Atlas Dinky #1410 Moskvitch

By Maz Woolley

All text and photographs by, and copyright of, the Author unless stated otherwise.

Recently a small number of the Atlas Dinky 1410 Moskvitch have been sold on eBay by sellers based in China. I have always wanted one of the French Dinky Toys Moskvitch models to go with my USSR/Russian made Moskvitch models so I bought one. Of course it is possible that one will also turn up in the Atlas UK Deluxe Dinky series in which case I will have two!

The model was launched by French Dinky in 1968 and was based on a Moskvitch 408 with a 1360cc engine. The model was withdrawn in 1971. The Moskvitch 408 car was launched in 1964 and replaced by the 412 in 1967 so the French Dinky was already out of date when launched.

The Model is in a reproduction of one of the later style of picture boxes with the car drawn but none of the nice backgrounds shown on earlier models.

The French Dinky came in three different colours: metallic bronze, metallic blue, and red. Here Atlas has chosen to reproduce the deep red colour.

The quad headlights and grille are very nicely reproduced and with some effort the front hinged bonnet can be made to sit properly.

Interestingly for a model sold in France the number plates look to be Soviet ones in the format used from 1960 onwards with the area code last. I can find no listing of where ‘MML’ was issued, which is what the Cyrillic letters say, but Moscow would be my guess.

The rear of the car is very nicely modelled with the upright lights of the 408 well captured and the additional lights on the rear panel too.

The opening bonnet shows quite a bit of detail and has a slightly complicated front hinge. Inside the car there is a basic white plastic interior with a black plastic steering wheel and unusually no recess for the footwell in front of the front seats.

Here in the UK the Moskvitch sold modestly but it was cheap, came with a complete tool kit and was a tough car. It was also sucessfully campaigned in saloon car racing by the importer. In that period saloon car classes were based on sales price putting a Moskvitch with a strong OHC 1500cc engine in the same class as basic MIni and Imps.

Behind the Iron Curtain.

The French Dinky model may have gone out of production in 1971 but the casting went on to live a second life. In the Soviet Union the French Dinky spawned copies and new versions such as estates, vans and pickups.

When you compare a Saratov made Moskvitch model like the estate car shown below you can see the similarities. Though chrome here, and black in the French Dinky, the engine casting looks identical. Look inside and the funny interior with no cutouts for the floor wells and the bulge where the steering column would be looks identical to the French Dinky. Even the seats look the same, albeit with a rear extension in the estate car.

 

The USSR made model shown has a slightly different means of attaching the bonnet, the indicators on the front wings are slightly less pronounced, and the grille is from a rectangular headlight second series car.  The ventilator window frames are also a little larger on the USSR made model. So the conclusion is that the Saratov model is derived from the Dinky without being a straight copy.

The Soviet model has nicer wheels than the Dinky as the wheel embellishers are etched in to the concave section and the wheels are smaller and tyres more finely moulded.

As the photographs show the French Dinky makes a nice companion to the Soviet made model which was bought from a Berioshka (Foreign Tourist only) shop in a hotel in Leningrad in the Gorbachev era.


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Supermini and Minimac – A Blast from the ’80s!

By Karl Schnelle and Maz Woolley

One of our readers asked the Editors if they had more information on some specific 1:50 Brazilian trucks from our retrospective reviews of the 1985 (Mercedes fire appliance) and 1989 Model Auto Reviews (the Coca-Cola Scania).  Both Editors dug into it and discovered a little bit about each one.

The two trucks originally were made in Brazil.  Actually the Mercedes is a Brazilian/English ‘hybrid’.  Here is what MAR reported in the 1980’s about these two trucks and the companies that made them.

Sun Motor Mercedes Fire Appliance (Supermini base)

The Mercedes fire appliance was a Sun Motor Co 1/50 handbuilt. The chassis/cab was from Arpra/Supermini of Brazil, while the resin body and diecast fittings came from from Britain. It was to be a  limited edition of 150, according to MAR back in 1985.

Sun Motor Co was owned by Rod Ward at that time; he is now the MAR Online Consultant Editor and Founder.  Here is what he says about these models: “Yes, we handled Arpra Supermini in the UK at that time, and we had a lot of fire appliance collectors who couldn’t get enough different and interesting models. We commissioned a pattern from Geoff Moorhouse for a resin body and other parts. I think Geoff actually built them for us as well. It was a pleasing little model, and it sold out quickly. I can’t remember the total quantity actually made – it depended on how many of the Arpra Mercedes we could get hold of. It was certainly no more than 100, maybe only 60 or so, as that was the expected life of a resin mould at that time.”

