1:18 Top Marques Maserati GranCabrio Centennial Edition Review

The Maserati GranCabrio MC Centennial Edition is described as “Captivating. Exhilirating.” in Maserati’s literature for this car. Whilst I can’t speak for the latter, because I’ve never driven one, I can certainly speak for the former – this car certainly is captivating! It looks beautiful and it’s beauty is certainly arresting, so this review shall be described as “Captivating. Arresting”. Speaking of arresting, that 4.9 seconds to 62mph and a top speed of 179mph will probably get you arrested pretty quickly, but at least you’ll be going down in style. Maserati built this visual masterpiece to celebrate 100 years of the Trident badge at the end of 2014 and is based on the GranCabrio MC Stradale. The specification for the Centennial Edition adds more eye-candy, starting with three exclusive triple-coat paint finishes, Rosso Magma, Blue Inchiostro and Grigio Pietra, which are offered along with four finishes from the existing colour range. For the interior, owners can choose from a carefully-devised matrix of interiors in soft Poltrona Frau leather. The Centennial Edition’s unique seat stripes match the body colour, while stitching is selected to harmonise. Even the high-performance Brembo brake calipers are matched to the chosen paint finish. Other specification highlights include Centennial wheel centre caps and door sills as well as carbon fibre headrest mouldings, door handles, side mirrors and lip spoiler. The 4.7 litre V8 engine produces 460bhp and 520NM of torque through a 6 speed ZF transmission, and with the top down it means you get to hear the sonorous V8 rumble without any hinderance. You can hear that V8 here:

(WARNING: listening to this at high volume may cause eargasms).

For those that have read my previous review of the Top Marques Lykan Hypersport, you will know I’m a big fan of the brand. After parting ways with BBR in 2015, they now have a sister brand in the shape of LS Collectibles and there promises to be some exciting projects on the horizon, so stay tuned. This particular model up for review today is the Rosso Magma version (item number TOP13B) in 1:18 scale and is limited to just 200 pieces worldwide, courtesy of a little individually numbered sticker on the rather nice looking base (the unboxing experience is the same as the Lykan Hypersport, so feel free to reference that review for more details). Also remember that this is a sealed resin model – I always try and get the convertible version of a resin model, because it allows you to get a nice view of the interior of the car. Apologies in advance for any dust in the close up pictures – resin models are a pain in the proverbial and attract a lot of dust annoyingly.

Let’s take a look around the car shall we? There’s no doubt the striking beauty of this model. It looks to be very well represented in all proportions, with the long bonnet reminiscent of a leopard about to pounce on its prey – this car has a really purposeful stance and packs a proper visual punch. We’ll get onto the specific details throughout this review, but the model is certainly living up to the “Captivating. Exhilirating.” moniker Maserati has placed upon this car.

The paintwork on this model is another great job by Top Marques! Just take a look at the close up below, with the deep red colour showing plenty of metallic flakes. I actually preferred the Grigio Pietra version before I got this, but I’m certainly not disappointed with this one in hand.

The wheels are the 20 inch MC Design Charcoal with White Accents option and complement the model well. There is also the option of red or blue accents, but Top Marques definitely made the right choice here. The brake calipers are also painted in Rosso Magma to match the exterior paintjob and this also has the optional Centenary logo on the centre cap (although the one in the picture below is slightly off centre when looking up close). The white accents accentuate the Trident motif and even the air valve is painted, which I always find to be a welcome little touch. Top Marques have also done an almost excellent job on the standard Ceramic Composite Material (CCM) brakes, but these are supposed to be perforated discs, so a point is deducted there. If you look closely, you can see there are various indentations in the disc, however. Sadly there is no branding on the tyre sidewalls, but this isn’t always so common in the model world.

Taking a closer look at the front end reveals some great details. Whilst I think the large grille kind of looks like a basking shark with its mouth wide open, the concave shape somehow makes it look good. Top Marques replicated the chrome surround really well with the Centennial spec black vertical grille bars. Instead of just leaving the detail at that, you will notice the mesh grille protecting the radiator deep inside the front bumper which serves to add a decent bit of depth to the details of this model.

The headlight units are OK. There seems to be a bit of excess glue around the edges which is a shame and although what features are there are executed pretty well, the ‘eyelid’ with the Maserati logo engraved is missing. That would really have been the icing on the cake!

