MotorHelix has unsurprisingly taken our 2024 Model of the Year Trophy with their outstanding and very good Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA. What is surprising, though, is that they cared to make the Alfa Romeo, a subject matter usually either covered in sealed resin by BBR and Cult Scale or by manufacturers on the budget end of the hobby, such as Solido, who get frequent reviews here. In addition to sealed resin models, Italian model manufacturer Mitica makes budget diecast Alfas, too, but while being on our manufacturers list, they have never received coverage on our news or by reviews on their models. So let´s change that!

As an example, I have picked their La Familia Alfa Romeo 156, released at the end of 2024 in various variants, including both Italian police forces, the Polizia and Carabinieri. In contrast to Triple 9 and much like Solido, their models are not fully sealed, but have steerable front wheels and opening front doors, while the rear doors remain sealed. For the 156, this seems very appropriate, as one of its design cues was to hide away the door handles of the rear doors to make it look more coupe. Lights have reasonable depth and detail; even the small rear reflectors in the bumper and the amber side markers are translucent lenses, not just paint-prints. All in all, Mitica greatly captures the general shape of this beautiful car and offers different rims on different versions.

While hood and trunk sadly remain sealed, the interior isn´t too shabby either. The red interior of the black 2.5 V6 24V exemplifies this Italian chic with the Alfa logo proudly on the front seats. If you find the wood replication unconvincing, bear in mind that the original car did not have real wood veneer either. At this price point, we don´t expect carpeting. On the 2.0 Twin Spark police versions, the interior additionally gets radio and blues & twos switchgear and a force-specific police trowel each on the passenger-side dashtop – something that the fully sealed Triple9 models don´t offer despite the brand´s name´s allusion to the British emergency phone number.

The Carabinieri squad car has a separation in the cabin, turning the rear into a secure prison cell, and, in addition to the two blues beacons and searchlight-bubble, an operating pop-up (but on the model un-) illuminated-sign-box on the roof´s rear end – again, something the Triple9 version does not have. The Polizia version has a lightbar instead and a metal antenna. Both versions come at the exact same price as the civilian versions, which makes them a great value and a great choice, as Alfa Romeos traditionally are a familiar sight in Italian police livery, dating back to the 1960s and the original Giulias.

Of course, we wouldn´t mind MotorHelix making more high-end Alfa Romeos, especially a modern Carabinieri Giulia, but for anyone looking for older Alfas, Mitica models might be well worth looking at.