The Robb Collections

True 1/64th (HO) Scale Diecast Car Models vs Hot Wheels™ Racing Track Scale GT40 MkII 550 510 280

January 16, 2026

#534

Gentle reader,

Way back in 2020, I did a similar article on the loose way Mattel™ diecast car designers of Hot Wheels™ and Matchbox™ as well as other diecast toy car companies, including those who make those very detailed "pull-back" nominally 1/32nd scale model cars one sees on a rack in many stores, at least here in the United States are with sticking to one scale. In the case of Hot Wheels™ and Matchbox™, both owned and made by Mattel™, the cars and trucks and countless "fantasy" model cars and trucks they create are made to one scale: To fit on Hot Wheels™ orange racing track. I will call those cars O.T. from now on. In the case of the larger pull-back cars, they are to be five inches long. Regardless of how big or small they are in reality.

Which is fine, if you choose to collect Hot Wheels™ and Matchbox™ cars either for display or play. My previous article went into great detail on this subject. It can be seen here: The Robb Collections: True Scale Size Verses Track Scale 1:64 Diecast Cars It's quite an extensive article in which I show what size the real cars are compared to O.T. cars and the more expensive and higher detailed true 1/64th scale model cars.

Why am I writing about this again, after almost six years? Simple: Nancy gave me a little jewel of a car for Christmas, it is a true 1/64th scale model of Porsche's first production mid-engine car their 550 Spyder. To learn more about the real cars, after you are done here, go to: Porsche 550 Spyder Specs, Technical Data, History - Porsche Mania

Above and below are photographs of real Porsche 550 Spyder's with people for scale.

The car she gave me is absolutely TINY and comes in a little clear case. Nancy gave me other cars as well for Christmas. Some can be seen here: The Robb Collections: Cadillac Racing A Brief History and Their V-Series.R LMP HYPER Car GTP WEC and IMSA Racing Cars in Miniature

Both of these were featured in the previous article, albeit photographed in a different location. They are both 1960's Ford GT race cars. You know, the ones featured in the Hollywood film: Ford vs Ferrari. The blue one, is 1/64th scale and very well detailed. It replicates the very first Ford GT to actually win a race. I don't recall where or whom were the drivers.

However, I did find a photograph of the actual Ford GT Mark I race car.

The blue car was produced for Road & Track magazine and as you can see, the stickers and more details are well done and placed correctly.

The O.T. black #2 car is a representative of, but is NOT accurate and not a 1/64th scale model of the car which actually came in first at Le Mans in 1966. See photo below:

Why is the car not accurate? I'm glad you asked that.

Do you see the snorkel-like ducts above the rear wheels on top of what would be the trunk or boot of an ordinary car? By the way, these are some of the 1/32nd scale "pull-back" cars I mentioned and I have collected. Look at the photo below:

The black O.T. Hot Wheels car was rushed into production to cash in on the interest of Ford vs Ferrari and they used a Mark I Ford GT rather than the Mark II car which has a seven liter (427 cubic inches) big block Ford V8 engine derived from their NASCAR racers. The Mark I (blue one) ran a 4.2 liter (289 cubic inches) small block V8 engine. Also, the Mark II rear end of the car is different. See second photo below.

These images are of my 1/18th scale diecast model of the third place 1966 #5 Ford GT Mark II.

What those snorkel scoops do is funnel cool air to the rear brake calipers. In racing, brakes are applied so hard to slow the cars down, that they glow red!
Due to the Mark II and later (1967) Mark VI cars greater: power, weight and speed, they added those scoops.
You can see the corresponding tubes above which mate to the bottom of the engine cover's scoop. They are between to the dark blue coil-over springs and the exhaust header.
Okay, back to the scale model cars. The O.T. Hot Wheels car has painted on headlights. It's hard to see, but the 1/64th scale car has tiny headlights with clear lenses over them.

Now for the car which drove (no pun intended) me to write and illustrate this article. Even though it is so small, they still made clear lenses for the headlights! And, a tiny Porsche Crest and tiny lettering.

With this side view, it is obvious just how HUGE the O.T. car is by comparison!

