Category Archives: Abrex

Abrex Cararama Lancia Ypsilon

By Maz Woolley

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

The second generation Lancia Ypsilon was Introduced in 2003 and was produced until 2011. Like the Alfa Romeo MiTo it was a small three door car designed appeal to buyers who wanted something with a bit more style than the standard Fiat group offerings and who were prepared to pay a premium for it.

It quickly became the best selling car in the Lancia range with an annual production of over 60,000 units. Initially assembled at the Fiat plant in Melfi in June 2005 production was moved to Sicily at the plant in Termini Imerese Palermo until the factory was closed by Fiat. The car has a three-door body and the design was said to be inspired by the historic Lancia Ardea.

The unitary body used a shortened version of the Fiat Group B platform which underpinned the Fiat Punto , Fiat Idea and Lancia Musa. The engine is transversely mounted at the front, with front wheel drive. The usual smaller capacity Fire and Multijet engines were on offer. 

The interior had plastic inserts on door panels and the instrument panel is covered with Airtex fabric, leather or Alcantara depending on the model. There is two-tone upholstery and plastic inserts mimic aluminium. 

I don’t believe that the car was officially imported into the UK as the Lancia brand was withdrawn from the UK market in 1995 and has never re-appeared though the third generation Ypsilon which was made in Poland and based on the smaller Panda/500 minicar chassis was sold here badged as a Chrysler until 2015 when Chrysler pulled everything other than Jeep out of the UK market.

The model shown here is branded Abrex/Cararama and is diecast to 1:43 scale in China presumably at the Hongwell plant in Hong Kong. It is packed simply in a cardboard box with clear plastic panel to view the model and when it can be found in the UK it is often sold for significantly less than an Oxford Diecast 1:43 model. Like most Cararama models it is an excellent casting which has been well finished and detailed.

Looking at the front the Italian number plate with the EU symbol is very neatly printed as is the Lancia badge on the nicely reproduced grille. The main and subsidiary lights at the front are well modelled and separately inserted. 

The interior is a black plastic moulding which has a lot of detail with a good dashboard and central console as well as nicely moulded door cards. There is no printing to highlight the interior and no attempt is made to provide two tone upholstery.

Along the side the wing mirrors are beautifully moulded and the alloy wheels well captured down to the small Lancia roundel printed in the centre. The black window surrounds and pillars are nicely done, printed on the plastic glazing insert. The momo DESIGN logo is neatly printed on the B pillar. The door handles are moulded into the casting but with undercutting giving them a realistic shape.

The anthracite coloured silk effect roof and rear hatch is painted really effectively and the roof has the typical Fiat group small aerial to the rear.

At the rear the high level brake light, number plate and Lancia badging is all printed finely. The rear lights are separately inserted and all painted the correct colours on the reverse.

Altogether an excellent budget model of an interesting car. 


Abrex Skoda 136 Rapid

By Maz Woolley

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

Abrex are a Czech firm who have models diecast in China to 1:43 scale.  Their models have previously been cast by Hongwell and the latest model looks like a Hongwell production as well. The focus of the Abrex range in recent years has been Skoda cars and in particular the later releases produced after they were taken over by Volkswagen. But in between the new cars they have produced models of the older cars produced when they were behind the iron curtain.

In recent times Abrex output had slowed down and the retail model shop associated with them in Prague stopped trading.  Just a few months before that they had announced an intention to make the 136 Rapid but when contacted on Facebook they said that it was unlikely to be released. Turn the clock forward a couple of years and to my surprise an Italian model shop trading on eBay advertised Abrex Skoda 136 Rapid models in various colours and in right and left hand drive. Since then I have also seen the models listed by UK importers.

Skoda publicity shot as shown on AROnline..co.uk

So why all the interest? I owned two Skoda Estelles, a 120 and a 130. I found them comfortable, quick enough to keep up and reliable. The jokes about Skodas were commonplace, but Skoda owners had the last laugh as the contemporary UK built cars were not noted for reliability or build quality but cost a lot more. What is more Skodas were fun to drive once you got used to the tail heavy handling and light steering. The interior plastics were crude but they stood up to kids and life in general. I always hankered after a 136 Rapid after the famous Autocar review proclaiming it to be “As Much Fun as a 911” , see cover reproduced below. But two door cars and young children did not mix so I never had the chance to buy one.

Autocar front cover image as shown on AROnline.co.uk

 

So to the Abrex model. This captures the lines of the original vehicles very well. To my eyes the 136 was quite a balanced design and the model catches the fact that the car has a complex series of curved surfaces – no box shapes here.

The black paint is not as even as it could be, though it appears to have a clear acrylic coat over the top to give it a nice shine. This is quite appropriate as Skoda black paint often showed an ‘orange peel’ texture.

The wheels are not bad replicas of the original ones which were British. The empty containers going back to Skoda from the UK were full of Goodyear tyres, UK sourced sun roof mechanisms, and UK sourced alloy wheels. In return most cars sold in the UK were fitted with those items which added to the showroom appeal.

The rear of the car with the badging and large rear lights as well as the exhaust pipe and the matt bumpers is all very well modelled. Underneath the base plate has been given some detail and the spare wheel which sat at the front under the luggage space has also been modelled in showing above the front cross member.

Inside the car is all black but that is exactly what the real one was often like. The door cards and dashboard are neatly moulded with quite a bit of detail. The instruments are also moulded in though none are highlighted in any way. The steering wheel looks accurate too.

There are a few minor issues with the car in RHD form. Firstly, the sunroof should have been scribed on this car as to my memory this model was always fitted with a sun roof. Secondly, the Czech number plates need swapping for UK ones. something I may do later.

All in all though a good model of a largely forgotten car of which only a handful remain in the UK, and for me a reminder of reading that particular edition of Autocar and wishing I could own the real thing.


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