15 replies to this topic

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[Delta_Farce]

Hi Darrick,

Do you mean American produced diecasts or diecasts of American cars?

Assuming you mean to former, the only US brand I can think of is Hotwheels lines of 1:43 cars - most of which are Formula 1 models. Even those might not be produced in the US.

Other than that, Minichamps, Ebbro, IXO, Spark etc are all European or Asian based from what I know.

:cheers

Mark

[JSB 33]

Tons of 1:43 American cars are available by various makers. Most of them are older cars though.
I think Brooklin is one of them. Maybe some of the 1:43 guys will know.
There was a store in downtown Bedford that sold high end 1:43 about 20 years ago.

[jinx]

As Jeff says there are a lot of US cars available in 1:43. However, most of them. are white-metal models, from the likes of Brookin, Motor City, Conquest etc. Even the cheapest of these retail for £50+. These ranges also tend to concentrate on cars from the 1930s-60s.

As far as die-cast models are concerned, they are out there, but, in nowhere near the numbers of European & Japanese cars.

I think, the reasons for this, are historical. In Europe, Dinky was the first manufacturer to make models, to a scale of 1:43 or thereabouts, pre WW II - they did vary from 1:41 to 1:48. Dinky's model cars were originally intended to complement Hornby's (Dinky's parent company) "O" guage train sets. Corgi followed in the 1950s - I think Corgis used the same scale, so that their models wouldn't look too out of place next to Dinkys. Other manufactures followed suit - Tekno in Denmark, CIJ & Norev in France, Marklin in Germany etc - there were many such makers. Hence, 1:43 has remained the scale of choice since.

In the UK, there was also Matchbox. As they were made to "fit the box", scales varied widely. However, the cars would generally be about 1:60. Matchbox models were widely exported - the wealthy USA being a prime market. Of course, Dinky & Corgi also exported their models, but, it would seem, that Matchbox models were more popular. US firms picked up on this - Hot Wheels & Johnny Lightning - and seem to have settled on 1:64 as their scale of choice. Now, the choice of US cars in 1:64 is widespread.

Quite where 1:18 fitted in, I'm not too sure. Were Bburago the first to mass-produce in 1:18? Anyway, 1:18 picked up a following in Europe, but, it was really embraced in N America. Manufacturers, to state the obvious, are going to make what sells. Some 1:1s are universal - E-type Jags, Beetles & Corvettes for instance. However, for the most part, cars which are unknown in Europe are not going to do very well & the same applies to the N Americam market.

Nowadays, I think, with advent of the internet & sites like this, more people know what is available everywhere. Europeans are buying models of muscle cars & Americans are buying model rally cars....consequently, more US cars are becoming available in 1:43 - Norev, Ixo, Minichamps & Spark are branching out into this area. Of course, in 1:43, US cars are nowhere near as prevalant as European cars - things are improving though.

Any other theories?

:cheers

Steve

[StygianMax]

DiecastX, on Jun 14 2007, 12:03 AM, said:

Sorry to drag up this old post.

But I have another question which didn't warrant its own topic since its related to 1:43 models.

Does anyone know how many C5R's and C6R's are made in 1:43 scale?

or

Will I only be able to find these as slot cars.

Reason, I picked up a 1:64 Hot Wheels C6R and thoughts of 1:43 C5R's and C6R's danced in my head.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hellooooo...YOU'RE thinking of 1/43 models???  Someone pinch me!  :lol  IXO and Spark have both made some of them.  I did a quick google search and found these.  If you're interested in slot cars, Fly and Carrera are two companies to look into.

[Delta_Farce]

Hi Darrick,

Minichamps have a range of 2001-2002 C5R's in 1:43 (choose Products -> Racing -> Make -> Chevrolet to find them).

I'm not sure what the availability of these models would be any more though, because they were probably released some years ago now.

IXO Models also seem to have some later C5R's from 2003-2004.

:cheers

Mark

[acisne]

DiecastX, on Apr 19 2007, 03:25 AM, said:

Quick question regarding some of the subject matter of 1:43 models.

The market as a whole doesn't contain to many American made models - or is it just me?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are some 1/43 Mustangs as I have a few (big surprise there!  :giggle ) I'll see if I find them to take pics of them. They were not extreme high detail, but they were budget cars to begin with.
Matchbox has a Barret Jackson series of Muscle Cars in 1/43 and for the price, they are well done in my humble opinion.

[Ducati-900SS]

I can never thank Ric enough for this little gem!

LINK

Sean

[slartibartfast229]

A visit to the Brumm factory:
https://petrolicious...a-magical-place

[Craig]

You should start a thread for that, not dig up a ten year old thread :)