History of Diecast Model Cars

Origins Of Model Cars

The first model cars appeared soon after the first original cars. In Germany, Märklin, Bing, Carette and other companies already produced detailed tinplate car replicas soon after 1900. These models were toys for the sons of rich parents and were made in rather big scales. They were set in motion by a clockwork or even by a small steam engine. After World War I European toy makers continued producing big tinplate models with a lot of functions. Some of these models became very famous, for instance the detailed promotional models in 1/8th to 1/11th scaled made by the French car comany Citroën in the 1920s and 1930s and the tinplate models made by Schuco in Germany from 1936.

There were also model cars made of diecast in smaller scales. These models were cheaper than the tinplate models. The American company Tootsietoys was one of the first manufacturers producing diecast models in the 1920s. In the 1930s several companies released their first models in about 1/43rd scale, the scale of the 0-gauge model railways: Solido (France, from 1932), Dinky Toys (United Kingdom/France, from 1934) and Märklin (Germany, from 1935). Two very successful British manufacturers followed in the post-war years: Matchbox (from 1948) and Corgi (from 1956).

Coming Of Age

In the 1960s manufacturers of 1/43rd scale diecast models from the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany were predominating on the model car market. Their models became more and more authentic copies of the originals: Corgi produced model cars with windows and interior detail from 1956, Solido introduced suspension (Jaguar D-Type, 1957) and opening doors (Lancia Flaminia Coupé, 1962), and Tekno from Denmark and the Italian companies Politoys, Mebetoys and Mercury also released very detailed models.

In the 1970s model cars became rather plain again: Authentic wheels with rubber tyres were replaced by one-piece plastic wheels mounted on thin, fast-running axles. The superfast wheels made the models attractive items for children and decreased production costs. This was important because a lot of diecast model manufacturers suffered from the consequences of the 1970s recession.

In 1968, Hot Wheels, which had low friction wheels that could send a model car over a further distance with a single push, was introduced in the United States by Mattel, to counteract the complaint that they had no line of toys for boys to match up with their line of Barbie dolls. The main diecast toy manufacturers were forced to revamp their model ranges making models with faster wheels and metallic paint. Hot Wheels eventually gained an important niche in the die-cast toy market, becoming one of the world's top sellers by the 2000s.

In the 1970s a new trend in the model car industry came from Italy: Bburago, Polistil and Mebetoys introduced their ranges of authentic and comparatevely low-priced models in the rather big scales 1/24th-1/25th and 1/16th-1/18th. Apart from opening doors, bonnet and luggage hood these models had no functions. But apparently demand for such detailed big scale models still existed after the era of tinplate cars had ended. More and more adult collectors were interested in such models, too.

Recent Years

In the 1980s and 1990s the marked reacted to this development. New shops specialized in model cars and new mail order businesses appeared and made it easier for adult collectors to get their models. More and more companies, such as AutoArt, Exoto, Jadi, Maisto, Ricko and Sunstar offered very detailed and authentic model cars for the adult customers. Not only quality of these models increased, but also the prices. Many manufacturers moved their production to the Far East because of the lower costs. Supply of detailed scale models for collectors is still increasing, the most popular scales are 1/18th and 1/43rd. Whereas collectors can find a huge variety of models in 1/43rd scale, the 1/18th scale models are the best-selling items at the moment since they are even more detailed and are of an impressing size.