Minichamps Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3

Minichamps Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3

With all those post-nominal letters and numbers, it doesn’t take much to figure that the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 is a special car, before you even see it. Once you do, it’s apparent that this hairy variant of the retro supercar was made for track antics, with a racing 6-speed transmission mounted to the rear axle, a “stock” AMG 6.3 liter V8, a tightened and lowered stance, composite brakes, and a tweaked, lightweight body with a giant carbon-fiber wing on its rear deck. The scaled version of that body, wearing AMG presentation livery, is exceptional, too. Rather than casting the Benz in metal or resin, this sealed-body Minichamps replica comes formed from ABS plastic. Beneath a high-grade white paint finish (the factory resolved issues with early versions), the swoop and drama of the car sit perched above spider-like 12-spoke wheels and fat race rubber. Though the model is a static piece, the front wheels are poseable, and rolling the car causes the brake discs to pass through hefty “Brembo” calipers. Small details are great; we loved the space-robot headlights and stacked rear lensing, the red kill rings front and rear, and the three-pointed stars in the grille and deck lid. The heavily detailed cockpit is only visually accessible, but it’s worth peering into for its roll cage, race seats, and center stack detailing. Given its reasonable price, to all the letters above, we add “A-OK.” — Joe Kelly, Jr.

1:18 | $135

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Updated: June 5, 2014 — 9:55 AM
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