“It was in the early days of the Sun Motor Co, when we mostly made up the range from adaptations of diecast, etc., models (like this one) or models adopted from defunct or moribund ranges (like Geoff’s AGM range, from which we adopted a number of models, including the DeSoto and Bristol 450). Geoff made a few more patterns for us, before he began his own new truck range, and we moved on to other pattern makers.”

The Modelauto shop, also owned by Rod, were the importers of the Brazilian models into UK at the time and also used them as a basis for their own conversions. Sadly the Sun Motor Company built models are very scarce as they were made in such small numbers and were sold by mail order all over the world.

Minimac Scania

The Coca-Cola Scania L76 was by Minimac of Brazil, also in 1:50 scale.  In 1989, this was a restock item at Modelauto. No other information was shown, but it appeared in color twice in Mar in 1989.

A Jeep 4×4 was also shown in similar Coca-Cola livery.

At that time, Modelauto was also selling the Scania is Plus Vita livery.

More Information

Digging around some more in the old 1980’s issues of MAR, two articles were found on Brazilian models.   In MAR #3, Winter 1982, many pages of a then-current Supermini catalog were published: trucks, construction equipment, and a bus.

Then, in MAR #11,  Extra 1984, frequent contributor Clive Chick wrote a two-page summary of Brazilian cars and trucks from a  recent trip of his.   He pictured Supermini and Minimac on the first page.

He also found Muky, Corgi Juniors by Kiko, Schuco-REI, and Solido, all made in Brazil

We would love to hear from other readers who collect these older Brazilian toys or know the history of these companies.


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DeAgostini Dinky 268 Renault Minicab

By Maz Woolley

All text and photographs are  by, and copyright of, the Author unless otherwise stated.

The model discussed in this article is the sixteenth release in the DeAgostini Classic Dinky Toys collection and one that has a strong appeal as it did not appear in the Atlas Dinky series. It has been made for them by Norev in China. It is #268 Renault Dauphine MInicab. It is unusual for this series by being a UK Dinky release, though based on a well established Dinky France casting #524 from 1959 with fitted windows which replaced the same car without windows sold as 24E from 1957. So why did Dinky UK adopt this French model?

In the early 1960s a small firm called Carline realised that the Black Cab (mainly Austin FX3s and FX4s) monopoly in London was based on them being the only service allowed to ply for hire but that if people ordered a car over the phone to a central office who dispatched the cars the service could be provided outside the Hackney Carriage regulations. Starting with a small fleet of Ford Anglias Carline’s minicabs began to hit the streets of London in early 1961.

Shortly after that Michael Gotla a young, and publicity conscious, entrepreneur started Welbeck Motors who went on to be the public face of the early Minicab. He ordered a large number of red Renault Dauphines and also gained further income by applying adverts to them, something that only happened to Black Cabs in the 1980s.  Dialling WELbeck 0561 would summon a car for one shilling per mile, considerably cheaper than a Black Cab. At this time Black Cabs were not keen to leave Central London as it made picking up the next fare more difficult so calling a minicab was often quicker as well as cheaper particularly in Outer London suburbs.

There were several pubic conflicts between Black Cabs and Minicabs, as there have been recently between Taxis and Uber drivers in a number of Cities. This generated a lot of publicity and press coverage which encouraged Dinky to show themselves as up to date by modelling the minicabs which were being regularly pictured in the press and seen on TV. After all all they had to do was get raw castings and glazing sent to them from France, create a new baseplate and box,  apply some red paint, and add transfers.

Following an unfavourable court case the first generation of minicabs faded away in London only to return later when regulations became more favourable. The short period of operation  of Wellbeck Motors didn’t matter to Dinky who sold the model from 1962 to 1967.

The model from DeAgostini differs from the original Dinky in one key way. Unable to get a license from Meccano to reproduce their advert on the model DeAgostini had Kenwood printed on both sides which reduces the accuracy of the replica though sets of transfers are available if anyone wanted to add a Meccano advert over one of the Kenwood adverts.

