- Launching ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the collection celebrates one of Canada’s greatest Formula One legends with the support of the Villeneuve family
- Each replica is painstakingly hand-built by Amalgam’s Bristol artisans over more than 450 hours, before being individually weathered by hand to recreate the dirt, grit and battle scars of Villeneuve’s race-winning Ferrari exactly as it crossed the finish line
- Each special edition includes four exclusive A2 archive-quality prints featuring iconic photographs by renowned Formula One photographer Richard Kelley, personally curated and endorsed by Gilles’ daughter, Melanie Villeneuve, with a signed certificate of authenticity
- Media assets can be downloaded here
Bristol, UK, Tuesday 19th May 2026:
In a tribute to the legendary Ferrari Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, a limited-edition collection of replicas of his iconic Ferrari 312 T4 race car has been unveiled by the Amalgam Collection. Limited to just 12 pieces, these models are exact replicas of the car raced by Villeneuve in the United States East Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International Raceway on the 7th October 1979.
Each replica in this exclusive collection has been meticulously crafted by the Amalgam Collection to capture every detail of Villeneuve's race car, ensuring the utmost precision and authenticity. Following 450 hours to complete each model, the Amalgam artisans in Bristol used archival imagery of the original race car to meticulously hand-paint the dirt, and grit the car collected during one of the most memorable wet-weather performances in Formula One history. The process known as weathering, faithfully recreates the exact condition of the car as it crossed the finish line at Watkins Glen, with unmatched accuracy.
Limited to only 12 pieces worldwide, this exclusive special edition goes beyond the model itself. Each set is accompanied by four large-format A2 archive-quality prints by renowned Formula One photographer Richard Kelley, capturing Gilles Villeneuve in some of the most powerful and emotional moments of his Ferrari career.
The edition has been personally endorsed by Melanie Villeneuve, Gilles’ daughter, who has curated the photographic selection and personally signed a certificate of authenticity accompanying each set.
Melanie Villeneuve said: “It has been a true pleasure collaborating with Amalgam on this very special edition. These models and Richard Kelley’s photographs beautifully capture not just my father’s car, but the emotion, intensity and spirit of one of the defining moments of his career.
“This project is a wonderful tribute to a definitive moment in my dad’s career, a moment of pure racing heart that has been beautifully preserved in this very special edition of models and photography.”
The Richard Kelley photographs, many unseen publicly until now, offer an intimate glimpse into Villeneuve’s Ferrari years, capturing moments of focus, determination and raw emotion that defined one of motorsport’s most beloved drivers.
Richard Kelley says this of one of the most memorable days in his photographic career:
“I will always remember Gilles Villeneuve, alone in his 312 T4, as rain approached and he prepared to win the 1979 United States Grand Prix.
“The weather was deteriorating, and as drivers milled about, chewing their fingernails and speaking softly to their engineers, they all had their eyes on the darkening skies. While they waited until the last instant to buckle in, Gilles already sat calmly in his cockpit, belts pulled to near race-tightness; the huge one-piece Ferrari cowling lying next to him on the tarmac.
“As was common with Formula One cars then, the aluminium “tub” forming the cockpit of his #041 left his feet extending beyond the front wheels and barely extended above his hips. The remainder of his slender body would be ‘protected’ by that fiberglass cowling and one riveted metal panel attached to the front of the forward triangular tube structure that held the steering wheel and gauges.
“It seemed that every Ferrarista in New York State was pushing aggressively to see him, yet there was a ‘bubble’ around Gilles as he sat alone; no small cadre of engineers leaning on the chassis, discussing tactics – no Mauro Forghieri urging him to nail his start.
“There simply was no need.
“Gilles had devastated the entire field during that weekend’s torrential rain-soaked Friday practice; setting times 22 seconds faster than any Goodyear-shod car, and a staggering 12 seconds faster than teammate and new World Champion, Jody Scheckter. With Scheckter now champion, Gilles was free to race for himself; doing lap after lap on the limit for the sheer joy of it.
“He was preparing to do it again.
“As he sat in perfect silence, wearing his “race face” as he delicately put on his gloves, the air began to smell of rain. If he was conscious of the worsening conditions, his face never betrayed his emotions. On that day, it was clear he would drive the only way he knew: pedal flat to the stops. You never had to fear Gilles wasn’t up to the challenge, you feared he might go too fast.
“The rain arrived 20 minutes before the start, and despite low oil pressure that had him nursing his car to the finish, he would win by 48 seconds.”
Gilles Villeneuve’s daring, flamboyant style and extraordinary ability in extreme conditions earned him legendary status in motorsport, with his rain-soaked Watkins Glen victory widely regarded as one of the finest drives of his career. This collection offers collectors a rare opportunity to own not only a painstakingly accurate recreation of that historic Ferrari, but also an intimate visual tribute to the man behind the wheel.
