The CMC 1:18 scale model car of the Fiat 642 Bartoletti transporter is one of the most ambitious pieces the German specialist has produced: an enclosed racing car transporter finished in the blue and yellow of the Officine Alfieri Maserati works team, complete with a separate 1:18 Maserati 250F inside. The set captures a precise historical moment — the 1957 Formula 1 season — at a level of physical and contextual detail that no other manufacturer has matched at this scale.
The Fiat 642 and the Bartoletti Body
The Fiat 642 was a heavy-duty truck series produced by Fiat in the 1950s. Onto this chassis, Officine Bartoletti of Forlì, Italy, constructed bespoke enclosed transporter bodies for Grand Prix teams including Maserati, Ferrari and Lancia. Each Bartoletti body was individually fabricated rather than catalogue-built, making every surviving example unique. The enclosed format protected the precious 250F racing cars during road transit between circuits across Europe, replacing the open-trailer practice of earlier seasons.
The Last Great Works Maserati Campaign
In 1957 Juan Manuel Fangio won his fifth world title driving the Maserati 250F, and the Maserati works drivers included Jean Behra and Harry Schell. The Fiat 642 Bartoletti transporter, finished in the team's house colours of blue and yellow and carrying the Maserati trident on its flanks, was the mobile base connecting those victories. At the close of 1957, Maserati withdrew from factory F1 competition — making this transporter an artefact of the very last season of the pre-modern works campaign.
CMC's 1:18 Scale Model: Construction and Detail
CMC — Classic Model Cars — produced this set in the blue and yellow Maserati livery variant. Construction follows CMC's standard high part-count methodology: die-cast metal bodywork combined with photo-etched and plastic components. The transporter body opens to reveal an interior ramp and cargo space, in which the included 1:18 Maserati 250F sits. Cab doors and the hood are also confirmed as opening. CMC engineers to German specifications, and the 642 Bartoletti set is among the most complex releases in the company's catalogue, with the level of finish concentrated on both exterior panel detail and the functioning interior.
In the Display Cabinet
At 1:18 scale, the tractor-trailer combination demands a generously deep shelf or a purpose-built display case — this is not a piece to squeeze between standard road car models. The natural pairing is CMC's standalone Maserati 250F or the red-livery Fiat 642 Bartoletti Ferrari variant, which together reconstruct the rival transporters of the 1957 paddock. The set occupies the kind of centrepiece position in a 1:18 transporter collection that very few subjects can justify.
