O Scale Motor Vehicle Chronicle Feb.28

Interesting how everybody's childhood layouts were similar in some ways.  I had

Plasticville, Biltrite (cardboard), and buildings built from Gilbert Erectorbrik.  Vehicles

also were Tootsietoy from the glass squares at Woolworth's, Grant's, or Kresge's, the

dime store plastics, and a very few, thought expensive, Dinkys from the hobby shop

a drive away in another city suburb.  Tootsietoys remembered included a yellow

"Diamond T" stakebed truck, and a blue Kaiser sedan.  One Dinky was an open

green Alvis tourer, its prototype very unlikely to have  been seen in America, then, or in major car shows now.  Most of these vehicles my mother passed on to my brother's

kids, but I still have the "Diamond T".  Interesting that the Kaiser was thought worth

modeling for children then.  When my "Chevy man" grandfather saw that his old buddy

from the L&N shops had bought a stripped low cost 1955, I think, Kaiser, he was not

impressed, and remarked that he should have spung for a Chevy.

Brian: Love that Buick. Is it a 53 or 54?

Spence:

I am not really sure that this is a Buick. I will have to go out to the layout and take a closer look.

I believe it's a Buick Skylark which was only made in 53 & 54.

That is a 1953 Buick Skylark

This is a '54 Skylark.

Thank you.

Definitely a Skylark.  Here is my only one - doesn't look quite as good because the door and hood seams are so big, but . . . 

Richard, I have only one truly vintage car on my layout: this very old and tired (paint, left rear tire) Dinky Toy 1949 Austin Devon, which I've had for I-have-no-idea how many decades.  I keep it near the British car dealership on my layout.  

The Buick Skylark was a very classy looking car in it's day.  In fact, I still think it looks pretty sharp.

Art

A Tootsietoy, 4-1/4 inches in length, it looks like an early fifties Olds to me.  Poorly repainted, it was given to me with a group of Plasticville buildings around 1960 by a friend who was getting out of trains.  (I still have it all).  Someday, I'll repaint the car.

This is a Brooklin #20A '53 Buick Skylark. The actual car was on a Roadmaster chassis with cut-down doors and a "chopped top". I don't know if the continental kit was a factory option or a aftermarket add-on. The 40-spoke Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels were standard.

I have a Tootsietoy question.  Walking through a train show I saw a plastic bag full

of what looked like metal Tootsietoy vehicles, and the one that caught my eye was

a school bus that looked like it was O scale, and had the rounded back of early buses

back into the 1940's (there are a zillion square backed modern school bus models out

there that I can't use).  It was not cheap and I walked on...I want one to kitbash

a railbus out of as some roads ran.  Of course, when I went back, it was gone.

Since people collect everything, naturally somebody collects Tootsietoy.  Was that

a Tootsietoy creation?  I have not seen another one.

I am not a Tootsie Toy expert bur the only Tootsie toy school bus I can think of is the "Township School Bus" from the late '50s It had a rounded back. I don't think this is the one you seen.

An additional note, earlier to answer a question from Spence, I incorrectly described a model as a '54 Skylark when in fact it is a '53. I edited the post with the correct information.

This school bus isn't the one being referred to, either, but I'd guess it is from the late Sixties or early Seventies, based on the "provenance" I have for it.

Thanks Joe for the clarification.

I assume the two busses pictured above are different.  The first picture above could

possibly be what I saw, as there was just that one look at it, and I walked on, to reconsider it.  I would need to see a side view.  Certainly the rounded back looks

correct for what I want.  One of the schoolbus companies put out models of their

first 1920's Ford model T school bus, but it is small, and I'd rather have a larger

bus into the 1930's,  I used to sell those T busses in train shows, but I think that bus plant closed.

I would love to see someone make a 1940s or early 1650s school bus in 1/43rd scale.

Preferable in plastic, that would male it easier to modify.

This plastic taxi was on our family Christmas layout in the 1950s.  I always thought that it looked more at "scale" with the Plasticville structures than the Plasticville vehicles did.  No ID other than "MADE IN U.S.A." molded into the inside of the roof.  That's a Scenic Accents figure for size reference.  Anyone know the manufacturer?

Thanks

Tom B

Joe:

I was in the train room today and confirmed you were right on the money. It is indeed the Brooklin model.

Richard E,

A good start to the thread, but you have fallen for one of the old myths about British die-cast toys.   Although they were initially made to complement 'Hornby' trains, which were made at the scale of 1:43.5, when the American cars were introduced they were made at a scale of 1:48.

The best guide to what was made and in which scale, is still probably "Dinky Toys and Modelled Miniatures", by Mike and Sue Richardson, pub by New Cavendish Books, London, 1981, and subsequent editions

The appendices include a copy of the factory record sheet recording the scales for the various models.   Seventeen American cars were produced in 1/4" scale.

Don't ask me exactly when 1:43.5 became the accepted norm for die-casts regardless of the country of origin of the prototype, because I don't know.

Other British manufacturers have produced American cars.   I have a couple by Corgi, two with base-plates stamped 1:49, and one stamped 1:50.   I also have one by Lone Star which is at 1:50.

At over 50 years old they can by no means be considered state-of-the-art, but I've picked up a few junkers which should restore well enough to pass as acceptable when positioned with a little thought.

Sorry that I can't attach a copy of the document to which I referred, due to the usual copyright restrictions. 

Ed

I just went into a web site, model truck dealer's, that I think I saw mentioned in a

thread on here, and tried to order two "catalogued", pictured, and priced, model

trucks of my modeling period.  It took several days' efforts at playing email-tag to get

the site holder to admit that he was out of the trucks, leaving me with the idea that

he had been out some time and didn't or couldn't update his site.  (he couldn't

identify one truck at first because it was listed as another brand on HIS site)

This seems to happen a lot with diecast sellers, not just that guy.  I've had it occur even with diecast direct: the website says they have it in stock, but . . . 

Very annoying, but all part of the search for those rare cars and trucks. 

Boxcoupler, the 40s taxi you have sure looks to me like the Marx taxi made in 1948.  It was from their first injection mold.

Thank you!

Tom B

Hey, check this out:  On eBay, item 331143144037 offered by James Flynn (jdpltd).  A modern re-shoot from the original mold.