Replica Märklins spotted

By Robin Godwin, Hans-Georg Schmitt, and Maz Woolley

Others copyright to all images shown recognised.

Every now and again items show up on eBay that surprise us. So it is with these replica Märklin models spotted recently on eBay by Robin Godwin. He spotted two models on offer: a Ford Capri and an Opel Manta A as shown in the photographs below.

Märklin 18103-02 Ford Capri

This is claimed to be 1:43 and appears to be available in Grey and Sapphire Blue on eBay currently


Märklin 18103-01 Opel Manta A

This can be seen on eBay in yellow and red on eBay


The Märklin brand is now owned by Schuco-Dickie and Hans-Georg was aware of Schuco-Dickie’s plans to  issue a model of the obsolete Krupp forward control lorry with drawbar from the 8000 range, as shown below, using the original tools. However he has not heard of any plans to remake any cars.

After a bit more web searching it turned out that these replicas are not recent releases as we thought but were produced before Märklin were taken over by Schuco-Dickie. It appears that they were originally sold only in a “one-off” set of 12 models shown below from an old Märklin website image. The set comprised of four different castings each in three colours made using the original moulds and all packed in “period style” cardboard boxes to add to the nostalgic feel:

  • Audi 100 Coupe
  • BMW 2002
  • Ford Capri
  • Opel Manta A

So the models currently being sold on eBay are almost certainly from this set. Having found this out it was possible to find pictures of the Audi 100 and BMW 2002 from this series.

Märklin 18103-03 Audi 100 Coupe

The Audi shows that all the original working features like bonnet, doors and boot are all reproduced on these models.

Märklin 18103-04 BMW 2002

 

The BMW box shown above suggests that only four boxes were made, one for each casting, with each having the colour of the model within manually marked.


 

Hans-Georg has made a detailed comparison of the photographs of the Ford Capri against an original model from his collection and he confirms that the replica matches the original casting though the wheels, which are said to be plastic on the re-issues, are different.

So Schuco-Dickie are not issuing replicas of the Märklin models but there seem to be plenty being made available from the sets made some time ago. Since they seem to be so freely available on eBay it may be that some unsold stock has been found in storage recently. If you collect Märklin cars, or just one of the four cars in the series, now would seem to be a good time to get the replicas if you do not already have them.


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