Vitesse
Back in 1982 when VITESSE was founded, the ounders and management of the company were motivated by a genuinepassion for model cars. Out of this passion came the ideas, and from these ideas came the products. It is this long process that we would like to enlighten you about through this guided tour.
THE IDEA, THE
PROJECT, THE TOOLS...
First, it is up to our Marketing Department to come up with the idea for a new model. Then, the Research & Development Department produces a complete file for the model.
Next, our Engineering Department takes over the file and sets up a plan of action for the technical side of the process. At this stage, the tooling process can start. In 1989, the VITESSE GROUP set up its own company for Engineering and Tooling: COMPASSO, Indústria de Moldes Ltd.
COMPASSO uses the most up to date technology and only after numerous tests are the tools finally passed and sent to the Production Department.
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Vitesse |
MANUFACTURING THE DIFFERENT PARTS...
Our models are made up of metal die-cast injected parts using a zinc alloy (body and sometimes chassis), plastic parts (interiors, bumpers, wheels, windows, etc.) and rubber (tyres), with water transfers being used to add the final decoration. The metal parts are trimmed and polished by means of a centrifugal drum containing abrasive ceramic stones. The production of water transfers requires high precision silk screen printing techniques. |
1993 the VITESSE GROUP set up its own company for the drawing and printing of water decals: SERIDECAL, Impressão e Decalcomanias Ltd. This gives us complete autonomy in this field as well as enabling us to reproduce any new decoration of racing models extremely quickly. It is worth noting that we are currently the only diecast manufacturer to have such production capabilities.
After undergoing very rigorous quality control, the different parts are sent to the painting and assembly sections.
FINAL ASSEMBLY...
The quality of the paint finish is of prime importance in a collectable die-cast model car. For this reason, all our models are hand-painted, first with a coat of primer and then with two or three coats of enamel, before being placed in a high temperature kiln which 'bakes on' the finish.
The assembly itself is entirely hand crafted. Our models may consist of more than 80 different parts, of which some are so small that they must be fitted with tweezers.
The finished VITESSE GROUP models are then carefully checked for quality before being packed in individual showcase boxes and exported all over the world. Vitesse Group was present, for the sixteenth consecutive year, at the 2001 International Toy Fair from 01.02 to 06.02, and this year we presented in our stand the Peugeot 206 WRC world rally champion 2000, along with a selection of the best and most successful models we produced during last year and brand new releases and prototypes that we will produce in 2001.
Two models produced by Vitesse Group were awarded as best models of the year 2000 on the 1:43rd scale category: The Jaguar D from Quartzo and The Panoz Esperante from Onyx.
Check on this page a selection of photos from our stand and the awards
we received.
