the model just falls short sadly. I was one of those who waiting so long for this car to arrive but the first thing that struck me when i picked up the box was how light it was. Usually cars packed into the “Millenium” lineup will have nice quality weight to them. But this car, it’s just light. Too light in fact. It just does not have the proper quality feel associated with most other “Millenium” cars. Probably due to the relentless pursuit of cost-cutting and the usage of plastic over proper diecast parts. The main reason why i bought this car was because i really like the 1:1 car and Autoart being the only manufacturer to offer it in 1:18 scale, i just couldn’t pass it up.

To be frank, i am sore with what Autoart have given us collectors. It’s a good model. But it’s not “Millenium” good. If the model came from the “Performance” model lineup, it would have been almost perfect. But to package it into the “Millenium” boxes and charge collectors “Millenium” prices, it just doesn’t cut it. I have a gut feeling the car might have been produced to be placed under the “Performance” lineup, but greedy businessmen-type probably realised that people will buy it even if they put it into a nicer box with a higher sticker price. Since Autoart is the only maker of the road going Ford GT, collector’s have no where else to turn to for a decent model. The lightness and lack of a quality feel of this Ford GT actually made me reconsider buying the Autoart Porsche Carrera GT, i picked one up at the shop and immediately put it back on the shelf. It feels even lighter then the Ford. I’m not going to pay so much money to have semi-plastic model car. What’s up Autoart?

Now, onto the subject of quality control. When i was buying this car, i went thru almost 4 different boxes of the car just to settle on mine (And mine wasn’t perfect as well) 2 cars had some issues with the plastic covers on the headlights, there was some bubbling on the plastic and it was very noticeable. Another had a horribly large panel gap for the rear engine cover, the gap between the engine cover and the rear side vent was so large, it could have been made into another side vent all by itself. And on the car i bought, there was some sticky residue on the front hood. The sticky residue was removable, so that’s the one i bought. My thoughts during the time i was buying this car was that quality control at Autoart probably does not exist at all. Surely not what people paying so much for a model would expect.

So, to finish off. Yes, it’s a good model. It might even be a Great model to some. But is it worth it’s price? No, not at all. Is it a proper “Millenium” model? No, not at all. Is it worth buying? Only if you really like the 1:1 car and have no where else to turn to. And if you DO decide (Or have already decided) to buy one, please do take the time to inspect the car. There might be some quality control issues. Pity ain’t it. If you are looking out for a really nice model from the more recent release of Autoart cars, i’d suggest taking a look at the BMW 3.0CSi (Preferably in it’s very unique and beautiful shade of blue). Now that, is a quality “Millenium” piece.

Overall: 7/10
( A model scoring in this range has more positives than it has flaws, however, the flaws should be made aware of)

*Rating system and review was written with reference to DiecastXchange’s review guidelines*

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2005 at 10:17 pm and is filed under Updates, 1:18 Reviews, Ford. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.