What unusual autos should be done in 1/48-1/43 scale?

I would dearly love to have 1:43 models of both.  My first car was a six-year old '61 Valiant, but'62-'63 Corvair, preferably turbocharged.

 

There are several 1:43 '60 Valiants on e-bay now, all out of Australia, for prices up to $260 dollars.  And shipping from Australia is pricey in my experience.   I don't want it that much! 

 

Yat-Ming makes a 1:43 '69 Corvair convertible - Amazon has tons of themfor $6 to $9 depending on actual supplier,  and Brooklin makes a 67 coupe you can get from DiecastDirect right now for only about 12 times as much!.  No one seems to make a model of the first series Corvairs though (as in '60).

I agree about seeing more regular cars and trucks available- especially in the ~$15-$20 price range. Along these lines, I see a fair amount of vehicles available for cheap that are of "average" cars but come with modern mag wheels and paintjobs. Is there a good source for original style wheels to "restore" these vehicles to original condition?

The 60 Corvair has been made.  Check pic, the first row on left behind the Chrysler Woody convertible, white with blue top.

Late 50's and early 60's would be great. DeSotos, Hudsons, Plymouths, Dodges, Fords, Chevys, Nashs, Ramblers and an Avanti by Studebaker to name a few.

Do you know who made that model? Do they still make it?  Franklin Mint made a blue and white one a long time ago apparently, but its no longer in production, and frankly it was a pretty poor looking model - not too accurately done.   I can't find anyone with one in production now but maybe I have not looked hard enough..

I would love to see an Evens Auto Railer for my train line. And for myself I've always liked the Stout Scarab.

 

Eligor Made a 1962 Corvair coupe. They made some excellent 34 Fords and a '58Chrysler

I think we have too many "unusal" automobiles for every era.    There are too many exotic cars, rare cars, and convertibles made.    How many of you want a model of a "tucker" sedan?   There were less 2 dozen ever built I think.

 

I would like to see more 2 and 4 door sedans in common models that we saw on the streets.     My era is the late 40s, so I would like to see that, but I could appreciate later or older stuff.   but if you think about it realistically, how many convertibles were really around that you saw?   they were glitzy, but most family men ended up with sedans.

For the gazillonth time don't hold your breath waiting for a ton of 1:48 or 1:50 cars & trucks to come rolling down the pike. I posted pics of cars that are close to those scales and nothing was mentioned...did some of you skip over the post?

I don't understand why you can't just accept 1:43 and live with it. I suggest that some of you read this forum more often and don't forget the Buy/Sell catagory. I mention the Buy/Sell not just to make a few bucks but to help you find what you might want.

Bob

I agree BK.  1:43 scale cars work very well for me - again, even a big, big1:43 auto ('59 Cadillac limousine) looks fine on my 1:48 layout.  I also look through buy and sell often.  I don't find too many things I want, but I do find and buy things there sometimes. 

Would look forward to seeing more service vehicles of the 40's-50's& early to mid 60's manufactured such as trash trucks, utility service vehicles, school buses, auto transport carrier trucks, tractor trail cabs, snowplow / dump trucks, cement trucks, cycles and YES, everyday vehicles used by the majority of the auto buying public of that era. Convertibles were a small minority of sales back then compared to sedans but seem to be disproportionately manufactured and available from 1:43 manufacturers. (I suppose it's a matter of economics as convertibles use less material in their making than do coupes or sedans and therefore manufacturers can maximize their profits more by selling more of them vs. coupes and sedans.)  

I would love a 1:48 or 1:50 scale cement truck link this one

and also a garbage truck

 

I have no problem with 1:43 scale.  I may not have made clear above that I would love to have a 1950 Dodge (Meadowbrook, etc) in any of the scales close to 1:48, including 1:43 which I find very acceptable. Thanks.

