Category Archives: Matra

The Editor Looks Around

By Maz Woolley

There seems to be a steady flow of new models reaching UK Wholesalers. Some of these are interesting models which we have not covered when they were announced.

Eligor

Eligor, of France, have recently issued two interesting large minibus type vehicles built on Iveco chassis. Eligor of recent years has tended to focus on commercial vehicles man of which are issued in conjunction with Hauliers in realistic liveries. Much of their success has been that they make many models for the promotional market, mostly to 1:43 scale where competitors often use 1:50 scale for their heavy vehicles.

They also do nice models to 1:43 scale of several of the less common French commercial vehicle ranges like Hotchkiss and Sinpar. Production is both in a French based Factory and at a plant in Guang Dong province in China.

The vehicles shown below are described as Minibuses but here in the UK they would probably be licenced as a small coach and need a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence to drive them

116637 Iveco Daily Minibus NP Hi-Matic White
116791 Iveco Daily Minibus Pompier Suisse

Spark

Spark of Macau continue to maintain a very tight control over model releases. They announce the releases and then drop then if demand is insufficient, or produce sufficient models to meet pre-orders. Spark Models do not carry extra stock so if a model is popular then it quickly becomes scarce.

Recent announcements from Spark include several models of the Alpine F1 team cars, driven by Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonzo, from the current racing season, but as yet no prototypes have been shown. to go with them Spark continue to chronicle historic F1 and F2 cars and with the companies French connections many are cars from French teams, or cars with French drivers. Pre-production prototypes of some of the latest proposed issues are shown below.

SF105 – 1:43 Matra F2 Winner Reims GP F2 1968
SF242 – 1:43 Brabham BT38 #5 GP Rouen F2 1972 Jean-Pierre Beltoise
SF243 – 1:43 Brabham BT38 #4 3E GP D’Albi F2 1972 Bob Wollek

SF246 – 1:43 Matra MS11-12 #90 Winner Course De Cote du Mont Dore 1970 Jean-Pierre Beltoise

GLM (Great Lighting Models)/Stamp Models

Announcements of the models to be issued in October for the final quarter of the year have been made. GLM is a Chinese based producer who first came to the public notice as producers of 1:43 scale resin models of mainly American subjects. However, they have started to spread their wings wider whilst at the same time creating Stamp Models which focuses on 1:43 US cars. The models shown are a mix of GLM and Stamp branded models. Stamp Model numbers are prefixed STM and Great Lighting Models are prefixed GLM. These are all sealed resin and photo etch models made to 1:43 scale. It should be noted that this group gets the most out of moulds. Multiple colours of each moulding are made available, and where it is a convertible hood up and down versions are sold separately.

Pre-production models from this group have often been criticised for inaccuracies on US bulletin Boards and I am not sure that the grille should be as flat on the Cadillac 62 or that the Caprice grille surround should push forward quiet as far as it does. However, photographs can sometimes be deceptive and production models may be slightly different too.

GLM101501 Lincoln Continental Town Car Dark Blue Irid 1973
GLM101502 Lincoln Continental Town Car White 1973
GLM101503 Lincoln Continental Town Car Ginger Moondust Irid 1973
STM49301 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Black 1949 Open Top
STM49302 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Black 1949 Closed Top
STM49303 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Maroon 1949 Open Top
STM49304 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Maroon 1949 Closed Top
STM49305 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Blue 1949 Open Top
STM751001 Chevrolet Caprice Convertible Black 1975 Open Top
STM751002 Chevrolet Caprice Convertible Black 1975 Closed Top
STM751003 Chevrolet Caprice Convertible Orange Poly 1975 Open Top
STM751004 Chevrolet Caprice Convertible Orange Poly 1975 Close Top
STM751005 Chevrolet Caprice Convertible Medium Blue 1975 Open Top

There are of course many other models being issued from a wide range of suppliers and provided shipping starts to improve I think that a lot of models are likely to appear in the UK in the final quarter of the year.


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Future Sparks

By Maz Woolley

The photographs shown below are pre-production photographs from Spark of models they will be shipping over the next few months provided that sufficient orders are received from stockists and on their website. As they are pre-production photographs there may be improvements and changes before the models are launched. These are all 1:43 resin models made in Macau.

Spark‘s business model now seems to be to make enough models to satisfy orders and little or no more. Batches of 300 of each model seem to be the norm with only a few models being run in batches of 400. This means that Spark are not caught out with too much stock of a particular item which leads to discounted sales to clear them. They also generally do not re-run a particular livery once made.