The Dinky France Renault Dauphine was a good casting though already over five years old when used as a minicab. It captures the real car well and it is 1:43 scale unlike most UK Dinkys of the time, though this is not stated on the UK made baseplate.  The printing of the adverts is well done on the replica with some depth to it replicating the bulk of a transfer, though of course the absolute accuracy and well aligned prints are perhaps ‘better than new’.

Certainly an interesting model for DeAgostini to offer and one that it is worth seeking out by those who are not collecting the series because they already have the Atlas Dinky Collection.


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John Day Vehicle Scenics 1948 Riley 2.5 Drophead Coupé

By Maz Woolley

All text and photographs by, and copyright of, the Author unless otherwise stated.

It has been some time since I have completed a John Day Vehicle Scenics (JDVS) kit  but the nice weather here in the UK has encouraged me to complete one I bought some months ago. This kit has had the master updated by Daryle Toney who owns JDVS and so  now consists of a body, a steering wheel on a ‘column’, a base with seats moulded in, and separate wheels that fit neatly to the base with a pin on the wheel and small hole in the chassis. This was first Vehicle Scenics model that I saw made up, and it was on a club stand at a Modellex many years ago. With its SRV03 code number it was one of the earliest JDVC kits made.   I have had to wait till now to buy one as it sold out quickly and remained out of production for many years.

The Riley RM series was one of the last cars developed by the Riley company before it was fully absorbed into the Nuffield organisation and moved on to the Gerald Palmer designed Pathfinder. The RMA was a 1.5 Litre engined saloon (also available from JDVS as SRV70), the RMB a 2.5 Litre saloon version, the RMC a 2.5 litre two door roadster, and the RMD (as modelled here) the 2.5 Litre drophead. They were all amongst the earliest “new designs” to be presented after the Second World War though in truth the chassis, engine and much else was largely inherited from the pre-war 1.5/2.5 litre Riley Kestrel.

The RM series was originally made in Coventry, but in 1949 production was moved to the MG works at Abingdon.

The kit all fits together well now the master has been tidied up and improved. The overall shape of the car has been caught well and the hood and hood irons are neatly modelled.

The interior is basic. Seats are moulded neatly but without any door cards the side is very blank and there is a large gap between rear seat and side creating a hole showing the ground through part of the wheel arch.

At the rear the handles, hinges, lights and bumpers are all moulded in well and the hood sits nicely.  To the side the side stripe and hood irons are well reproduced.

Inside the very simple dashboard moulding echoes the real vehicle without being detailed or completely accurate in shape. No floor mounted gear change is fitted and the steering column has no levers fitted either.

Whilst this car is primarily aimed at Railway Modellers it  complements Oxford Diecast‘s 1:76 pre-war Riley Kestrel  Saloon or the even earlier Barry Lester 1:76 BKL3 1935 Riley Kestrel white metal kit (another kit I have waiting to be made!). It also complements the Parker Models Pathfinder which tells the story of the next phase of life of the Riley badge in this scale.


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Premium X Land Rover Discovery Sport 2017

By John. F. Quilter

All text and photographs by, and copyright of, the Author unless otherwise stated.

Chinese model makers are fast at work producing replicas of past and present model vehicles. Some are now done as manufacturers launch new product, much as AMT and Johan did in the 1950s and 1960s with 1:24 scale replicas for each year’s American cars. You may have played with and collected these. Hopefully, today’s models will stay in good shape better than the early plastic “promos” that sadly tended to become grossly warped with age.

 

 

The model shown in this article is one of the the latest from Premium X a brand name of Premium Collectibles Trading Company based in Macau, China. This model reviewed is the 2017 version of the Land Rover Discovery Sport. It is available in red as shown under item number PRD402 and in black as PRD401. Land Rover and Range Rover seem to be spinning out new models at a record pace. I’m having some difficulty keeping all these LR and RR products straight and trying to figure out what market niche they fit into.

In the interests of fuel economy the Discovery Sport features a 2.0 litre inline four cylinder engine with turbocharging and 9 speed automatic transmission and, for the technically savvy the bore is 3.44 and the stroke 3.27. All this provides for a 0-60 time of 7.8 seconds and a top speed of 124 MPH in case you are in a hurry to get to your favourite off road adventure.

