O Scale Motor Vehicle Chronicle Vol. XV May 24

That's a really nice assortment Richard.

I've enjoyed your thread immensely - Thanks!

Wow Richard!  You have some great woodies there!  I have to admit I am covetous of thethe '46 Chevy Aerosedan - fantastic! Looked on Diecast Direct right now but they don't have it.    I have two woodies, both '47 Ford Deluxes - Yat Ming and Ertl. 

The big news on my layout is that long-time used car salesman Fast Eddie went out of business after his conviction for odometer fraud.  Nigel Quick, a former driver for Rob Walker's F1 team, bought the place and obtained a franchise for MG.  He hasn't even had time to put the signs up yet (that comes this afternoon).  Here are some of the cars at the new dealership.

     MG Midget    MG-TD          MG-B (early)   MG-B (in garage) MG-A   Arnolt MG

I love the detail on some of the Neo and Spark models.  Note the dashboard on the MG-A

I'm going to break protocol here to post a second time immediately.  I looked into the company that calls itself both American Excellence (no relation to the manufacturer), ModelCarWorld, and ModelCarWorldUSA. 

The actual company is ModelCarWorld GmBH located at Bottgerstr 14, 65439 Floersheim, Germany - in Weisbaden, about 80 miles east of Luxemboug.  When they sell on Amazon US they use the company name ModelCarWorldUSA.  Their US distribution company is actually called American Excellence Trading Co., and is at 12290 Treeline Avene, Ft. Myers. 

ModelCarWorldUSA seems to be the largest retailer of 1:43 '50s and 60's cars on Amazon, with well over half the listings in the 1950s period.  They carry a big inventory of Neo, Spark, Matchbox, Franklin, Vitesse, American Excellence, Solido, Ertl - just about every company except Brooklin.  Prices vary from very reasonable to ridiculously high and seem to bear no relation to product quality or rarity.  Inventory turns over quickly - cars come and go nearly daily so I check them frequently.

Everything I have ordered arrives undamaged and exactly as represented.  Shipping  is expensive (about $12, which means it exceeds to cost of a few of their lower priced cars), but they discount it for multiple orders (six cars cost about $24 to ship, I think).  Delivery is slow: never less than two and sometimes more than three weeks.  Near as I can determine, their warehouse is in Germany and they hold and ship orders in large groups through customs to Ft. Myers and then repackage and send them on through domestic mail: everything I get is packed in Germany but it boxes labeled and mailed from Florida.  Still, it could be worse, the Amazeon retailer calling itself CoolJapan takes nearly six weeks!

My 2 favorite woody wagons, of those I own, are the Minichamps '40 Ford, and the NEO/American Excellence '41 Packard. The details on these can only be fully appreciated under a jeweler's loope.

Lee:
The Brooklin 46 Chevrolet woodie is out of production, but they show up on e-bay from time to time. There is one offered now From Route 66
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BROOKLIN-1948-CHEVY-FLEETLINE-AERO-SEDAN-BRK-50-/400296572260?pt=Diecast_Vehicles&hash=item5d3388f564

The wood trim on 46-48 Fleetline-Aero Chevrolets was not a factory option. It was an aftermarket accessory offered by Chevy dealers and other outlets. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the company that manufactured it.

Lee I put the word out about the LSR cars you're looking for and I'll let you know when I hear anything.

Take a look at some nice cars I have listed on the buy/sell forum.

Bob 

Thanks BK.  Hopefully a few will turn up.  They can be hard to find. 

Richard E - thanks for the heads up on the Chevy, but I passed.  I've got to stop buying these cars I have no where to put.  No shelves, not more parking, even allowing for the section of the layout I'm building now!

Nigel Quick  got the new signs up on "fast Eddies" place yesterday afternoon, officially making it his.  He also has franchises now for Allard and Austin Healey.  His friend/rival in sales, Mike Hawthorne, has an Aston/Jaguar/Triumph/TVR/Sunbeam/Bristol dealership at the other end of Main Street.  Between the two of them they think they have the British sports car scene covered - every manufacturer except AC (that's a '57 in blue, in focus, visiting Nigel's place in the photo below).  Both agree that while the AC Ace is an okay sports car, now that AC has run into a brick wall getting any UK manufacturer to supply engines to them, they are cooked, and not worth carrying.  Little do they know . . .

Richard, great collection of Woodies and great thread!  Thanks for posting.  I'll watch for new editions of the MVC.  Bo