Diecast Model Cars – A History

Posted by admin on October 21st, 2009 filed in Accessories

There is quite a long history of craftsmen building detailed miniature replicas of transport vehicles and machinery, but it wasn’t until 1934 that diecast model cars and lorries arrived on the market in any great numbers.
At that time the model cars and trucks weren’t regarded as collectable items in their own right – they were produced to lend added realism to model railways.
Since the early 1920s Frank Hornby had been making increasingly complex train sets. One of the sets, Meccano Set No 21, was embellished with six diecast models, consisting of a motor truck, a sports coupe, a delivery van, a sports car, a farm tractor, and an Army tank. These were the first Dinky models, issued under the “Meccano Modelled Miniatures” label, as Set No.
These early diecast cars were fairly crude by modern standards, being cast from an alloy with high lead content which didn’t lend itself to a high degree of detail. Also they didn’t attempt to depict genuine vehicles, although the sports car bore a resemblance to the S.S.1, a popular make of the period and a precursor of the Jaguar.
In terms of scale, they were not very well suited to the train sets which they were intended to adorn.
With the passage of time the quality of detail and reproduction greatly improved. The Armstrong Siddely had a footman and chauffeur.
In the 1950s, new production techniques heralded a new era in the history of diecast model cars. Lesney, famous for their splendid Coronation Coach, and Corgi, (“the ones with the windows”), entered the market to provide competition to Dinky.
This new generation of diecast vehicles, with finer detail, better running gear, and better color finish, leads up to the present day, where millions of precision diecast replica models are produced, at quite affordable prices for the collector.

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