There is a plethora of features such as All Terrain Process Control, Terrain Response, Hill Decent Control, Start Stop technology, (I’m not so sure about this feature as one who has spent a lifetime trying to make sure the engine does NOT stall at intersections) Electronic Power Assisted Steering, Hill Start Assist, Dynamic Stability Control, Electronic Park Brake, Emergency Brake Assist, Electronic Brake Force Distribution, Roll Stability Control, Emergency Brake Assist. All this should keep you busy testing and demonstrating these features but of course only after you have read the owner’s handbook which is likely upwards of 300 pages. Heavens, the sales brochure is 96 pages! I can understand heated leather steering wheel, partial leather seats, 8 way front seats. Front and rear premium carpet mats but the other high tech features…. not so much.

Land Rover offers 17 exterior colours and 6 interior upholstery colours. Maybe you would like Ebony with Pimento stitching or perhaps Ebony with Cirrus stitching? We’ve come a long way from a Series 2 Land Rover. And for wheels there are 13 shown as available, some black, some silver and pick your diameter.

Now to the scale model, this one is done in Firenze red with Ebony seats, but aw shucks I cannot tell what the piping is, Pimento or Cirrus? The wheels appear to be 20” Split Spoke in gloss black. My camera seems to turn red into orange but trust me the model really is red. There is reasonable details on the undercarriage, the most prominent being the exhaust system that splits at the rear to two chrome tailpipes.

A very large tinted glass roof gives good visibility to the interior revealing some silver details to the centre stack, steering wheel and instruments. And this model is done in left hand drive just suitable for the USA. Proper green Land Rover oval badges appear on the grill and C posts.

So, if like me, you are an inveterate Land Rover model collector here is one more for the shelf. No fuel, insurance, registration, or a larger garage required. Now I eagerly await the Velar.


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More on Bathurst models

By Mick Haven

All text and photographs by, and copyright of, the Author unless otherwise stated.

As an avid collector of Australian models, I currently have around 210 across three scales, I read the contribution from Frank Koh/Karl Schnelle about the Trax Holden Commodore with interest. Although I’ve got a reasonable number of Trax models, this is one I haven’t got. I first started collecting them because of a number of trips ‘down under’.

The floodgates opened with 1:43 scales when I started collecting road cars, the first one in 2002. This was Biante’s Holden VT Concept car in blue/black. Its stablemate, the mustard gold example would follow sometime later. These were a real eye opener. They had a fully detailed interior and chassis, and steerable front wheels! At just $55 Australian Dollars they cost me about 25 UK Pounds. Astonishing! I’d never seen anything like them. The real car, a two door coupe based on Holden’s popular Commodore four door saloon, was shown at the 1998 Sydney Motor Show for no other reason than to test public reaction for a production consideration. Reaction was positive to say the least. Production began and it would be released in 2001. It would be known by the resurrected name, Monaro, although Holden‘s designation was CV-8, appertaining to Coupé V8. VT was the designation for the range of Commodore models in production at the time.

The year before, i.e. 2001, in a model shop in a Melbourne suburb I had bought for the measly sum of 59 Australian Dollars a ‘Classic Carlectables‘, 1:18 scale Ford Falcon V8 Supercar. “Classic Carlectables”, I asked myself, “who the devil are they”? I’d never heard of them, neither had I heard of Biante, Trax, Dinkum Classics or any other home grown brands. Although basic by comparison to today’s excellent offerings from Carlectables, they were superb and like nothing I had seen before. They were easily on a par with or better than, the popular brands we were more used to here in the UK at that time. V8 Supercars was something else I knew little about back then. That would change. I kept in touch with the shop, who put by two more for me, at a very reasonable, ‘two for $100’ due to my impending return in 2002. With the exchange rate at around two to the pound, they represented astonishing value. From then onwards, I was trawling the ‘net almost daily for them, getting them from model shops down there, and also from car dealerships, either by visiting them while on holiday or from their web site. many car dealers had a stock of model cars equal to many a hobby shop, although as you would expect they were only relevant to the brand of car, i.e Ford or Holden. To offer models from ‘the opposition’ is treason, a hanging offence, well almost. They would also stock a superb range of clothing and other memorabilia, none of which were or are available here.