The advantage of this to regular collectors is that their models may retain their value especially if the livery is popular. The disadvantage that if they do not pre-order the model they may find it difficult or very expensive to come by. ; once sold out that tends to be it. This does mean that collectors need to order early to guarantee that they will get the model(s) that they want.

As ever the models announced by Spark cover a wide rane of competition cars in excellent liveries.

AS056 – Lamborghini Huracán GT3 No.6 Wall Racing Bathurst 12H 2019 A. Deitz – J. Westwood – C. McConville – T. D’Alberto

SF181- Matra MS5 No.24 4e Grand Prix de Pau F2 1966 Jackie Stewart

SF198 – Citroën SM No.33 Tour de France Automobile 1972 G. Verrier – M. Martin

SJ069 – TOYOTA TS010 No.7 500km Mine 1992 E. Irvine – J. Villeneuve – T. Kristensen

SJ097 – Rondeau M382 No.3 6H Fuji 1982 H. Pescarolo – T. Boutsen
SB282 – Lamborghini Huracán GT3 No.19 GRT Grasser Racing Team 24H Spa 2015 A. Palmer – J. Mul – F. Babini

SB314 – Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo No.12 Ombra Racing 24H Spa 2019 D. Dupont – S. Gattuso – C. Lewis – D. Stoneman

SG505 – BMW M1 No.33 RT Norisring 1982 Kurt König

SG573 – Lamborghini Huracán GT3 No.25 Konrad Motorsport 24H Nürburgring 2016 C. Zöchling – D. Farnbacher – L. Stolz – F. Konrad

US092 – Porsche 935 L No.3 2nd 6H Riverside 1982 A. Holbert – H. Grohs

SB341 -Citroën SM No.25 24H Spa 1974 G. Chasseuil – F. Migault

SF136 – Renault 5 Turbo Superproduction No.55 1987 Jean Ragnotti

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Milezim Models

By Maz Woolley

2020 brings yet another new name to me. Milezim is a new brand from Macau based Spark sold at a lower price than many of their products. Two Renault models were made in early 2019 perhaps to test market the brand but now a whole range is expected covering vehicles from a variety of French Car makers. The new brand will find this market segment very tough as Norev has many competing models selling for a lower price; and part work models of most popular French cars are also available at a still cheaper price.

Reviews on French collectors web sites suggest that the quality is in the range provided by Norev, Vitesse, Universal Hobbies and Minichamps, but that some features are perhaps not as well modelled in some cases. Spark will need to work hard to provide value for money or people will buy competitors products.

Spark already include models of some of these cars in their main range, particularly theme ranges like the Henri Pescarola collection. As Spark’s creators were originally leading producers of French resin models under the Record and MRF brands it hardly surprising that they are targeting this market. Indeed many models featured in the Milezim range were produced in those earlier collectors ranges.

The brand organises its displays by Manufacturer and the photographs from their publicity are shown below.

Alpine


Citroën


Matra


Panhard


Peugeot


Renault


Simca

It will be very interesting to see what models are produced in this range and whether it establishes itself in the market place. The models certainly look nice in the manufacturer’s publicity material.

It is a matter of some frustration to me that there seem to be multiple versions of reasonably priced models available of every mass market car made by French producers in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, whilst we still wait for models of several popular UK made vehicles.


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News from the Continent January 2019 – Norev

By Hans-Georg Schmitt

In this article I look at the last two Norev releases from 2018. These models are produced in China for France and are diecast unless otherwise noted. 

November 2018 Releases
1:12 Scale

127500 Porsche 917K

Le Mans 24 Hours 1970 – Driven by Siffert and Redman and suffered an engine failure after 12 hours. The picture from Norev is marked to show clearly how large the model is at this scale.


127501 Porsche 917K

Winner of the Le Mans 24 hour race 1970 – Driven by Attwood and Herrmann.


