Vitesse emerged in 1982 as a Portuguese company making die-cast cars, mostly in 1:43 scale.

Because of attention to detail and great realism of the models, Vitesse gained increasing popularity in the late 1980s and 1990s. Models were often similar in concept to French brand Solido, though less toy-like and more oriented to collectors. Conceptually then, Vitesse falls somewhere between Solido and Italian manufacturer Brumm in presentation.

Eventually Vitesse was purchased by Sun Star Models, a producer of well-detailed, mostly 1:18 scale die-casts. Three former Vitesse lines are now supported by Sun Star: Vitesse Models, Vitesse Rallye, and Quartzo which does race car replicas.