Among My Souvenirs: Whenever we travel, I try to pick up an auto-themed souvenir. I'm not talking about tasteless crap, such as a cheap die-cast generic stretch limo with 'I Love New York' emblazoned on the sides via tampo printing. A shelf full of these was inexplicably being sold next to Statues of Liberty, miniature Empire State Buildings and Liberty Bells at a souvenir shop in Philadelphia during our last visit. I guess there wasn't enough Philly detritus to fill the shelves.

On the other hand, the chance to acquire a short-run model of a 1949 Fordson 5CWT van, with the 'London Toy and Model Museum' name and logo on the side was a real opportunity and, since it was made in England - not some obscure Asian nation, I gladly bought one, when we first visited the British Isles in 1986.

The London Toy and Model Museum closed in the late 1990s. It was considered one of Europe's most extensive collections of commercially made toys and models from 1850 onwards. On display was an early Paddington Bear, made by Shirley Clarkson - an art teacher from Doncaster, for her young son Jeremy, whom you know from his 'Top Gear' exploits.

The museum, once attracted 120,000 visitors a year at its home-like Craven Hill location. The museum was founded in 1982 by two collectors, Alan and Nerissa Levy. Seven years later, it was bought by Fujita Corporation, a Japanese firm run by Kazuaki Fujita, a toy collector who died in 1995. (posted 2/10/15, permalink)

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Book Review: 'Ford In Miniature' by Randall Olson

This large, color-photo-filled softcover book as lots of high-resolution photos and information about miniature models of American Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles, most of them produced in 1:43 scale as limited-production, white metal models. The author is knowledgeable about the models themselves, the vehicles and the model car manufacturers. It was an educational and informative read for me. If you like model cars, I'd recommend it.

I had just found out about Olson's book, even though it was printed over eight years ago. I received it as a Christmas present. Reading the book illustrated the tumultuous changes which have occurred in the model car business in the relatively short time since this book was first published.

Many of the active manufacturers discussed in the book have either disappeared or gone dormant. I'd guess that close to half the scale model retailers listed in the appendix have closed or have substantially downsized. Internet retailing, the rise of lower cost, made-in-China models and competition from a proliferation of diecast model offerings has turned the white metal handbuilt market on its ... (more >>>)

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Cadillac Style: The Space Race in car design began when General Motors found out about designer Virgil Exner's new 'Suddenly It's 1960' '57 Chrysler Corp. line-up; the GM styling department almost soiled its corporate trousers.

Suddenly, The General realized that Styling VP Harley Earl's age of high 'power dome' hoods and chrome applied by the bucketful with a trowel was over. It was too late to do anything about the '58 models (the '58 Buicks and Oldsmobiles are case studies in high hoods and excess brightwork), but a crash program was initiated to make GM's 1959 models as wild as Chrysler's. The result were creations such as the soaring-finned '59 Caddy and the bat-winged '59 Chevy.

Understandably, Cadillac had some reason to worry. In 1957, sales of the all-new, big-finned Imperial more than quadrupled and came very close to Lincoln's sales figures for the year. Cadillac's sales were down 5% from 1956, despite the demise of the big Packards - which most auto pundits thought would send conservative Packard clients in Cadillac's direction. Looking at the sales data, it appeared that Packard's loss was Imperial's gain.

Postwar Cadillacs were always modern-looking automobiles but they also carried hints of the brand's historic values. But the 1959 models introduced so many style changes simultaneously - huge, soaring rocket fins, bullet taillights, a large compound wraparound windshield, thin-section rooflines and slim roof pillars - that they received much criticism from the press, design experts and others for abandoning Caddy's familiar design touchstones.

The Cadillac Eldorado represented the zenith of the 1959 Cadillac line. This white '59 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz is 1:43 scale and is part of the Franklin Mint 'Classic Cars of the Fifties' series - a 12-diecast vehicle subscription series which began in 1987. (posted 1/23/15, permalink)

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Sleek & Smooth: This 1:43 model diecast, manufactured by Ixo Models as part of its Museum Series and one of my Christmas gifts, is a scale representation of Pourtout-bodied Delage D8-120 S Aero Coupe was commissioned by Louis Delage himself for the 1937 Paris Auto Show and as his personal car.

Georges Paulin, principal stylist for coachbuilder Marcel Pourtout, designed the sleek aerodynamic body.

Unlike many other designers of the era, Paulin did not use any chrome filets or external decorations on the body to emphasize the design. Instead, the continuous curves and tapers of the all-aluminum coachwork speak for themselves.

In 2005, this one-off example won Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance. (posted 1/19/15, permalink)

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Pontiac Dream: The 1954 General Motors' Motorama featured a one-of-a kind 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special concept car.

The fiberglass bodied, Corvette-like Pontiac two-seater featured a bubble top and Pontiac's straight engine. Only two were produced - one in bronze and one in metallic green. A hand cast 1:43 scale model of the Bonneville Special was produced by Highway Travelers, a small American company which commissioned models made in England. This scale model was made in 1999 and is quite rare.

The real Bonneville Special was auctioned by Barrett-Jackson in January 2015. The green full-size example fetched $3,000,000. (posted 1/19/15, permalink)

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Streamlined Flop: The Chrysler Airflow was produced by the Chrysler Corporation from 1934 to 1937. The Airflow was one of the first full-size American production car to use streamlining as a basis for building a sleeker, more aerodynamic automobile.