1:18 Scale

185300 Alpine Renault A110 1600S 1971 – blue


183303 Alpine Renault A110 1600S 1971 . white with red striping


185301 Alpine Renault A110 1600S 1971 – Gendarmerie


183268 BMW M535i Saloon 1980 – gold metallic


183593 Mercedes-Benz S600 saoon 1997 – green metallic


183497 Mercedes-AMG GT S 2018 – black metallic


184833 Peugeot 404 saloon 1965 – Antique green


Scale 1:43

153051 Citroen Light 15 saloon 1949 – Dark blue and Cream


158218 Citroen GS 1220 Club 1973 – Tholonet beige metallic


154205 Citroen Xantia 1993 – Mauritius blue


475447 Peugeot 504 Pick-up with canvas cover – clear blue


511317 Renault Duster Oroch 2015 – white


517728 Renault Megane R.S. 2018 – Platinum silver


517732 Renault Scenic 2016 – Cassiopee grey and black


518399 Renault Alaskan Pick-up 2017 – silver


574055 Simca Vedette Marly 1957 – Pale yellow and black


840029 VW Touran 2015 – white


518393 Renault Alaskan Pick-up 2017 – “Fire Brigade”


Norev Classics 1:43 scale

CL2711 Ford Thunderbird 1960 – adriatic green


CL2712 Ford Thunderbird 1960 – aquamarine


1:87 scale

517818 Alpine A310 1977 – Alpine blue


574116 Matra-Simca Bagheera 1975 – Sun yellow


451731 Panhard PL 17 saloon 1961 – Atlantide blue


518582 Renault Galion 1963 Brewery La Meuse with bottle crates


518583 Renault Galion 1963 Brewery Jean Renard with barrels


530262 IVECO Bus Crossway LE 2014 “Car du Rhone”


530263 IVECO Bus Urbanway 2014 “TCL”


December 2018 Releases

1:18 Scale

183224 BMW M1 1980 – blue


181592 Citroen DS 21 Break 1970 – Bordeaux


183400 Mercedes-Benz 190SL 1955 – blue


183567 Mercedes-Benz 300 CE Cabriolet 1990 – Bornite metallic


185169 Renault Dauphine 1958 – Medicis black


1:43 Scale

517863 Alpine A110 2017 – white and blue test version


830074 Audi 200 Quattro 1989 – white


270321 Bentley Continental GT coupe 2018 – silver


270061 Jaguar E-Type Coupe 1964 – grey


351305 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class 2018 – ruby red metallic


351175 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2018 – silver


475825 Peugeot 508 SW GT 2018 – Amazonite grey


475626 Peugeot 508 SW GT 2018 – Pearl white


517791 Renault Megane Estate 2016 – Glacier white


517799 Renault Megane Estate 2016 – red


517963 Renault Symbioz Salon of Francoforte 2017


517962 Renault R.S. 2017 Vision Salon of ShangHai 2017


840096 Volkswagen Corrado G80 1990 – silver


517796 Renault Megane Estate 2016 “Douanes – Customs”


517798 Renault Megane Estate 2016 “Douanes – Customs” – red and yellow stripes

517794 Renault Megane Estate 2016 – “Police Municipale”


517795 Renault Megane Estate 2016 – “Police Municipale Intercommunale”


MINIJET Scale 1:64

310908 Peugeot 508 SW 2018 – white


310904 Renault Symbioz 2017 – copper


310905 Renault R.S. 2017 – black and gold


Atlas Deluxe Dinky – 1425E Matra 630

By Maz Woolley

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

The Atlas replica of French Dinky Toys #1425E Matra 630 has been shipped to UK subscribers.  This model was introduced in France in  1969 and remained in production until 1974. It was made to 1:43 scale. The model was also sold in the UK with a race number 36 and was UK #200 sold from 1971 to 1978. The E suffix indicated that the export version of the model has been recreated by Atlas. Indeed the included decals have a leaflet in German, Italian, Dutch and French included. Some may have preferred the perspex lidded box that was used more commonly than the picture box. This was not the only Matra made by Dinky in France as they made a very good model of the Jackie Stewart Matra Formula 1 car as well as a Matra Sports M530 road car.

The Matra-Simca MS630 was a Group 5 prototype race car introduced in 1967 for the World Championship for Makes. The car was initially designated as the Matra MS630, but when Simca sponsored Matra in 1969, it was renamed as the Matra-Simca MS630.  Presumably Dinky had already completed tooling up for the model before Simca’s sponsorship as they are not mentioned on the model or box. This three litre V12 engined car was good looking but sadly the cars looks were not matched by racing success as the car modelled pulled out after 22 hours in 1968 after a puncture and fire. There was greater success in 1969 when Matras did finish, but this was the era of the Ford GT40s dominance in this race and Matra were not competitive enough to outrun them.

The construction of this model is slightly unusual with the model cast in two halves bottom and top joining at the line along the bottom of engine cover and doors through to the front wings. With a fully diecast bottom half it is a heavy model. An engine is modelled to the rear beneath the opening cover and the front access compartments lid comes off. Large plastic covers for the front lights are a sign of the increased realism of toys in the late 1960s. A large windscreen wiper is added as a separate component which is a rare feature on models of this era.

The wheels are nice but not fully representative of the real car which tended to have darkened centres to the wheels and ribbed spokes. However this was intended as a toy for children so they are acceptable compared to the horrid speed wheels Dinky UK fitted towards the end of production.

Only the racing numbers are printed on as was the case of the original, and decals are supplied to add details. I have yet to be brave enough to do this!


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