*Boots up Windows 98*
*Drops Need for Speed III in the CD-ROM*
*Cracks open a cold fresh can of Surge*
You may not remember the Alfa Romeo Scighera. At the 1997 Geneva Auto Show, Alfa stole the show with a radical silver supercar. The Scighera was the Alfa Romeo of the future. Designed and build by the legendary firm ItalDesign, the 164-based car featured a twin-turbo V6 that pumped out 400hp. Couple that with the 155-based all-wheel drive system and the fully functional prototype rocketed to 60 in under four seconds. The huge glass side windows were actually hinged at the roof and opened skywards as the doors opened conventionally.
If you don’t remember any of that, then you definitely don’t remember the Scighera GT that was on display right next to it. This was the vision of Alfa’s future in endurance racing. The GT was visually the same as the road car, albeit with a massive rear wing. The body panels were built of carbon fibre instead of aluminum like the road car. All of this wrapped up in a stunning Alfa Romeo livery with white Cromodora wheels.
I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I had no idea the Scighera GT was a thing. Of course I remember the road car, its an obscure 90's supercar concept! Do you guys not know me? I stumbled upon a 1:18 Scighera road car on eBay completely by accident one day. It was a high-end resin model made by Tecnomodel. If you’re familiar with the brand, they tend to retail for what a monthly lease payment on a real life Mercedes-Benz would be. It was a beautiful model, but I just couldn’t justify dropping that amount of coin.
Then I came across this GT. At first I thought it was just Tecnomodel using their artistic license and draping this red and white livery on the Scighera. They also have a green version, as well as a plain red car. These models, part of their Mythos series, seem to be not made of unobtainium and go for far less than the premium the road car commands. I just so happened to save my Scighera search on eBay to see if I’d get any bites and sure enough, the search caught the GT models as well.
After missing out on one auction, I snagged this model here the next go around for even less. I nudged out only one rival bidder at the last second, securing this one for less than $75. I was ecstatic at the time, but unfortunately that was short lived.
I knew going in that this was a resin model, so that meant no opening parts, even though the Scighera unfolds like some crazy origami crane. What let me down was the black, opaque windows didn’t show any interior bits whatsoever. No Italian masterpiece of an engine under the rear glass. The front grille was also the same material; just solid black.
Sadly, my disappointment isn’t justified. The model is accurate.
I did some digging around for my review and I came across ItalDesign’s official webpage for the Scighera GT. There it was, blacked out windows and a solid grille. It was just a show piece; so that’s what I have a model of now.
Nevertheless, its still some damn good shelf candy! The red and white Alfa livery shines like nothing else in my collection. The detail on those wheels are amazing, although they do not steer or spin. The yellow side mirrors pop and still match everything. This model is absolutely stunning.
I’ve really only got two legitimate complaints. Let’s go back to those windows. I know they aren’t supposed to be transparent, but that’s not it. They are really, really flimsy and seem to almost buckle in some spots. Its almost like the material is wavy. I think you’ve all heard this from Androoo before, he knows what he’s talking about.
The second is the headlights. Although the design is minimalistic, I feel like they could have had more depth. Maybe a projector lamp in there underneath would have made them perfect.
Also, this model is one of the more rare pieces in my collection. Tecnomodel only produced 200 pieces of each color, and mine happens to be #3 of the 200 red and white livery cars.
One more fun fact: the Scighera was only available on the PC version of Need for Speed III.
So there you have it, another 90's supercar concept added to my collection and also the second resin model I’ve purchased. I think I’m slowly converting, and I blame Androoo 100%. I still want to keep an eye out for a deal on a model of the road car, because who knows, maybe someone else forgot about the Scighera too and puts there’s up for auction cheap.
