O Scale Motor Vehicle Chronicle July 18

I look forward to your posts each week and appreciate the effort that goes into each one.

I second that.  I can't wait to see what you will come up with next.

Art

I also look forward to this thread every week. Autos are such an important part of our layouts.

Oh yeah, the Wolsley Hornet!

The building supply company I work for was once owned by Wolsley. I remember googling them when they bought us and found they used to make cars.

The old Minis were pretty neat little cars. I guess like with my trains I generally prefer the older cars to the new ones. The current BMW built Mini just doesn't have the cool factor for me like the original did.

I once had an original Mini for a few days in Nairobi. It was painted chartreuse and belonged to my secretary, an eccentric Goan/Kenyan woman. She very kindly lent me the car for my last few days in Kenya, after my faithful safari Peugeot had gone to its new owner. It was absolutely the lowest car I have ever driven - like driving an enclosed go-kart. It was fun to drive and very agile, but it was good only for city driving. I cannot imagine taking it on a trip, even to Mombasa. The shift linkage was pretty vague, as was typical of front-wheel drive at the time (may still be, for all I know), but it was a hoot to drive. 

I love this thread and look forward to it each week.  

I have many mini cars, but no Minis, something this thread reminded me to correct soon.  But I have one Morris Minor, this mid/late 1950s Morris Minor 1000 panel van, which I always have somewhere around the British car dealerships on the layout. It is a very old model - I've had it for at least three decades -  and a bit weathered (naturally).   

Richard E and others have sometimes challenged folks to identify an unusual or different automobile.  I'll try this weekend.  This is not a show car, one-off, or prototype.  it was a production car in the 1950s.

Pegaso Z-102B Berlinetta, made in Spain. Body by Superleggera.

Pegaso was primarily a truck builder but built some sports cars. The Italian company Iveco took over the company in 1990. The name Pegaso disappeared after 1994

Yes, very good! I keep hoping I could get a couple of models of Pegaso trucks form the '50s, but so far, no luck.  

There were only a few more than 100 of these made. I've seen only one in all my 65 years.  I think the car was very handsomely proportioned and particularly well styled as to small details,etc., and had a really great motor potentially (DOHC V8) but the chassis and all was never really sorted out well.  A shame really.  I always liked them nonetheless. 

This is a spectacular model by ModellAuto.  It has incredible detail including very good wire wheels and really good detail on the interior. 

 Love the Mini. Perhaps the most famous one that Mr. Bean drove here tipping over the 3 wheel car that he often does.

All these are 1/43 other then the 1/32 on the slot car track and last photo of an RC version in 1/32 that can control with a watch.

The last few mounted on the boxes are available from the Mini Dealers.

Recall in High school someone had a Mini Cooper, friends Mustangs could out run but not in the corner the Mini Cooper was fairly fast but amazing in the corners.

Gee,z you don't have many minis, do you?

If anyone is interested I have a Dinky 1952 Austin panel van that I want to sell and since you guys are talking mini cars I'm offering this car F/S here.  It has a couple of small scuff marks. $12.75 shipped.

Bob

I was in a high school Spanish class with an exchange student from Mexico City,

and as a car nut I was familiar with Pegaso.  I happened to mention it to him,

and he lit up and got all excited, and exclaimed, "You know Pegaso?"

I would have thought they'd be pretty rare in Mexico.  I now know why I have heard

nothing recent about Pegaso.

The Pegaso is kind of interesting. According to Wikipedia, some of the Pegaso high-performance engines had desmodromic valve gear, an expensive and complex setup found occasionally on motorcycles but almost never on cars. 

The basic lines of the Z-102B are attractive, resembling designs Superleggera did for Ferrari. Can't say much for the grille, though - that's just weird. Ferrari and Maserati had much better looking grilles. 

At the Cleveland NMRA Convention today, I discovered a company called Sylvan that

makes all these HO autos and trucks I would love to have in O scale....1936 and 1937

Chevies, and a large number of others, with the trucks having various types of beds, and the cars available in various body styles.  Much gnashing of teeth.

This thread made me go in search of Minis, although not too many!  I am very pleased to have found this Corgi set because it has three normal everyday minis, not rally cars or hot Mini Cooper S models with flag roofs, etc.  

 Left to right: Austin Mini Van , Morris Mini Cooper, Austin Mini Se7en

Back in the days of the earlier Morris Mini's, some of them were set up for road racing and were pretty successful in their class.  As I recall, some modified Cooper engines really gave them a high power to weight ratio.  I do remember one wag making a comment in one of the motor magazines that the new high H.P. version should have been (or maybe actually was) called a "Morris Major Mini Minor".  Not sure if that stuck.

Paul Fischer

Well, they were fantastic little cars.  I always loved them.  Whatever the power to weight ratio, they were so small and handled so well.

Great post! Waiting for the next installment.