Hello All, I am going to start a series of blogs about die cast vehicles and the prototypes that inspired them. Commercial Fleets, Fire Fighting Apparatus and anything interesting. This first one is by request from the lovely and gracious LaToya. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy creating them.

LaBatt's streamliners were a unique sight in Canada from 1932 until 1955. The tractor chassis was produced by the White Motor Company and the trailer chassis by Freuhauf. Designed by Count Alexis De Sakhnoffsky, the bodies were crafted by Smith Brothers Body Works of Toronto.

The first design


The later design


The last remaining specimen

Now the Models

The First Run
Interesting story behind these. The original run was commissioned by LaBatt Brewery as promotional items to be sold at a Canadian Exposition sometime during the mid-eighties. This run was a limited edition handbuilt produced by DeHanes Motor Company in 1/48 scale. This is an example of the first run.


The Second Run
Sometime during the late 1990's a second run was produced by a Canadian company called D.M.P. Studios. This is the one in my collection. This second run was produced in 1/43 scale and many folks believe this to be a superior model. Having never actually seen one of the first run I cannot make a judgement.

Next entry in this series: FDNY Super Pumper System/Code 3 Replicas

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Tags: Vehicles