In 2011, it was suggested to me that I collect models of all the winners from the Bathurst 500 (miles) as it was from 1963 until 1973, when it would become the ‘1000‘, as in kilometres, which it still is. After my initial reticence had subsided, I set about the task in hand, as I already had some, along with models of cars from the A.T.C.C., the Australian Touring Car Championship. I currently need seven models to complete the set from 1963 to 2017. Unfortunately, the set is unlikely to ever be completed, either because a certain car has not been made, or if one has, because they are rare and consequently too expensive for me to buy even if found. Those wanted are Holden Commodores from 1993 and 1995, the 1997 B.M.W. 320i, Holden Commodores from 2001,2003,2004 and 2017. The 1993 and 1995 winners were produced by Classic Carlectables but only in 1:18 scale. Although they did release a model similar to the winning car, it is not, the winner. The B.M.W. raced to victory by David and Geoff Brabham, sons of the great, Sir Jack, is unlikely to be released, due, apparently, to no manufacturer wanting to take a gamble on the possibility of poor sales. The BMW won at the time of the European touring car invasion in the 1990s, which didn’t sit well with die hard Ford and Holden fans. The winners from 2001, 2003 and 2004 have been released, but are hard to find, are very expensive if they are found, and the seller, usually in Australia, quite often won’t post to the UK. The 2003 car can be found in 1:64 scale but like the 1:18 models, would be out of context in a cabinet full of 1:43 scale models.

I’m not aware of the 2017 winning Holden being released thus far, and I haven’t heard as yet if one will be. I hope so because 2018 is final year in the epic battles between the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore, dating back to 1967, the year which was a victory for ‘The Blue Oval’ with the first ever win for a car with a V8 engine. It will be a tad ironic if the last ever race between the two protagonists is also won by a Falcon, which currently heads the V8 Supercars championship.

 

This year I have added three more winners, all of which were must haves. The first two, which arrived back in May, are the late great Peter Brock‘s 1972 Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1, and Dick Johnson’s fearsome Sierra RS 500 from 1989.

The third model is another Peter Brock car, his 1982 Holden Commodore VH. This would be his third win out of a record nine times.

The model is the ACE Commodore referred to.

 

The Torana and the Sierra are by the former Apex Models and the Commodore is from Ace Models, a brand written about in a previous MAR by Graeme Ogg. Apex have recently been taken over by Biante, so I expect some interesting models forthcoming from that amalgamation. A word of thanks to Graeme Ogg for introducing me to Ace Models, a name I wasn’t aware of until he wrote about them in MAR. I subsequently ordered one of their superb Falcon BA Utes from Gateway, my favourite Australian dealer.

 

One other Aussie which came this year is a model of Dick Johnson’s 1985 Greens Tuf Bathurst Mustang. Although the car wasn’t a winner, it’s an excellent example of the type. The model was professionally built for me from an Automodelli kit, sourced here in the UK from Grand Prix Models. At the time of writing, I’m waiting on the release of another Automodelli Dick Johnson Mustang, his J.P.S. liveried car from the Wellington 500 in 1986, although no doubt it will be the Greens Tuf casting, with J.P.S. decals added. Can’t wait. So, as for the remaining Bathurst winners, I don’t hold out much hope of ever completing the set. Fortunately, those I have got, along with the A.T.C.C. cars, make a fine collection and have given hours of satisfaction finding and collecting them.


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Some 2016 Racing Champions.

By Maz Woolley

All text and photographs by the Author unless otherwise stated.

I recently looked at three Racing Champion Mint models from 2017 but here we go back a year further into the past to the earlier releases by Round 2 after they were licensed to produce this range by Tomy. The same ‘3.25 inch’ fit the box sizing applies as it did with the 2017 models with all the models shown here being pretty much the same length. All were diecast in China for the US.

2016 #3 1949 Buick Riviera

The Riviera first entered the Buick line in 1949, as the designation for the new two-door pillarless hardtop, described in advertising as “stunningly smart”: the Buick Roadmaster Riviera coupe. It was also in 1949 that Buick introduced “VentiPorts.” Four were displayed on each of the Roadmaster’s front fenders, with three on the fenders of models with smaller engines.  The Riviera joined the line up in the middle of the year selling 4,314 units.

Featuring power windows as standard equipment, the 2-door Buick Roadmaster Riviera was among the first hardtop coupes produced. The Riviera was also notable for its popular optional “Sweepspear” chrome body side moulding, which would soon become a Buick trademark. The “Riviera trim”, as it was initially called, was also made available on the Roadmaster convertible very late in the model year.

The model captures the rounded lines of the Buicks of the late forties well. Note the excellent flush fit of the windows into the diecast roof.

