by TalesofToyCars
on Mar 14, 2001
Article initially published by Ivan Delgado, images by Ivan Delgado and Doug Breithaupt.
by TalesofToyCars
on Mar 14, 2001
by Dave Weber
images by Doug Breithaupt
Back when I was a child, these cars were popular automobiles. For about the first 10 years of my life, my father owned a 1941 Studebaker Champion 4 door model. My uncle also owned a similar sedan and two of my parents closest friends were the local Studebaker dealer and his wife. Later, our next door neighbor owned a 1953 Starlight Loewy designed sports coupe which was a design forerunner to the famed Hawk series.
The Studebaker family name as a manufacturing firm goes back to 1852. The Studebaker Brothers of South Bend, IN began producing horse-drawn wagons. This enabled families and produce to travel into new areas of development.
With the inventions of the combustion engine and electric power, there was less demand for horse-drawn vehicles. The Studebaker Wagon Co began producing automobiles in 1902. Various makes and models were offered by the parent company. Names such as E-M-F, Flanders 20, Studebaker- Garford and Studebaker Electric were introduced at the beginning of the 20th Century. But the only make to remain into the 1920's carried the parent company name. Additional makes, Erskine (1927-1930) and Rockne (1932-1933) appeared during the Depression Era . These cars were introduced as less expensive companions to the Studebaker . Also, from 1929-1933 the Pierce- Arrow cars were part of this corporation.
Prior to WWW, the Studebaker car was not very stylish. I question why consumers chose this car over the more modern versions of other more prominent manufacturers of the time. But after the War, the Studebaker became one of the most radically styled cars of that time period. This styling concept became even more radical when Designer Raymond Loewy introduced the 'bullet nose' models of 1950-1951. This idea may have been taken from the already defunct Tucker concept of 1948 with the center headlight characteristic. In fact, a modified Studebaker was used in the Tucker movie about 10 years ago to portray a test crash scene . Loewy's low and sleek designs; especially in the 2 door Starlight and Speedster models lead to the introduction of the renowned Hawk series in 1956. This series continued in production until near the demise of this company in 1966.
In 1956 the merger of Studebaker with the elite Packard Motor Car Company occurred . Management hoped the combination would breathe new life into both former companies .However, the decision to put a Packard name on a less expensive Studebaker styled body in 1957 resulted in the end of the Packard marque in 1958.
A new smaller compact Studebaker was introduced in 1959 and was called the Lark. it became the companion to the larger Hawk series. In 1963 the Avanti fiberglass bodied sports car was introduced which also was very radical in style for its time. Although the parent corporation became defunct in 1966, the Avanti ll continued independently in limited production until recently.
Various model and toy companies have produced replicas of some of these cars; especially in larger scales than 1/64. However, there are a few models that have been made available over the years in this scale, but not nearly as many as I would like to see produced in this favored size.
by TalesofToyCars
on Mar 09, 2001
by Remco Natrop
Here it finally is, Siku's release list for 2001! Besides the new passenger cars being released this year like the VW Golf Convertible Generation IV, Mercedes C 320 and the new Jaguar 'S' type Siku paid special attention to something that is of importance to all drivers; the road itself!
If you have a special interest in road construction equipment you'll be delighted with the new road paver, road milling machine and Hamm tandem roller. As usual these models are real accurate. (send me an e-mail if you're interested in images)
But enough talk. Here's the list divided in Siku's four release waves. Note: the letters are not part of the serial numbers. See the description below for letter code explanation.
Code Description
C=Club serie. Same 75mm scale as the Matchbox 1-75 Series
S=Super serie. General traffic model in scale 1:55
F=Farmer serie. Farming models in scale 1:32
J=Junior serie. Large scale plastic models for little children
1st Quarter 2001
S 0855 VW Golf IV Cabrio, u-marine blue
C 1041 MB Actros afzetkipper, dark green
by TalesofToyCars
on Feb 08, 2001
story by David Cook
images by David Cook and Doug Breithaupt
It's the mid '70's at a Grand Prix venue in Europe; exotic sights and sounds are everywhere. Practice begins with British designed and built cars powered by Cosworth-Ford V-8 engines that represent most of the field. Suddenly a sound erupts over the track that is hard to describe, but impossible to escape; it's like a buzz saw cutting logs with nails in them! The 12-cylinder Ferrari's are revved-up and roll out onto the track!
The 312 family of Ferrari race car models pictured here represent a long period of success for the premier Italian marque with their common feature being the 3-liter, flat-12 engine. This "boxer" configuration grew out of a desire for a lower center of gravity and a cleaner airflow over the back of the car to the large rear wings that had recently sprouted.
by TalesofToyCars
on Jan 18, 2001
by Wood Smythe
I stated in my first article the kinds of vehicles I wanted to address in this series. Unequivocally, my concern was 1/64 scale diecasts that are of 'earth-bound' cars and light trucks and not planes ("Top Gun"), boats ("Jaws"), motorcycles, nor chariots ("Lost in Space"); cartoons and animated series ("Flintstones," "Tom & Jerry," "Speed Racer") nor disingenuous promotional pieces.
This last category is most alarming because it appears that many manufacturers have acquired the trademark rights to some of our most beloved shows. Therein lies the mockery as toy makers slap more names of television shows and movies onto unworthy product than I care to mention here. Matchbox (MBX) has offered the STAR CAR BUS COLLECTION ("Jaws" and "Bewitched", etc.) and its CHARACTER CAR COLLECTION ("Nightmare on Elm Street", "I Dream of Jeannie", etc.). Johnny Lightning (JL) has produced TEAM LIGHTNING ("Animal House," "Three Stooges," "Green Hornet," "Munsters", etc.), FUNNYCAR ("Monkees"), and RACING DREAMS ("Goldfinger"). Even Hotwheels ("Blues Brothers" pro-racer.) and Racing Champions, Inc. ("Batman Forever") have their products plastered with the names of shows or movies while bearing no other associations to the original shows.
MBX's CHARACTER CAR pieces are quite nice - even if the cars may not
be authentic. This is an endorsement only of the dolls attached to the vehicles,
and as such should not be confused with diecasts at all, but should be classified
as dolls because, at least, the dolls MUST show authenticity! And I don't
collect dolls - do you? My point is that these items should not be confused
with authentic show vehicles just because they sport the name. Well, I wish
we as diecast collectors would not buy them - that's all.
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