1:43 vehicles

eBay has many of those. Search by make (e.g. 1/43 Chevrolet, Studebaker, Ford, etc.), or by year (1953 Ford 1/43, etc.). There's no reason to spend more than $10-20 or so unless you're a collector or have the money (that you won't spend on trains to have expensive vehicles on your layout. There are some rarer makes/models that you can't find in the cheaper lines but you'll be able to populate all your roads with the more reasonable models. They may not have the details of the more expensive ones, but they're very serviceable. You can also try Amazon the same way. 

Try Diecast Direct.

I ordered  a bunch of Yat Ming 1:43 cars from modeltrainstuff $6 ea. I was very pleased. Shipping is reasonable. Some are 50's or 60's or earlier.

Depends on the era (prior to WWll?) and how realistic the auto models are. For myself for that era, l can't find much inexpensive that is not a generic bad model or all Fords, or has the dime store effect. Fifties and sixties fare better.

Got a Rite Aid near you??? They have buy one get one half off today making two cars about $8 total. Family Dollar has had some of late in the $2-3 range.....most modern cars.  Wal Mart always has a bunch of 1/43 diecast under $5.....some older pick ups and cars. Tractor Supply has their die cast on sale too.....many 1/43 scale. 

It boils down to what you want on the layout. In 1/43 you get what you pay for. Just want a bunch of vehicles to place on roads??? TONS in the under $5 price point. Want period correct good looking vehicles?? Plan to spend more. Want vehicles that are as detailed as your best trains??  Plan on $50 to $150 range. 

 I don't think I have spent more than $10 for any of mine......but many need repaint or detail to make them suitable for my world. 

(just checked....Rite Aid not far from you!!)

I'm spending a lot of time on the American Excellence website. They have many, many cars to choose from. 

Trainman2001 posted:

I'm spending a lot of time on the American Excellence website. They have many, many cars to choose from. 

Wow they have a wide range of prices, but a very wide variety of models.

In fact, two cars arrived today from them. The first is an AMC Pacer and the second is a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado.

The first represents the worst car we have ever owned, while the kids—who were little at the time—loved it. I'm trying to get examples of all the cars I've owned over the years onto the layout and get others that I really, really liked. And that describes the second choice. I fell in love with the '56 Eldorado since it really was the first car on the road with those fantastic tail fins and the exhaust coming out of the bumper like a rocket ship. It spoke to the coming age of surplus and extravagance. In fact, this picture represents the sublime to the ridiculous.

Our pacer was all of that red color, not the cool two-tone. Everything that could go wrong did on that Pacer. It was a car that should not have ever been built since it was designed around the GM two-rotor Wankel. GM killed the program, but AMC had too much invested to stop. So they had to shoe horn their archaic straight six engine into a space made for an engine that was close to a foot shorter. To fit it they built a box into the firewall and the engine protruded into that. It made changing spark plugs 5 & 6 impossible without disconnecting the engine mounts and dropping the engine. It was a car with a lot of firsts including electronic ignition and power rack & pinion steering. Both of those systems failed miserably. There's the lovely car behind the kids. Like I said, they were little. They're now 44 and 42 respectively. Where have all the years gone? The picture was taken in 1976.

I never had a Pacer, but I always kind of liked them at the time. I also liked the Gremlin, a friend of mine had one that I used to ride around in with him. And I most certainly agree with 'where have all the years gone?' and gone so quickly too.

If Kevin or anyone else is interested I have these Buicks. Send me an email.

Bob

Trainman2001 posted:

In fact, two cars arrived today from them. The first is an AMC Pacer and the second is a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado.

The first represents the worst car we have ever owned, while the kids—who were little at the time—loved it. I'm trying to get examples of all the cars I've owned over the years onto the layout and get others that I really, really liked. And that describes the second choice. I fell in love with the '56 Eldorado since it really was the first car on the road with those fantastic tail fins and the exhaust coming out of the bumper like a rocket ship. It spoke to the coming age of surplus and extravagance. In fact, this picture represents the sublime to the ridiculous.

