Cararama 1:72 and 1:76

[crompton 33]

It's not just Cararama that made 1;72 scale . Trackside with there 105E Viva HA the Moggy.  Not sure if the Bedford CA . Plus the Transit are 1;76.

[fodenway]

All the smaller vehicles in the Trackside range were closer to 1/72, including the Scarabs, Mechanical Horses and (most disappointingly) the Scammell Townsman. The Noddy Van looks a bit undernourished as well, but may be right. I sent a very long and detailed letter to Corgi at the time, pointing out the inaccuracy of their claims scale-wise. I had a reply from a well-known figure agreeing with all of my findings, but claiming that the overscaling was done in the interests of "perceived value", following the lead of toymakers decades earlier. Oxford are not immune to the 'wrong scale' problem either. Take for example the first type caravan, obviously inspired by the Old Dinky Toy 180. The entrance door scales out at only 4 feet tall, and the 'van is narrower than many of the cars that would pull it. It looks fine behind a 1/87 car, however. Their MGB and MGB GT models differ slightly in wheelbase and other dimensions, the GT being the better job. 

[PhilJ W]

The Corgi trio are some of the worst model cars ever made. The Viva is about the best of the bunch but you can't go very wrong with a box. The Anglia looks awful especially around the bonnet and the Morris Minor has a sawn off back end.

[ianmacc]

The Corgi trio are some of the worst model cars ever made. The Viva is about the best of the bunch but you can't go very wrong with a box. The Anglia looks awful especially around the bonnet and the Morris Minor has a sawn off back end.

The Viva looks better than the Minix one purely on the front grille.

 

Nobody has really got the Anglia right since the Minix one. Oxford’s looks too rounded.

 

The best of the Minors for me are the Classix versions apart from that unsightly panel join round the grille.

 

All the above are based purely on appearance. I have no idea which are the most accurate dimensionally.

 

Worst model cars ever made me chuckle though! As bad as they are they are not even in the running whilst we have the Hornby Sierra and Lima Mercedes.

 

Does anybody remember that very short lived range of vehicles that were handmade and included a ford Thames and VW Microbus amongst others. Would have been circa 1995. They were sold in a plastic box and retailed for a ridiculous 9 or £10 at the time. They were reviewed in RM scathingly to the point where a couple of readers wrote in to defend them and attack the subjective reviewer! They were pretty bad though! I remember the line “if you want a Californian low rider look the van is perfect but most of us want the standard version on our layouts”.

Edited July 27, 2018 by ianmacc

[BernardTPM]

Does anybody remember that very short lived range of vehicles that were handmade and included a ford Thames and VW Microbus amongst others. Would have been circa 1995. They were sold in a plastic box and retailed for a ridiculous 9 or £10 at the time. They were reviewed in RM scathingly to the point where a couple of readers wrote in to defend them and attack the subjective reviewer! They were pretty bad though! I remember the line “if you want a Californian low rider look the van is perfect but most of us want the standard version on our layouts”.

Was that the Piccolino 1:76 models?

[ianmacc]

Was that the Piccolino 1:76 models?

I’ll bow to your knowledge on that one as I only saw them once at a Macclesfield MRG exhibition in the 90s on a trade stand. Cannot find anything about them online and I bet they are rare as hen’s teeth now! They were on and off sale within the year.

[fodenway]

The Viva looks better than the Minix one purely on the front grille.

 

Nobody has really got the Anglia right since the Minix one. Oxford’s looks too rounded.

 

The best of the Minors for me are the Classix versions apart from that unsightly panel join round the grille.

 

All the above are based purely on appearance. I have no idea which are the most accurate dimensionally.

 

Worst model cars ever made me chuckle though! As bad as they are they are not even in the running whilst we have the Hornby Sierra and Lima Mercedes.

 

Does anybody remember that very short lived range of vehicles that were handmade and included a ford Thames and VW Microbus amongst others. Would have been circa 1995. They were sold in a plastic box and retailed for a ridiculous 9 or £10 at the time. They were reviewed in RM scathingly to the point where a couple of readers wrote in to defend them and attack the subjective reviewer! They were pretty bad though! I remember the line “if you want a Californian low rider look the van is perfect but most of us want the standard version on our layouts”.

I have to agree about the Classix Minors, with the exception of the van and pickup. For some unknown reason, the patternmaker gave these a 2mm (six scale inches) shorter wheelbase than the cars, when it is very well documented that ALL Morris Minor variants shared the same 7'2" wheelbase. I may be over-fussy, but this ruined them for me. The less said about Oxford's van, the better!

[PhilJ W]

Some of the Dinky Dublo series were pretty poor as well. The Prefect was about 2mm too long, all added to the boot. The FX3 taxi was a peculiar shape around the rear windows the Morris MM pickup was underscale and the Land Rover was spoilt by the oversize wheels.

Edited July 27, 2018 by PhilJ W

[fodenway]

The Dublo Dinkies were indeed a mixed bag, especially the Prefect, but it has to be remembered that they were primarily toys introduced over 55 years ago. For that, I can forgive them, whereas the modern crop are marketed specifically as accurate scale models for adult collectors and should really be just that.

[Les Bird]

I (and others I expect) would like to see some pictures of your upgraded lesneys if possible please

Just as soon as I get to grips with uploading photographs.

[Invicta]

Was that the Piccolino 1:76 models?

 

 

I’ll bow to your knowledge on that one as I only saw them once at a Macclesfield MRG exhibition in the 90s on a trade stand. Cannot find anything about them online and I bet they are rare as hen’s teeth now! They were on and off sale within the year.

 

IIRC Piccolino were around from the mid/late 80's and mainly specialised in F1, Le Mans, Land Speed Record and general sports cars in 1/76 white metal- I definitely remember them being pretty expensive at the time, and the quality being very variable. The range does seem to have included a few vans, including a VW and Trojan. 

 

http://www.87thscale.info/piccolino.htm

https://modelcars.mbeck.ch/model.php?lang=e&mode=search&herst=Piccolino&info=herst

Edited July 29, 2018 by Invicta

[fodenway]

The Piccolino range included some of the Scale Link veteran and vintage cars in the later days of its existence. As stated, quality of the racing and sports car models was variable, some being excellent, others not. The Lotus Elan, for example, is virtually unrecognisable as such, but could be passed off as one of the fibreglass-bodied kit-cars of the period.

[quicksilvercoaches]

There's a Piccolino VW van on eBay at the moment, it's in Germany and 25 euros though. That's the first time I've ever seen a picture of one. It looks ok from the back but the front isn't quite right.

 

The racing and land speed record cars still seem to be commanding good money. There's one of those barely-recognisable Elans at £33.33 and the cheapest Thrust 2 is 60 quid!

[PhilJ W]

There's a Piccolino VW van on eBay at the moment, it's in Germany and 25 euros though. That's the first time I've ever seen a picture of one. It looks ok from the back but the front isn't quite right.

 

The racing and land speed record cars still seem to be commanding good money. There's one of those barely-recognisable Elans at £33.33 and the cheapest Thrust 2 is 60 quid!

Do you have an item number?

[BernardTPM]

Although most of them were lost when i moved, I still have a Mk.1 Escort that I heavily reworked and painted in Ford Lagoon. It's OKish, but the Corgi Trackside version is better shaped and proportioned:

 

 

 

[ianmacc]

Do you have an item number?

Agree. No interest in buying it just like to see the image to see if it’s what I remember. Happy to wait til one of you buys it and posts