Supercar and hypercar models

Stance. A real supercar sits low with its wheels pushed to the corners and its tyres filling the arches, and a model that gets that wrong looks like a toy however good the paint is. Check the ride height in the product photos: the sill should be barely above the tyre contact patch and the wheels should not be tucked inboard. The Bugatti Bolide and the Lamborghini Sian in this collection are the two we point to when someone asks what correct stance looks like at 1:24.

After stance comes the doors. Lamborghini scissor doors, McLaren dihedral doors and Koenigsegg's dihedral synchro-helix doors each move differently, and a model that opens them the ordinary way has missed the point of the car. All the Lamborghinis and McLarens here open correctly. Then the rear: a supercar is mostly engine cover and diffuser from behind, and that is where cheaper models go blank. Look for a modelled engine under glass and separate exhaust tips.

Supercar colours are difficult. Rosso Corsa needs a warm base coat under it or it turns orange; Bugatti's two-tone blue has to be masked cleanly along a curved swage line; Lamborghini's matt and satin finishes have to be sprayed without the orange peel that shows on a flat panel. The models here manage all three well enough that we photograph them without retouching. If a colour on a product page looks different from a photo you have seen elsewhere, ours is the one taken from the actual stock.

For the most features at 1:24, the Lamborghini Centenario: scissor doors, opening front and rear, a rising rear wing, lights and engine sound. For the most interesting shape, the Bugatti Bolide or La Voiture Noire. For a Ferrari, the LaFerrari has more presence than the SF90 at the same price. In 1:18, the Mercedes-AMG ONE is the model that makes people pick it up, because of the exposed Formula 1 engine and the weight of it.