Entire Diecast Die Cast Car Collection As Of March 2020 All Scales. And The NATCC Dodge Stratus.

March 28, 2020

#364

Gentle reader,

As most of us are sequestered at home these days waiting for the end of the covid19 pandemic, I have been finding things to do. 

Above are a mixture of 1:18th scale diecast and smaller sizes plus one plastic 1:20th scale model and all that remains of my once large camera collection.

Six cars we once owned are replicated above in miniature: The white Camaro Z28 is the plastic model. Below that is a JDM* Subaru WRX STi wagon, we had a US spec non-STi version. To the right of it is a Porsche 924 Carrera GTS, we had a 1987 924S. The denim blue Audi TT is similar to our 2000 quattro model, sans AWD and rear spoiler. My wife had a Scion TC and her very first car, which was older than she, was a 1963 Ford Falcon which was light blue and had four doors. *Japanese Domestic Market.

Below is a previous article which starts with links to ALL of my articles about diecast and slot cars collections.

Die Cast Model Cars of All Scales Porsche Ferrari Ford GT NASCAR And MANY More Diecast! 

A film fisheye lens image made YEARS ago of the cameras and much smaller car collection. If you are interested in seeing more of my cameras, google: The Robb Collections camera.

The shelf above is now on the opposite side of the room, now facing me. Many of the books are gone. I have realized that I do not want to saddle my kids with my collections so I have been selling much of them to other collectors. All except cars.

I had removed the Lexan cover to rearrange after removing some small scale cased cars to the shelf at the top of the article and a few are now on eBay: rfcollectin on eBay

Housed in a custom made cabinet which once held Colonel Bill Arps' collection of EVERY Kodak Instamatic camera, now are 1:24th and 1:43rd scale cars plus a few models. To the right of the cabinet is my few carded cars.

More cars we once owned here: Third row down on the right is a dealer promo model of a Camaro Z28.

Forth row down has a Chrysler Sebring convertible which I traded my Ford Escort wagon for. To the right is another Audi TT this one IS AWD.

I now have a Volvo V50 wagon so bought a bunch or them from various eras in 1:43rd scale.

Bottom row of big ones holds another Porsche 924 which is a model and the blue car is also a model, this being a 1941 Plymouth coupe of which I bought a real one when I was 18 to make into a hot rod. It had all Chevy drivetrain and other mods. Missing is the 1964 Chevy Impala (my first car) which I am working on making look more like mine.

Below is a photo of me working on the 1941 Plymouth and one with the front end in place.

My brother shot this image in black and white. Below is a print made from a color slide when the car was stored at my girlfriend's house after my family moved up to the D.C. area.

I eventually sold the car to a coworker, I do wonder what became of it. The plastic model I did the same thing, all Chevy driveline and it represents what I hoped the real car would look like, had I finished it.

Since I removed all of the cased cars (see below) I have rearranged the shelf.

The two Hot Wheels Pony Wars sets are now on eBay, the rest moved to the cabinet with the large ones and the cameras. Here is a link to my for sale page: rfcollectin on eBay Note, the Mustang and Camaro set have just sold. 

The photos below are left to right for the entire eight foot shelf I made.

I posed the racing cars at a diagonal to the rest. Two 1960's NASCAR racers start the row. Back when NASCAR made the racers from REAL cars.

I arranged the rest first by country in alphabetical AND chronological order. Germany first on the left, then Italy.

The racers are arranged by era as well, oldest first then newer as they go to the right.

England is next,  then my one Volvo in 1:64th, a C30 then the two Japanese cars then the Tesla models. Then American cars in makers name order and again chronologically. There is a 1964 Impala and the light-blue/white convertible is my second REAL car: 1964 Chevy Chevelle Malibu SS convertible. To it's right is a car I'd love to have: 1965 Chevy 300, a Chevelle two-door station wagon. Empty spot is for a 1996 Chevy Camaro Z28 that is on the way, white, like my real one was.

Special racers above starting with the gold one are ALMS* racers. I attended the Cadillac Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. in 2002. 

*American Le Mans Series which no longer exists.

The car above on the bottom, is a model of the Panoz LMP1 car which won the race outright. I was all over the place making photographs before, during and after the races. All are film shots since I did not own a digital camera then. 

Above is an official photo of the winning car.

My one remaining Fiero, I sold my yellow one before the whole Crazy Jimmy races happened. Empty areas are for expansion.

I take it back, above is my other Volvo, the 850 BTCC* racer next to which are two vintage 1:43 Le Mans racers. 1965 Ford GT40 and 1970 Ferrari 512S.

The large ones are all nominally 1:32nd scale. I love them, the detail is excellent and the price at around five dollars is amazing.

*British Touring Car Championship. There was once the NATCC North American..... and we owned a Dodge Stratus then of which there were two in the series.

Official NATCC photos above and the two below.

Both of these cars came up for sale not that long ago.

You Need This: Super Touring Dodge Stratus | News | Grassroots Motorsports 

Ex-NATCC Champion: 1997 Dodge Stratus Touring Car | Bring a Trailer

I never came across any Dodge Stratus diecast cars. But someone either did or replicated the racer as seen in these three photos.

I JUST found the website of the guy that created this! Here:

1997 Dodge Stratus NATCC touring car 

Amazing. And speaking of replicating, this is from before one could "wrap" a car, we saw this car one night and I shot it with a 110 film (16mm) camera:

I do not know when car wraps came about, but this was before digital cameras were a thing.

So, I'm pretty sure this is all paint.

We never saw the car again, as my 1941 Plymouth, I wonder what became of it and did he make it look even cooler?

OK, so I went off on a tangent there. But, you've learned somethings too.

Thanks for taking the time to read my humble blog. Your comments here and on Facebook are much appreciated.

In previewing the article, I noticed that once again, even though I choose BLACK for the type, most of it is grey. Or is it gray?

Scott
March 28, 2020
#364