Photography by David Gooley
Beautiful Cars of Brianza
October 1, 2003
The best of these miniatures are so realistic that there is a temptation to remove them from display cases and play with them. Of course, as adults, few of us would ever actually push them around on the floor, accompanied by self-made engine or tire noises. That would be okay for a child’s toy, but hardly appropriate for serious objets d’art. Even so, these models appear ready to scoot away on their own, with no more impetus than an eyedropper of fuel and a suitably minuscule pilot.
Traditionally, there has been a gap between the truly bespoke miniatures created by such legendary model builders as Manuel Olivé Sans, Michele Conti, and Gerald Wingrove, and the fine but machine-made cars of companies such as Burago and Brooklyn Models. One of the first to sense a need for miniatures that combined handcraftsmanship and limited-quantity production was the late Carlo Brianza. The company he founded, now called ABC Brianza, continues the practice today, offering scale-model cars of exquisite quality.
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Even tiny racers need transporters. Two Ferrari haulers from the 1950s are joined here by a newer team bus, all in one-forty-third scale. (Click image to enlarge)Brianza honed his craft while working with Conti and Olivé Sans. His first independent effort, a replica of the Type 156 Ferrari Formula One car that Phil Hill used to win the 1961 Driver’s World Championship, was a one-off. In time, he offered his first “production” car, a one-fourteenth-scale Ferrari Daytona. Others followed over the years, generally in series limited to 1,000 copies.
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