Tales of Toy Cars - New finds for August 2005

Once again, selecting a car or cars of the month was a real challenge. The new models by Grell would have been obvious except that I have already done a story on these cars in this issue. My first Rail Route (early Majorette) or Gisima would also be serious contenders. How about any of the great Norev models or even a wonderful Micro Champs F1 race car? The two cars I selected are both by Ferrero. The first is a lovely plastic model of a very famous Mercedes-Benz. It is no less than the 300 SLR that Sterling Moss and Denis Jenkinson drove to first place in the 1955 Mille Miglia. The detail on this 1;72 scale model is very impressive. The 300SLR is a beautiful car and this becomes the only example in my collection. The second model is diecast and represents the most famous of the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow grand prix cars, the W125. Once again it is the only example of this historic race car in my collection. The scale is close to 1:87 but the detail is still sharp. Both these cars deserve to be done in a scale closer to 1:64.

Micro Champs are exquisite miniatures and I never miss an opportunity to add another to my collection. Thanks to a trade with a fellow collector in Belgium, this model and many other shown here, became available to me. The 1993 Williams Renault FW15 of Alain Prost is beautifully presented in the plastic box so I decided to show it this way.

Hot Wheels' latest 'Realistix' models are the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and the Acura HSC concept. This is the first Aston Martin ever offered by Hot Wheels and it is fortunately presented in a plain yellow wrapper . The Acura HSX concept offers the next generation styling for the NSX. It looks great in plain silver although I think I like the original NSX shape better but this is a fine looking car. I could not resist a nice looking Red-line version of the '32 Ford Delivery. A recent trip to McDonalds resulted in two Happy Meal models. These are from the 'Accelerators' series and they actually look better than the $2 versions found at stores, at least to me. The black model looks like the new Batmobile from the movie 'Batman Begins'. The orange muscle car is clearly inspired by a 1970 Mustang. Both have lights that shine from inside the car and clear tires.

Johnny Lightning was finally able to re-release their '73 Cadillac Eldorado as they arranged for a new licensing agreement with Cadillac. This street version is much nicer than the original Indy 500 Pace Car, with rubber tires, white walls and better paint detail. Now if they could just fix the Custom Eldorado casting, I would be thrilled.

Norev simply keeps producing superior models of current cars. The Porsche 996 and Cayenne models are some of the best to date in small-scale versions of these cars. The Renault Avantime, Twingo and Clio are fun to have and the top slides open on the Twingo. The Peugeot 207 Police and new 107 were added and the Citroen version of the 107, the C1 now provides me with example of all the C1-6 models. The VW Fox is an interesting return to this model name from the 1970's.

Muscle Machines offers some interesting models in their Jesse James series and this 1962 Impala Convertible is even better with the top up. A top down version is also available.

For years the Ferrari 250LM, #9 Majorette by Rail Route has been on my 10 most wanted list. This 'modified' version has lost the windscreen and roll bar and has received some black paint but is otherwise in good condition. These models are very hard to find today and I really appreciate and example, even in this condition. Now I need to decide if I want to attempt a restoration. What would you do?

Other Majorette models received in trade are the CX and Camargue concept in a beautiful French racing blue. These classic Majorette models are really great toy cars. Two new Majorettes also arrived. The Subaru Impreza WRX and the Citroen Xsara WRC are from the racing collection series. I like both very much although I could do without the darkened windows.

Jada's Nissan 240SX is a nice surprise. This was a handsome car from Nissan and it is a treat to see these 15 year old cars being done now in small-scale. The quality is excellent.

My first Gisima model is this nice Citroen BX. These Spanish-made toy cars are decent models and I love adding these hard-to-find castings to my collection.

Toy Zone is a new company in the small-scale toy car arena and this Baja 1000 truck is quite good. The plastic base with the boulders is an interesting twist. I think the truck looks like a Toyota but it is only identified as a SCORE Trophy Truck.

The three Grell models are given a full review in another article (click here).

Mira produced a small number of 1:64 scale diecast and now I have the Citroen CX 2400 Pallas. These Mira models are much like Guisval in quality. It is interesting how many small Spanish toy car firms have existed. Today, only Guisval remains.

Marx produced their 1:66 and smaller scale models in an effort to compete with matchbox and later Hot Wheels. High prices and low quality doomed this effort. This Jaguar 'E' type looks a bit like the Matchbox version but with a wheel system that borrows from Hot Wheels. One unique feature of the Marx models is that each features a driver.

Siku is the first to offer the popular Mini Cooper Cabriolet. Surely others will follow. The Mercedes-Benz McLaren F1 is an excellent model and a great companion piece to the Porsche Carrera GT. Siku continues to offer some of the best toy car value, with decent world-wide availability.

Two Playart castings not in my collection are on their way to Germany but not before I took images of these models. The Fiat X19 is shown here in a very '70's avocado green. The Porsche 911 Targa was a popular choice for toy car makers with examples from Siku, Yat Ming and Mini-Lindy as well.