The interior has moulded dashboard with quite a bit of detail as well as seats but no door card mouldings.

At the front the huge ‘grinning’ grille has been well captured. Above it the printed badge is only visible in detail when the photo is enlarged but it is an impressive tiny multi-colour print. The huge bumper has been perhaps exaggerated a little in size and the small number plate looks very small. The chrome printed objects extend to the fittings in the top of the wing. The chrome printing is a little flat  and could do with being a little shinier.

Like other Racing Champions the front lights have been painted in white which works well here.

To the rear the window fits snugly and printing  represents the multi-part screen well. The boot handle is surrounded by a lovely printed Dynaflow badge and the Dynaflow script is also printed neatly on the rear wings. where the rear lights are moulded in the casting and accurately over-printed high on the wing.  Another slightly heavy and rather dull bumper with a tiny license plate. Two reversing lights are moulded in and highlighted by printing silver on them.

Finally the play components. Only the bonnet opens but this fits well and opens sideways in a realistic way. The engine detail is limited but it is clealry powered by the inline eight rather than the V8 that was to dominate in the 1950s.

2016 #6 1956 Chevy Nomad

The original Nomad was the shortest GM offering with a two door body and an estate car rear it was meant to combine sportiness with practicability and it had gathered much favourable comment when originally show as a styling exercise at Motorama in 1954.  Though it has been widely featured in films, and is certainly regarded as a ‘classic car,’ it did not sell well enough for GM and from 1958 onwards Nomad was just a badge on the larger Chevrolet Impala Station Wagon.

When the Nomad was introduced in 1955 it reflected the new styling across their ranges. Nomads, like Bel Airs, came fitted with interior carpet, chrome spears on the front wings, chrome window mouldings, and full wheel covers. A V8 engine option was offered using a new 4.3 Litre OHV engine. In 1956 Chevrolets received a face-lift. This gave Chevys a more conventional full-width grille as fitted to this model. In 1957 the Nomads was changed again and they were fitted with the same interior and rear-wheel pressings as Bel Airs, lacking the original Nomad’s unique trim.

The model captures the short length and the unique Nomad rear roof section, windows and painted rear section.  The wheels are a reasonable representation of the original wheels even if the tyres are slightly too square shouldered and wide. The Chevy badge and Nomad scripts are printed very finely on the rear wing.

The windows and their chrome fittings along the side, and the front door with its forward facing B pillar, are all well represented.

The interior again is a black plastic moulding with a moulded dash and steering wheel with some detail , seas and floor, and in this case the ribbing of the carrying compartment detailed but again it has no moulding on door cards.

From the front the 56 front end with its full width grille are captured well and there is even a black wash on the grille making it much more convincing. Headlights and sidelights are both painted white which contrasts well with the ‘chrome’ The Chevy badge is printed nicely on the bonnet and the bonnet ornament with its aircraft influences is reproduced neatly.

To the rear the small Nomad script in gold is printed above the chrome strips on the rear half of the rear tailgate. The rear lights are neatly cast in and overprinted chrome and red to give a good effect.

The rear bumper is rather dull and slightly heavy but follows the lines it should.

Again an opeining bonnet is the only play feature on this model. Under it lies an impression of a V8 engine.

2016 #4 1960 Chevy Impala

This is a model from the last year of the second generation Impala.

The Sport Coupe is modelled here which featured a shortened roof line and wrap-over back window. Standard fittings included front and rear armrests, an electric clock, dual sliding sun visors, and crank-operated front vent windows. A contoured hooded instrument panel held deep-set gauges. The 1960 Impala models reinstated three round taillights on each side, and a white band running along the rear fenders.

The side view shows that the casting is quite good, though I feel that the rear window may be slightly oversized.  The side moulding with the rocket age embellisher also bears tiny printed Impala script and an  image of someone waving the chequered flag so small magnification is needed to see it.

The side ‘chrome’ is well printed though the front wing embellishment is  rather over large, the four vents seeming much too obvious perhaps because the black sections are printed a larger than needed.

The wheels and tyres are well done, in spite of the fact that the tyres are too wide, with the white walls matching some seen on real cars for sale in the US.

The front grille is very nicely moulded and in a much shinier finish. Again a black wash has been applied to the grille and the light lenses are printed in white. There is no front number plate fitted.