 

Eaglemoss produces a really nice '66 Batmobile for around $20

Personally, I can't stand 1:43 cars and NO I won't live with it. Not ever! I realize I am in the minority but I am entitled to my own opinion I just don't like the way 1:43 cars look. They are WAY over sized to my eyes especially on the width. That's where it is the most noticeable. I understand that you and the majority on this forum like the 1:43 autos and that's fine. I respect your opinion please respect mine.

 

I'm not holding my breath waiting for scale sized automobiles of every day cars from the '30s, '40s, and '50s. Regardless of what my signature says I have given up on that dream long ago. It will never happen. Never mind the fact that it would cost someone like MTH the same amount to make a scale 1:48 car as is does to make a 1:43 car. I will never pay more than, at the absolute most, $20 for a scale car. Even if I was willing to pay more than that Brooklin ain't getting my money. I don't care how nice their cars are they are not the same scale as my trains. I don't need super detailed autos. I need mediocre detailed every day autos that fit the steam/diesel transition era. They just have to look like they are the correct size.

 

Bob, I did read your post and I like what you did with those cars.

How about some NHRA cars like these.

 

I'd like one of these:

 

1/43 is close enough for me.   I simply don't put 1/43, 1/48, or 1/50 near each other. Just like the original O gauge cars and MTH premier for instance.  Just keep same sizes together or separate them enough that you can't tell the difference.

Well, here's another vote for the steam/diesel transitional era -- roughly 1938-1955.  I never, ever, need to see another Corvette, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, James Bond Aston-Martin or Kewl Kustom Kruzer Kar as long as I live.

 

And yeah, I know about Brooklin, and I even have a couple of their models that I bought some years back.  But they're just too expensive for my budget any more.

 

British O scale is 1/43. Dinky made their toy cars to that scale, and the collector hobby sprang from that.

Most 1/43 model makers are more interested mass markets, not serving O scalers or collectors, so their products reflect the pop culture.

Specialty makers like Brooklin have lower production runs and higher amortizing cost. That equals a higher retail prices.

What i cannot figure out is why the military models are not anywhere close to the established train scales.  There could be cross polination there!

I've managed to find enough 1:50, as well as a few 1:58 scale military to make it work.  But like you note, most is other scales.

Well, what all the above tells me, is that there are people like me who would not buy a Tucker, much less a Batmobile, nor a Girl's Train, and there are people who will.  I

liked Rextoy, but they went out of business before half the street-seen pre-WWII cars

in their little brochures were ever made. (the Buick in there must have panicked Brooklin, who has since made a series of Buicks, pricey, of course)  Open cars were

common up to the mid 1920's, but people didn't think a buffalo robe and a hot brick

on the floor was really warm enough, and the trend went to closed cars with some

kind of heating.  Having owned a convertible with a non working heater, I am not

a fan of them, and the streets of the towns I lived in fielded 2 and 4 door Chevrolets

(darn rare in even 1/43) until the early fifties and two door hardtops.  Rextoy did

get some 1935 Fords into production.  I don't remember Rextoy offering an open car.

I, too, dislike 1/43rd, but.....that is what is out there.

I like most have too many ragtops on my layout.  How about 1:43 or 1;48 1949 Cadillac Sedan a 1962 Fork Galaxy and a 1962 Olds Starfire.  I also have many 40's and 50's pickups.  Every time I say I am not going to buy any more vehicles I buy another.  1:43 is fine with me.

X2...Oh yeah, a '62 galaxie XL hardtop or better still an olds "wagon"...heck...any '40s- early '60s wagons....just not a '70 pontiac catalina{man that car was ugly}. 

This excellent resin '49 Cadillac 62 Club Coupe Sedanette is made, I think, by American Excellence.  Amazon has it at $75 - expensive but the detail is fantastic.  I have one on my layout, and like all the American Excellence models I have, keep it on those portions of the layout roads right next to the layout edge, where people can get right up to view it.  Even from two inches away, the detail impresses.

Not sure where to find '62 Ford, but I stumbled on this '55 plain jane Ford sedan on Amazon.  Will have to repaint it - it was listed as "1955 Havana" but it will be worth the effort.  it was cheap - I think $7.