Granted, both cars have one piece molded plastic interiors. Gotta cut costs somewhere. Note the separate exhaust pipe centered under the rear, the other tiny Porsche Crest and red taillights.

Now to a car I have actually driven and would love to own now: The awesome Datsun 510! O.T. one on the left, 1/64th scale four-door one on the right. Just look as the details of the smaller one compared to the O.T.!

Back in 1975, we were living in Richmond, VA. Dad got a job as part of the Federal Office on Aging in D.C.. He rented an apartment up there for during the week, but needed a car to drive the 100 miles, south on Friday and north on Sunday.

I told him that we had a nice Datsun 510 two-door on the used car lot of the dealership for which I turned wrenches. It was a five-speed manual, which was not a problem with Dad since every driver from his age knew how to drive manual transmission cars.

When he was home for the weekends, I was constantly borrowing that car. It was SO fun! It was the same color as the 1/64th scale four door above. Note the tiny details such as the tufts on the top of the rear seat and the taillights and tiny DATSUN emblem.

The Datsun 510's engine was 2/3rds of the 240Z's six-cylinder 2.4 liter engine. The competition coupe on the right is a later model 280ZX which was raced by none other than Hollywood actor, Paul Newman.

What you didn't know that he raced cars too? He not only raced them, but WON with them too, including the 24 Hours of Daytona! Steve McQueen, James Garner, Dick Smothers and Patrick Dempsey are other actors who also raced. Even Malcolm in the Middle star, Frankie Muniz currently races cars!

A photo of a car model box, which would fetch big buck$ if it contains the unbuilt model inside.

Both cars are 1/64th scale and highly detailed.

I've decided to call my little race car driver, the American Stig in miniature. It came with the Datsun 510.

So, there you have it. I have ranted like the old man that I am, once again, on a subject few diecast car collectors would not give a rat's ass for. Where would one GET a rat's ass, anyway?

Thank you, once again, for taking the time to read this article and looking at my photos. Feel free to comment below or on Facebook. I write two other blogs Pictures of Nancy. The Love of My Life. and People Say I'm Special. But I Don't Know Why Feel free to take a look at them. As a teaser, Nancy looked like this when we met:
Scott Robb

January 16, 2026

#534

Setting Up and Running a Douk Audio DU3 Pro Audio Meter-Amp-Speaker Switch

January 12, 2026

FURTHER UPDATED 01-16-2025

#533

Gentle reader,

There is no denying that China is the planet's factory for so many products. Yes, there are many things being sold which are made in China which are blatant copies of existing products. Sadly, Amazon regularly does that as well. Their "Amazon Basics" line is comprised of items being sold through them by legitimate manufacturers which Amazon has copied and sells of which they changed them just enough so as to not be sued by the original makers.

Douk Audio DU3 Pro Images courtesy of Douk Audio

I have been intrigued by these meters since they first came out. The DU3 Pro is only the second component I have bought made by them, the first can be seen here: The Robb Collections: World Premiere Review of Douk Audio's Exciting new Class A DJ587 Tube Stereo Power Amplifier!
Said 4 WPC tube power amp astride my 1990's B&K Components ST1400 power amplifier. You can see my (second) Radio Shack APM-300 watt meter nestled beneath it. I had to get some tall rubber feet to replace the factory tiny ones to make the LED watt meters fit and sill allow cooling air beneath the tube power amplifier.
Similar to many of the more expensive WBC (Worlds Best Cables) products I have purchased, it too comes in a nice black box, well protected.
ONE Little Bear is a new name to me. I have yet to see any products thus named.
Product protective packaging and product packaging itself seems to have been perfected by the Chinese.
They provide a nice remote which uses two AAA batteries and a 5 Vdc @ 2 amps power transformer cube and USB-C cable.
The unit is bigger and heavier than I expected it to be.
Quality, strong and well made three-way binding/banana terminals. Much better made than those on my Marantz MM7025 power amplifier:

After replacing every wire and cable in the listening room system with WBC units, I used the (above, black cables) removed Monster Cables Z Series 1R to replace the cheaper speaker cables in our modest home theater system. I had one short cable left over which was the one on the right. I bisected it and added some old banana terminals for testing purposes. The pink ones on the left are my test cables made from M.C. standard speaker wires. One never knows when they might find some awesome speakers somewhere.
I thought long and hard about the placement of the DU3 Pro unit and decided to place it where you see it above. I looked at all kinds of "jumper" speaker cables and even two to three foot long WBC units thinking that I could cut them in two...
For testing purposes, I placed the tube amplifier to the right of the big unit and snaked the pink wires around to the tube amp.
I will have to look and see if I have bought any "Ultimate" WBC speaker cables before.
I have so many of these little silk-like black bags now, with no future use for them...
I had used a cloth measuring tape to see what the distance from the big power amp's speaker terminals to the inputs on the DU3 Pro unit and found that eight inch jumpers would work.
SO much effort is made by "high end" audio cable makers by using woven fabric outer coverings to cover their speaker wires/cables. I think it is just a clever ploy to separate us from our money. At least WBC's cable prices are a tiny fraction of the cost of so many other cable makers out there in audiophile land.
All of that thickness is just layers of woven fabrics. Yet, we think they look cool although there is no real purpose for all that thickening coverage.
As you can see, the eight inch WBC "Ultimate" jumper cables are exactly the right length. The pink Monster Cables copper wires which are 10 gauge, nominally, look tiny by comparison.
In the case of my system, (these two amplifiers are "extra" power amps) moving the tube amp to the left side worked perfectly. Where you position your DU3 unit in YOUR system is completely up to your needs and available space.
In case you haven't seen the listening room system before, here it is. The big power amp on the floor (which now has the DU3 Pro on it) used to sit where the Marantz MM7025 sits now. It is the matching power amp for the B&K Components PRO10 preamplifier. The ST1400 power amp had developed an electrical problem and I decided to buy something from THIS Century to replace it. Then, I fixed that amp's problem and decided to use it to drive my fifty-year-old Dynaco A25XL speakers.
I bought this set of Nakamichi banana plugs from Amazon. With fifty years in this hobby, I have tried all kinds of different ways to attach wires to speakers and amps. I have found that Nakamichi makes the best ones. The one danger is that the silver "barrels" are aluminum and thus conductive when music is flowing though them. Of course, we NEVER plug or unplug speaker wires when are amplifiers or receivers are switched ON. Right?
I replaced the ancient banana plugs on the Monster Cable Z Series 1R cables with those crisp new Nakamichi units.
A good look at what a well laid out set of speaker cables attached to a Douk Audio DU3 unit can look like. The Nakamichi barrels look like they are touching, that is an optical illusion.
The whole layout "in situ" as Latin speakers used to say. It may look like a bundle of snakes, but the cable are all laid out as neatly (and with power cables separated from signal cables) as the devices and thick cables allow.
A little closer look at the layout.
The unit up and operating. Pay careful attention when wiring up yours, it is far too easy to plug a cable in the wrong terminal.

I thought of the sensual music Techmoan plays whenever he peals off the clear protective plastic film. Techmoan - YouTube
The directions are clearly laid out in understandable English, in the multipage manual, unlike countless other products from Asian manufacturers.
Image courtesy of Douk Audio.

Having a remote controller makes it so easy to switch from amplifier to amplifier and speakers to speakers. You can even drive both pairs with one power amplifier.
Radio Shack (I miss it, so) used to sell SO many wonderful things for all kinds of electronic hobbies. Some of which were Audio Power Meters. I've owned at least one of all four of the series. I have found the APM-300 (above) to be the best for critical observation of power being used. The one above is part of the main system. It is switchable for eight or four ohms (on the rear) and has two scales: 0 to 2 watts, or 0 to 200 watts. Also, it can be switched between RMS (constantly moving lights) to showing just the peak power.
This is an APM-500. It does not have as many features as the 300 does.
This is an APM-200. I was able to buy a lot of five of them. Unlike it's father, the APM-100, (below) it has LEDs and needle meters. Plus, it lights up in the dark.
And, the granddaddy of them all, the APM-100. No power needed. Simple as can be.
Images courtesy of Douk Audio.
These Douk Audio DU3 Pro units are heavy, robust, well made, well engineered and laid out. I absolutely love mine.