Along the leading edge of the bonnet Chevrolet has been finely printed where the full size car would have had the letters applied. And the centre of the grille has a badge fitted which has the figure with the chequered flag again.

Inside we get the black plastic moulded tub with some detail in the steering wheel, dashboard mouldings and seats, and in this case on the door cards as well.

To the rear the badging and lights are well done. A printed Chevy badge graces the boot though it is perhaps missing a printed dot below it for the boot lock. Again a nice shiny chrome effect rear panel is fitted and the moulded in lights are then accurately overprinted. The number plate to the rear simply says Impala.

Play features are again restricted to an opening bonnet. It looks like the car is fitted with a standard inline six rather than the popular V8 option.


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Bathurst Holden Commodore

By Frank Koh

Here’s an Australian racing legend that looked a lot like an Opel Rekord, but this Holden was capable of doing great things that four and six cylinder Opels could never have dreamed of. The Holden Commodore and the Ford Falcon were domestic-engineered, locally-built high performance V8 muscle cars that dominated the road racing scene in Australia (and neighboring New Zealand).

While at present there are no more Australian-built V8 muscle cars, Australian diecast brand Trax Models immortalizes these iconic vehicles in 1/43 scale.  Along with competitors Biante Models and Classic Carlectables, the Australian model car scene is bustling with activity, and there are many exclusive-to-Australia-and-New-Zealand diecast and resin miniatures that embody the unbridled passion for performance that the cars from that part of the world possess.

This 1984 Holden VH Commodore was a formidable, if not exceptionally colorful, competitor at the Bathurst racing circuit in Australia. Trax Models released this beautiful car as part of its line of 1/43 scale cars that raced at Bathurst. Today the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) remains one of the most popular racing series, but with the closure of the Holden factory last year, the era of the Australian-Built V8 Powered Muscle Car has come to an end.


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Forward Birmingham Guy Arab

By Maz Woolley

All photographs and text by, and copyright of, the Author unless otherwise stated.

Forward Models make a small range of buses to 1:76 scale. They started off as a crowd funded company issuing bonds and have released several models since 2016. Initial releases were all Birmingham Buses, ‘Forward’ is after all the motto on the City’s crest. These were produced in both the Birmingham City Transport livery and the West Midlands Transport Executive (WMPTE) livery that followed. After that buses in Manchester, Hull, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh liveries have been produced.

Here we look at #NGS-01 which is in Birmingham City Transport livery operating service 1 from the City to Acocks Green.  A route that the Author was familiar with having spent his student years in Birmingham. This is one of the earlier releases from Forward Models and is based on a Guy Arab Chassis powered by a Gardner 6LW 8.4 litre 6 cylinder diesel with a body built by Metro-Camell. This bus was the last of the ‘new look’ buses to be withdrawn by which time it was operating on the outer circle route, number 11, which retained two man operation longer than any other due to the need to get people on and off quickly on this congested route. Today the bus can be seen in Wythall Transport Museum.

The model from Forward is held together by long screws creating unrealistic poles through the centre of the lower and upper decks a similar solution to the one used by EFE.

It also suffers a little from the bonnet and tin front being made as a separate part so different radiators can be fitted to the same basic body as Birmingham operated Guy, Daimler, Leyland and others. This front section does not quite match up with the body paint making the separate section obvious.

The Birmingham livery is well painted and generally well masked. The opening window sliders are printed neatly and correctly on only a limited number of windows.

The rear platform is also neatly detailed with all handrails picked out and even the used tickets bin signage included. To the rear the funny arrow shaped indicators either side of the number plate are nicely printed.

As the photograph shows the Birmingham crest and operators details are clearly printed. The wheels seem fairly accurate, but the plastic for the wheels is a little too shiny perhaps. The bus in preservation has small silver cover on the centre of the front wheel hub which is not shown here.

The ‘new look’ front is well captured with all the destination and route blinds well realised and neat mirrors fitted. On the radiator an impression of the Guy badge and the  Guy name are printed as well as the other chrome embellishments to be seen on the real bus. However, the Indian ‘ceremonial bonnet’ that should be fitted above the badge is represented only by a raised ‘hump’ and is not printed on which is a shame. The lights are neatly made separate lenses, though the side mounted indicators are painted on moulded ‘humps’ in the casting.

The fleet number dominates the rear of the bus all the better for the bus inspectors to spot the bus for entering into their logs. On the roof the ventilation pods  are moulded in and the correct matt darker colour roof is painted on.