One sloppy detail that has let the model down is the front badge. Whoever cut it off the sheet it was manufactured on apparently forgot to snip off the bit that held it on and so we’re left with a badge that isn’t completely round. I also think the Trident and text could be a bit better defined, but the subtle curve gives it a nice 3D look. You’ll also notice the slight paint defect to the right of the badge that is highlighted by the light bouncing off the paint. This is the only paint issue I could find on the model and wasn’t visible unless you looked for it.

Moving around to the rear of the model and the photoetched Maserati badge on the bootlid is nicely done. It is positioned perfectly in place and the font looks really elegant. Below that you’ll see a chrome strip that mirrors the top part of the front grille. This car is all about the motifs and carrying through elegant bits of Italian design from front to rear and I think Top Marques has done a pretty good job in capturing the essence of this in scale form.

I’m extremely happy to report that there are some perforated grilles on this model. The two intakes in the front bumper and the pieces around the rear diffuser are executed well.

The only fly in the ointment is the solid pieces of black plastic in the front fenders and bonnet vents. You were so close to a perfect score on that front, Top Marques!!!

The exterior carbon fibre detailing really elevates this car to another level. I think it complements the sleek lines provided by the standard GranCabrio and turns it into the beautiful beast that is the MC Stradale. As shown in the pictures below, the weave is nice and consistent and has a nice glossy lacquer over it. The boot lip spoiler, door handles and wing mirrors are all carbon fibre.

Moving onto the interior now and I’m almost left a bit speechless by it’s beauty. It’s not perfect, but there are a lot of lovely details, especially the seats. How good do those seats look!?!? The only detail missing is the contrast stitching – if Bburago can do it on their Signature Ferrari 488 GTB, I’d also like to see it feature on more expensive models in future, please. That aside, I could look at this all day. I just want to climb in and sit in those big sports seats and drive off, roof down with that V8 bellow ringing in my ears!! This model has nice photoetched belt buckles, but in an open topped model with all the interior details on display I would like to see some real fabric seatbelts, rather than plastic. I’m being a bit picky, but that’s only because it looks so good. One of my favourite features is the Trident logo on the headrests – a nice rich red that instantly grabs your attention along with the matching coloured accents all around the seats (as you can tell, I love these seats).

This model has the optional MC Sport Line interior carbon package fitted plus the carbon backed seats. This isn’t quite as good as the exterior carbon execution, but I think that is due to the more complex shapes. You can see a small amount of bunching around the edges of the seat backs and also the carbon around the central tunnel and cupholders, but you’d be hard pressed to notice these points unless you were looking very close indeed. I will commend the look of the weave as it wraps around the contours of the seat back, however – it looks pretty spot on. There is also a smattering of carbon detailing on the door cards, handles and a single strip running across the entire dashboard with the GranTurismo C MC logo well placed.

The centre console is also a job well done by Top Marques. The little details like the analogue clock that sits proudly atop the dash and the generally well detailed buttons throughout. I’d like to point your attention to the 3D effect they’ve achieved with these buttons so they are genuinely raised. It is nice to see the flappy paddles for the automated gearbox done in carbon fibre as well and the instrument binnacle is done well with nice clear dials (sadly they were a bit hard to photograph well at a good angle, so you’ll have to take my word on that one).

As you can probably tell by my review, I’m pretty besotted with this model. It is such a beautiful model and I don’t think it can be truly appreciated until you see it in the flesh (although I have tried to convey that with my pictures). While I’m not sure a 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds can class this as a true supercar, the clue is in the GranTurismo name – this is an out and out GT car. A GT car crafted in pure style and luxury. I don’t think anything short of an Aston Martin GT car can match this in terms of looks and that’s what this car is all about, both looking and sounding good as you’re cruising down the French Riviera with the top down and enjoying that V8 soundtrack. I’m glad Top Marques were the ones to replicate this in 1:18 form as they generally do a good job. It is certainly not perfect once you start looking very closely, but for the vast majority of the time when it is simply sitting there on display, you will never ever notice the small defects I’ve highlighted above. And even then, they’re not that bad, but I like to get really up close and personal for my model reviews and get into every nook and cranny. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in this model regardless of what colour you prefer. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!