I haven't figured out, yet, what the microphone is needed for.

I also need to divine the sensitivity controller. I'm going to place the APM-300 back under the tube power amp, and use it as a basis for gauging where to set the DU3 Pro's sensitivity. With two completely different power amplifiers attached, this has become very interesting.
I thoroughly enjoyed setting up my unit, which I purchased from Amazon, no one EVER pays me to review equipment. I do no make any money from this, or my other two blogs. Pictures of Nancy. The Love of My Life. People Say I'm Special. But I Don't Know Why

I feel that the DU3 Pro is perfect for my needs. Using the remote to switch the different amps to other speakers, and vice versa has been quite revealing to my ears. I plan to spend a lot of time tomorrow playing with it and learning all that it can do.

UPDATE RESULTS:

Today, as promised, I reattached the Radio Shack APM-300 to the Douk Audio DJ587 tube power amplifier. (It can be seen beneath the tube amp.) I played the same CD I have been using to test this setup: David Sanborn's Upfront. A fun and rocking Smooth Jazz album. I was testing it using my half-century old Dynaco A25XL speakers.

I used the DU3 Pro's remote to switch between the two amplifiers: tube amp (A) and solid state amp (B) and used the Gain (volume) control on the tube amp to adjust it's output, switching between the two amps using the remote control of the DU3 Pro until, to my ears, the output of BOTH amps were identically loud.

Prior to that, I used the Gain knob on the DU3 Pro to match it's meter's percentage readings with the LEDs on the APM-300. When the LEDs were just touching 1 watt (1/4 power output of the DJ587) on the APM-300, until the needles on the DU3 Pro were also showing 25%.

Lastly, I used the Sensitivity knob on the DU3 Pro to slow down the bouncing of the meter needles. It still shows the same peaks, just not too quickly.

Do I recommend that you buy one? Absolutely, it was on sale the day I bought it, the price was low enough for me to go ahead and give one a try. Now that I understand how everything works, and have set it up. I will not need to make any changes. I am completely tickled with this Asian beauty. What a great piece of equipment!

FURTHER UPDATED:

The listening room wall of sound. The large speakers are the last Cerwin-Vega! speakers made in the USA: Models LS-12. They are driven directly by the Marantz MM-7025 power amp. Also driven are the two Tannoy C-88 towers driven through the 1990's Dynaco QD-2 "FIVE CHANNEL HOME THEATER SYSTEM" pictured at the beginning of the photos of the various Realistic APM units. Both sets of speakers were thrift store finds at $99 a pair.

The bottom loudspeakers are my fifty-year-old original Dynaco A25XL speakers. They are fantastic and were also $99 a pair via eBay. I couldn't believe no one else bid on them. They are driven by the 1990's B&K Components ST1400 power amplifier on which the DU3 Pro sits.

Atop the Dynaco's are two of the five Klipsch speakers my next door neighbor gave me. The Robb Collections: Having Friends Who Are Neighbors is a Wonderful Thing! Gifted Klipsch Speakers And More. They are driven by the Douk Audio DJ587 tube power amplifier.
However, now that the DU3 Pro is part of the system, either pair of speakers can be driven by either amp. OR, both pairs can be driven by one amp! Gotta love technology.

One final thought, yesterday, when switching between the 96dB sensitivity of the Klipsch RB-35 speakers and the 92dB Dynaco A25XLs, the Dynaco speakers were audibly louder with the same amplifier output. That is counter to how we understand decibel increases. Every 3 decibels is twice as loud. Just my observations.

Like staring at a fire in a fireplace or a campground, it can be mesmerizing. The same with bouncing needles, especially when they are illuminated. Search YouTube for: Douk Audio DU3 Pro and see what I mean.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to read this rather long article. Writing this blog is one of my passions. I am so grateful to you and all the other folks who regularly read these pages.