 

 

Brooklin makes '62 Olds black on black Starfire coupe - diecast direct has it listed at $125 - you really have to want it at that price.

Lee

 

You are on to something.  Those Havana cabs can easily be turned into ordinary Ford Sedans:

 

That'd make a nice mainline, but if I had one I'd tweek it to a '55 savoy.

That black Ford is exactly the right look!  Plain and a little worn.  I love it 

Lee your Cuban Ford is a 56. Yours looks like a re-pop of the original Altaya version. Vitesse and then Matchbox made a similar version.

Bob

Lee, I have a '56 Ford Cuban taxi. The taxi decals can be removed with denatured alcohol (NOT nail polish remover...that will make a mess of the hood area).

Here is a list of "regular every-day" cars available in 1:43 up through 1959.

- No convertibles     - No Cadillacs, Lincolns, or Imperials, etc.    - No strange models

 

Everything shown is available new from diecastdirect, mint models, or Amazon.

Wow, Lee, thanks for that research.  Even though I certainly don't need more cars I may look into a couple of those.

I've been thinking about the unfairness to this thread because some of us hi-jacked it  with the very interesting (and useful) "we'd like to see more plain, everyday cars" discussion above.  After all, the thread's title is "What unusual autos . . ."  I'm not sure what constitutes an "unusual auto" - that probably makes for an interesting part of this discussion - but "plain, everyday automobiles," by definition, would not qualify. 

-->The gray car in the photo below arrived yesterday after more than two weeks of boating across the Atlantic and oozing through customs on a schedule mandated by the sequester. It fully demonstrates my hypocrisy here: I say I want more everyday cars (and I do) but then I go and buy models like this precisely because it was so rare and exotic. 

 

The AC Greyhound was a four seat GT coupe built on the chassis of the AC Ace - the car Carroll Shelby later evolved into the Cobra. Only 85 Greyhounds were ever made.

During that brief time, AC put four different engines in them: the company's near-demise around 1960 came about because they were not able to secure stable contracts with engine providers for this car or their two-seat convertible Ace.  The 1959 LeMans winner stepped in and used his contacts at Ford to get American small block V8s, and the rest was history.  It was an attractive car, but with all but the "big" engine (170 HP 2.5 liter six made by Ford of England) not very fast.

I'm particularly struck by this car's similarity to the Aston Martin DB5.  They were virtually identical is size inside and out, and had very similar lines.  The Aston weighed quite a bit more, but that was largely because it had twice the horsepower. 

Wow...Lee, an impressive list, but only the very first car on it, can I use....and there area lot of 1939-40 Ford models out there, in 1/43rd, however, I need to take a look at it.  A 1939 Ford is "unusual", if your neighbor is still driving one (our neighbor was still driving a 1937 Ford Tudor when my mother bought her new 1954 Chevy)  Uh, somebody above mentioned wanting a Model A Mail Truck..in front of me is my Matchbox 1932 Ford AA (they are calling it...a 1932 would be a "BB") U.S. Mail truck, dark green with a canvas cover on the bed and U.S. Mail posters on the sides. (#YYM38239) An "A" or "B" would have been the pickup chassis, "AA"  or "BB"was the chassis for flat bed and box trucks with the four cylinder engine.

 

Colorado I'm going to say that the 1939 Ford on Lee's list is a typo and should be 1949 Ford.

Bob

 

It was a typo but its a 1941 Ford, basically the same as the '39.  Two door coupe made by American Heritage, whichy also makes '49-'50 Ford sedans and coupes, and available in green or blue.  Diecastdirect has them for about $25-$30.  Amazon normally lists them for a tiny bit less but today has them only from its associate seller "Japan Import") at $112 - ("japan import" is a quirky seller through amazon that always lists model cars at 4X what others do, and takes about five weeks to deliver). 

 

Here it is the single one I have on my layout, muddied a bit so it fits the ambience of the tacky trailer park.