Despite the a small number of criticisms I think that it is a nice model of a classic Birmingham bus from the era when car ownership was lower and the bus was the main way for most people of getting round the City.


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Oxford Diecast Rolls-Royce 25/30

By Maz Woolley

All text and photographs by, and copyright of, the Author.

The model featured in this article is a recent release from Oxford Diecast. This is diecast to 1:43 scale in China for the UK. This is the second release using this casting. And continues the steadily release of Rolls-Royce licensed models from Oxford Diecast.

43R25002 Rolls-Royce 25/30 Thrupp and Maberly.

Just over one thousand and two hundred 25/30s were built between 1936 and 1938. It was an updated version of the 20/25 with a larger six cylinder engine of 4.2 Litres better able to carry the larger coach built bodies sometimes fitted. Other coachbuilders who built cars on this chassis were: Park Ward, H. J. Mulliner, Arthur Mulliner and Hooper. 

Thrupp and Maberly were a well respected coach builder based in Cricklewood in North London.  They even built the bodywork for Sir Henry Segrave‘s land speed record car, the Golden Arrow. They were acquired by the Rootes Brothers and started building top of the range Humber bodies from the early 1930s alongside bespoke bodies for Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Daimler chassis. As coach building declined after the Second World War they concentrated on the special bodied and open cars for the Rootes Group finally closing in 1967.

The car modelled by Oxford may be seen on the web and has chassis number GMP-37 and is registered BUE995, a Dudley plate, as printed on the plates on the Oxford model. The body style is stated to be that of an ‘owner driver sports saloon’. It is finished in a very deep green over black with an interior of black leather  and woodwork. Oxford have captured this well with the green looking considerably darker than the photographs show. A sunroof is fitted and Oxford have replicated that in a closed position.

The side view of the car shows how well the shape of the car has been caught by Oxford. The wheels are neatly done and initially I thought missed RR on the hub centres but looking at pictures of the real car I do not think they feature on that either.

Again the front three quarter view shows how good the model is capturing the curves which make the body a long way from a simple box shape. The real car has two auxiliary lights and not just one. The car released first, 43R25002, was based on BSG527 and that does have a single auxiliary light.  The rear view mirrors on BUE995 do not rise up anywhere near as much as they do on this model which can again be attributed to the fact they are based on those fitted to BSG527.

The rear three quarter view is excellent with the sculptural shape of the body work well captured.  The chrome mouldings round the ventilator in front door window, front screen, bonnet and sides are all printed crisply and finely. The trafficators are neatly highlighted in silver in the B pillars and the door locks printed on a raised part of the casting.

The interior is well done with dull black plastic leather finish, the wood trim well captured, and winder and door handles all picked out in silver on the door cards which are correctly painted black. The dashboard has been well modelled and appears to have some printed detail, though without taking the model apart it cannot be clearly seen.  The steering wheel is neatly moulded and has the large centre section for the advance/retard levers and horn.

The traditional grille has been moulded very well and there is a fine ‘Spirit of Ecstacy’ mascot on top. The RR initials are printed on the radiator shell but can only be seen when magnified. The lights are good with clear lenses but lack the three fine lines which should be seen on the face of the headlight glass.

To the rear another minor variation from the original car can be seen. The rear lights set on the rear wings are different to the ones fitted to BUE995 which are circular shapes on a chrome fitting which runs above and below the light. Here the lights are those fitted on BSG527 and many other 25/30s which are rectangular and jut out of the wing at the top of the housing.  Lights round the rear number plate are printed well with the multiple lens sections created by the printing. Even the small reflectors under the  rear bumper are captured.

The exhaust is fitted with a  fan shaped end but again this is not fitted to the car that the model is based on which has a simple pipe to the rear. Perhaps this is another feature carried forward from the first release of the casting.

Whilst the model has many small faults if you are looking for an exact replica of the original car on which it is based it is a great model overall. When judging it I also have to remember that this is a mass market, budget priced model, and not an expensive resin item. I think that Oxford Diecast show what they can do with their Rolls-Royce models which show a lot of detailed care and attention in design and manufacturing, something sadly lacking elsewhere in their ranges from time to time. There are compromises made but overall I think that they are making some of the nicest Rolls -Royce models available today with the great benefit that you will not get them out of store to find chrome parts peeling and dropping off as happens on many resin models.


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