Alistair brookman

Very few model makers can match the miniature masterpieces of Australian Alistair Brookman. His scratch-built beauties of Italian and German Grand Prix legends demonstrate a skill that stands with the greatest of the craft.

From an early age, Alistair was indoctrinated into model making. “My father was in the Australian navy from 1936-ʼ46,” he says. “I lost my mother very young and ended up spending a lot of time sitting with my father in his workshop. He was a brilliant model maker, but ships and aircraft were his interest. He always encouraged me to fiddle with bits of wood.”

A visit in 1956 to Albert Park race circuit kicked off the then nine-year-old Alistairʼs obsession with motorsport. “I remember seeing Stirling Moss racing the Maserati 300S, which really lit the wick,” he recalls. “From then, there was no hope for me!”

After training as an engineering draughtsman, Alistair started club racing in Australia with a Lotus Seven and eventually saved up enough to live the dream by racing Formula Ford in the UK: “It was a challenge I really enjoyed, but my March wasnʼt very competitive.”

While he was in the UK, Alistair worked for Hesketh: “I wrote a letter to the team and Harvey Postlethwaite gave me a job. I worked on the 308 design in Luton and later at Easton Neston. It was a long commute from London in my Anglia Estate, but the team atmosphere was great.”

Around the same time he picked up Gerald Wingroveʼs book, The Complete Car Modeller, sparking the idea of building bespoke models for a living. “My first project was a 1:15 Ferrari 500,” he continues. “By trial and error, the result was as close to the original in detail as possible. Starting with the drawings, the long hours from 7am to 10pm were insane, but thanks to a 1986 story in Classic and Sportscar the phone began to ring. Even Stirling Moss called to talk about a model project.”

Alistair further developed his craft when he moved back to Australia. After finishing a series of 500s in 1:12