Sandy Copeman, Founder of Amalgam Collection, said: “This project represents everything Amalgam strives for, absolute authenticity, craftsmanship without compromise, and storytelling through exceptional objects. To work alongside Melanie Villeneuve and bring together these remarkable Richard Kelley images with one of Gilles’ most iconic cars has created something truly unique for collectors and racing enthusiasts alike.”
Each of the twelve editions is priced at £14,295.00 GBP / $18,995.00 USD and includes:
- A hand-built 1:8 scale Ferrari 312 T4 Watkins Glen 1979 replica
- Four exclusive A2 archive-quality Richard Kelley photographic prints
- A personally signed certificate of authenticity from Melanie Villeneuve
- Premium presentation packaging
For more information, and to place an order, click here.
*All prices correct at the time of publication
ENDS
High resolution images can be found here >
EDITORS' NOTES:
MEDIA CONTACTS
PR & Media Enquiries - UK & Europe: liam@crowdpull.co.uk, T: +44 7753540673
PR & Media Enquiries - North America: tom.gibsoncommunications@gmail.com, T: (201) 476-0322, Mobile: (201) 264-3646
PR & Media Team- Global: pressandmedia@amalgam.com
Director of Brand and Business Development: Sandy Copeman sandy.copeman@amalgam.com
Business and Sales Enquiries: enquiries@amalgam.com
ABOUT AMALGAM COLLECTION
Amalgam’s team of craftspeople are recognised worldwide as makers of the finest hand-made large-scale models. Their work is unique in its attention to detail, with a focus on creating models that truly capture the style and spirit of each car. They have dedicated all their skill and passion to achieving a level of excellence that raises the impact and value of each finished piece far above anything previously created.
For cars they have already modelled at 1:8 in a limited edition, the team at Amalgam offers a Tailor Made Service, customising a model to perfectly match the specification of an owner’s real car. For owners of unique very high value cars, Amalgam Collection offers even bigger 1:5 or 1:4 ‘one-off’ model builds from their UK workshops in Bristol, England. The team will digitally scan the car wherever it is in the world and take up to a thousand pictures to capture every detail, allowing them to perfectly and accurately replicate everything at scale. Given the significant number of hours required to develop a unique model, the costs are high, so the model is built at a very large scale to maximise the impact and detail, and to deliver the ultimate finished piece.
Amalgam Collection’s design, management and development heart is in England, with extraordinarily skilled and dedicated teams producing the bigger editions in Hungary and China. They are a multinational, multicultural team of craftsmen and women, dedicated to creating the world’s most precise, beautiful and exclusive models. Inspired by the F1 teams and iconic luxury car marques of England and Italy that they serve and partner with, they take huge pride in their mission to perfectly capture the designs, and honour the designers, drivers and creators of the automotive art they love.
HOW THE MODELS ARE CREATED
- The patterns are created using original CAD from the manufacturer, or extraordinarily accurate digital scans and hundreds of photographs of an original classic car.
- The patterns are used to create silicon rubber moulds that capture every detail.
- Prototyping resin is used to cast the parts from the silicon moulds. Around 20 to 30 parts can be cast from each mould and then a new one must be made.
- Each model is built from thousands of parts: castings, photo-etchings and CNC machined metal components.
- Genuine car paints and manufacturer or archive colour references are used to spray the bodywork.
- It takes between 2,500 and 4,500 hours to develop the tooling for each model.
- It takes between 250 and 450 hours to cast, fit, fettle, paint and build each model.
Every Amalgam model is made entirely by hand from thousands of parts. Detailed original CAD data is supplied by the car's manufacturer or the race team of the car to be modelled. The process of developing each model and creating the master patterns takes between 2,500 and 4,500 hours of skilled work depending on the complexity of the car, with classic cars taking the longest.
In the case of the classic cars an extremely accurate digital scan is made of the car, and hundreds of photographs of all the details of a carefully selected original car are taken, to ensure complete accuracy and adherence to the authentic finishes and materials. Many parts of the model are machined from metal with the major components hand cast from prototyping resin. Each model is individually assembled by a small team of highly skilled model-makers. In total the time taken to machine, cast, hand fettle, paint, polish and assemble each model is between 250 and 450 hours of highly skilled work depending on the complexity of the car.
The finished model is a very precise scale replica of the original car with every detail perfectly and authentically represented at an 8th of the original size. This is modelling elevated to such a high level that it becomes an art form.
Since 1995 Amalgam have been admired and hugely respected by leading designers and engineers in the European automotive industry, as well as F1 designers, drivers and team principals. Amalgam's models appear on the desks of CEOs and presidents of the world's most important car companies. Due to the extreme accuracy and authenticity of Amalgam's creations, made in small limited editions, they are also much sought after by devoted collectors of fine handmade objects across Europe and in the USA.
SCALE GUIDE