Our pacer was all of that red color, not the cool two-tone. Everything that could go wrong did on that Pacer. It was a car that should not have ever been built since it was designed around the GM two-rotor Wankel. GM killed the program, but AMC had too much invested to stop. So they had to shoe horn their archaic straight six engine into a space made for an engine that was close to a foot shorter. To fit it they built a box into the firewall and the engine protruded into that. It made changing spark plugs 5 & 6 impossible without disconnecting the engine mounts and dropping the engine. It was a car with a lot of firsts including electronic ignition and power rack & pinion steering. Both of those systems failed miserably. There's the lovely car behind the kids. Like I said, they were little. They're now 44 and 42 respectively. Where have all the years gone? The picture was taken in 1976.

I  had a Pacer and loved it. that archaic straight six engine had 7 main bearings and was smooth as silk coupled to a Chrysler Torqueflyte transmission. I had no trouble with the car but AMC's quality control of the era was notoriously  poor. It was an interesting styled car and was a pleasure to drive.

My cousin had a pacer- we would do burnouts in reverse, it couldn't spin the wheels in forward lol

It's amazing the wheels didn't simply fall off.

Watch that AMC bashing!!!! I will admit that the Pacer suffered from a company that was more than broke,  and outside forces hampered them even further.

But earlier AMC designs and builds were as good as the Big 3 or better.

My 73 Javelin is as good as any Camaro, Mustang or Cuda of the same era. And I like the fact it's still a great design, IMHO, today. NONE of the US auto makers were killing it during the Pacer era!!!

I was an art student at Michigan State in 1964 and they had a prototype model of the AMX on display, which I thought was a splendid design. And it's true, in the mid-70s, when the pollution equipment started, cars, especially the big 3 were abysmal. The Japanese onslaught had just started and although they weren't anything to write home about, they did excel in customer service, about which the Big 3 had absolutely no clue. Cars were delivered to dealers as pieces of junk and it was up to the dealers to make them right for delivery. Little by little, the 'toy car' designs of Datsun, Toyota and Honda, started getting more and more sophisticated once they had their customer base more established. Younger buyers did not simply follow in their parents footsteps and started to be loyal to imports, leaving Detroit scratching their heads. They lost an entire generation of buyers before they knew what happened. As each new competitor entered the field, quality across the board rose. Today, the worst car you can buy is significantly better than the best car in 1975.  

That's a GREAT single paragraph summary of 70's era auto state.

Dad bought a 1965 Datsun PL411 and while the rubber and cloth materials were very sub standard the car was solid as a rock. An interesting time. 

Thx! Here's a second paragraph adding some more of my "valuable" insights. I was a dyed-in-the-wool American car buyer. I didn't even like talking about imports. I shared that "big car arrogance" that permeated the industry. I had a subordinate that bought a Datsun B-210. It was a mess. Everything that could break did, and I'm talking serious stuff like engine, trans, rear, etc., but she raved about it. I asked how the heck you can like a car that's falling apart like that one is? Her answer led to my insight. It was how they treated her when she brought it in. They respected her, took care of her and the car, and the experience was entirely positive. Meanwhile, when I brought my Pacer in to Al Wilson Pontiac/AMC, when there was no power steering fluid in the reservoir, the service writer looked under the car and said, "Nothing's leaking." That was impossible since it's a sealed system. I told him that whether or not he sees anything staring under the car, the fluid has leaked out and something is wrong. After they brought the car in they found all the fluid trapped in the rubber booties at the end of the steering rack. Remember when I said it was the first car with power rack-and-pinion steering? Well... the seals failed on both ends of the piston. It was like that for every repair that it needed... always a battle... never trusting in my judgement. The paint was so poor that after a rain you could wipe a rag on the finish and it would red, and that was with rainwater. They're explanation, "Industrial Fallout." When the 1980s recession hit, that dealer and AMC went out of business. Gee... I wonder why?

I understand......during the 1978-86 when I only bought Fords....I knew the Ford Consumer Relations guy by name and phone number.....I got things done....but it wasn't easy!!! 

We weren't customers... we were a necessary evil. I'm very glad those days are over. Competition actually is a good thing.