The Airflow was a huge commercial failure; it was shunned by prospective buyers because they did not like its looks. In 1935, Chrysler responded by installing a slightly peaked grille that replaced the unloved waterfall unit of 1934.

For the 1936 model year, the grille became more pronounced and more conventional.

Chrysler offered a more conventional-looking automobile, the Airstream, starting in 1935. In 1936, Chrysler sold only 1,590 of its Airflow four door sedans. In contrast, over 6,500 Airstream four-door models found buyers that year.

The 1936 Chrysler Airflow four-door weighed a hefty 4,100 pounds and was priced from $1,345. The unpopular Airflow was discontinued after the 1937 model year.

For Christmas, I received a model of a black 1936 Chrysler Airflow four-door sedan, made in 1:43 scale by WhiteBox on the Ixo diecast tooling from a few years ago. (posted 1/16/15, permalink)

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Modele Ordinaire: If you want a toy or model of a '57 Chevy or Porsche 911, there are thousands of choices. Almost every model car manufacturer makes 'em. They're available in all scales and price ranges, from a few bucks to nearly a thousand dollars.

AutoWeek recently published an article about Neo Scale Models - resin-based, limited-edition models of 1970s and '80s-era cars like the Caprice Classic, Lincoln Town Car or first-gen Cadillac Seville. Neo models are manufactured in China.

Unlike the low-cost diecasts made by Yat-Ming, Motor Max and others, these scale models retail between $60 and $90 apiece, so make your choices carefully. On the other hand, if you've got your heart set on owning a mint 1984 Dodge 600 K-car convertible, the $65.95 price tag for the 1:43 scale example is probably cheaper than the real thing, even a beater.

I have a few 1:43 scale Neo models, including a not-so-ordinary 1941 Packard One-Ten Deluxe woody station wagon finished in metallic green. It was a recent Christmas gift.

In 1941, fewer than 140 One-Ten mahogany and ash woody wagons were built. These entry-level Packard models were powered by a 100 horsepower, six-cylinder flathead engine. In 1941, you could buy a brand-new, full-size example for $1,236.

Packard's wood bodies were built by Hercules in Evansville, Indiana. From the cowl forward, the car was all steel, but the doors were wood as was the roof panel. The rear inner and outer fenders were also steel, and were bolted to the wood body, which was attached to a steel frame. (posted 1/9/15, permalink)

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"Wouldn't You Really Rather Have A Buick?" This mid-1960s slogan and commercial jingle promoted the desirability of all things Buick but for many, the Buick they really wanted was Buick's hot rod Century.

The Buick Century first appeared in 1936; it combined the shorter, lighter body from lesser Buicks with the more powerful engine of pricier Buicks and could arguably be considered the first production attempt at a muscle car. The Century designation commemorated the company's first model to reach 100 mph.

Buick revived the Century name in 1954 for their new performance offering. Based on the smaller (122-inch wheelbase), entry-level Special chassis and body, the new Century received the Roadmaster's more powerful 322 cubic-inch V-8 engine from the big Roadmaster 127-inch wheelbase model. About half the Centuries made were equipped with Buick's Dynaflow automatic transmission, while the rest received a three-speed column-shift manual.

All body styles had new wraparound windshields and sported Buick's signature plunging chrome side spear. The 1954 Century was a "three-hole" Buick, with three Ventiports in each of the front fenders. The Century moniker was last used by Buick in 2005.

For Christmas, I received a model of a 1954 Buick Century Riviera two-door hardtop coupe made by TrueScale Miniatures Ltd. in 1:43 scale. The model company is headquartered in Hong Kong, China.

This is slightly off-topic but the 'Wouldn't You Really Rather' jingle was sung by Linda November, a well-known performer in the ad and music business. She was the voice of the singing cat in the Meow Mix commercials, sang the jingle 'Galaxy Glue' in the 1981 film 'The Incredible Shrinking Woman', the 'Have It Your Way' Burger King song and the 'Coke and a Smile' jingle in the classic Mean Joe Greene Super Bowl commercial. Linda also sang 'Have You Driven a Ford Lately?', as well as GE's 'We Bring Good Things To Life'.

Ms. November was one of the backup singers on Dionne Warwick's 'Do You Know The Way To San Jose'. She now lives in Las Vegas. (posted 1/7/15, permalink)

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Departing In Style: LaSalle was an automobile brand manufactured and marketed by General Motors' Cadillac Division from 1927 through 1940. Long and stylish, LaSalles were slotted just below Cadillac in price. LaSalle offered a commercial chassis which was popular with most U.S. hearse builders in the 1930s.

For Christmas, I received a 1:43 diecast Altaya model of a 1939 LaSalle hearse - the same one used in the Bond movie 'Dr. No'. Altaya is based in Barcelona Spain, and produces numerous lines of toys. Most are manufactured in mainland China. This model was produced by Ocean Metal Factory of Shenzhen, China. To further confuse things, the baseplate is embossed with 'Ixo', the name of another diecast manufacturer.

The full-size hearse used in the movie was coachbuilt by well-known A.J. Miller Co. of Bellefontaine, Ohio.

For the 1941 model year, Cadillac offered the Series 61 - an entry-level model - to replace the LaSalle brand, which was discontinued after the 1940 model year. The Series 61 cost $125 more than a comparable LaSalle sedan from the prior year. (posted 1/5/15, permalink)