February 21, 2023
#463
Gentle reader,
As you can tell by the name of this blog, we collect things. When I began writing this, I had NO idea that anyone would read it. Well, thanks to YOU, a great number of people do!
It truly humbles me and I cannot thank you enough. This is the 463rd article.
A brief background: I am 66 years of age, and as of September of this year (2023) I will have been a car owner for FIFTY years!
The saying, "You are only as old as you feel." is absolutely true. While parts of me may crack softly when I move them, (I'm talking about you, knees!) I am still fairly active and do workout. But, mentally, I am still very young in many ways.
One of those ways is my love of CARS. The first few years of my life were in the Midwest United States as our father had a series of Churches there which he was the pastor of. According to my mother, (she's 89 and still doing fine) I could identify any car I saw: year, make and model, by age two. Methinks she exaggerates. But, then again, how many different kinds of cars could there have been in rural Kansas (Dorothy says, hello, by the way) in the late 1950's?
This is a photograph I found on the Internet of a car extremely similar to my very first one. One Sunday in early September, 1973, Dad said to me, "Why don't we go car shopping tomorrow?" "Dad, it's a school day." "I'll write you a note." Who IS this guy? I was thinking. So, we did and I chose a beige 1964 Chevrolet Impala 2-door hardtop, identical to the one above. Except for the engine. Mine had a 283 cubic inch V8 and the emblem (seen on the front fender behind the wheel opening) had a simple V emblem. I paid $300 for it and it was nine years old. I bought my 2005 Volvo V50 T5/M66 also when it was nine years old. But paid a LOT more for it. It was the best car purchase I have ever made.
One of our grandsons is on the Autism spectrum, yet from a very early age, he lined up all his toy cars facing forward. How did he know which was the front? I mentioned that to Mom and she told me that I did the same thing at a very young age. She also told me that I did not talk for a while, and that they were worried about that. Well, Zac, now 15, does talk and also does very well in school. And believe me, I DO talk a lot now! Like Zac, I (and Nancy) still love toy cars. We both have our own collections of cars. Plus the more than 1,000 the grandkids play with.
This is the largest scale cars. All the biggest ones are 1:18th scale with the exception of the white Camaro. It is 1:20th scale and a plastic model I built. It and six of the diecast cars represent real cars I owned. Or as close as I could get to them in diecast. The brown Ford Falcon represents Nancy's first car. It was two years older than she was.
"Wait a minute," you may be thinking, "where's the Volvos?" Actually, my first 1:18th scale model Volvo, a 1800ES in red, is on it's way right now. I have written a series of articles about real verses diecast models of cars I have owned. I have several more to go to complete the series.
This is the 1:24th scale shelf and TEN of those cars represent ones I once owned. There are Volvos here: See the red C30, forth shelf from the top? Right above it are a 1:43rd scale C30 and 1800ES. Note, also, the second to the bottom shelf is ALL 1:43rd scale Volvo wagons.
Previously, I had them all arranged as seen above. The silver V50 on the bottom shelf is a new one which I scored for less than ten dollars. I did an article comparing it to the grey V50 above it. My daughter, who is excellent at picking appropriate gifts, bought me the entire CARS cast members one Christmas many years ago. Loved that movie.
As I discovered with my sneakers collection*, I was displaying them backwards! Well, to me, anyway. What makes them unique is that they are all wagons. From the front, they are just Volvos.
*IF you too have shoes arranged on a shoe rack, do you have the toes facing you or the heels? I had them all toes forward. Yes, they look cool that way, but it was a struggle sometimes to get them out of the rack. Then it occurred to me: Put them heels towards me! That way, I can grab a pair with one hand and pull them off the rack.
Here you can see them better. All were purchased via eBay over a number of years. Also, the six larger cars all represent ones I once owned. I would LOVE a Datsun 510 now! Yes, I even owned a 1941 Plymouth Coupe. Was I surprised to find a plastic model kit of one! I built it to me mechanically the same as the real car below. Plus, what I had hoped it would look like when I was finished.
I was making it into a Chevrolet powered hot rod when I was a late-teenager. Yes, that is yours truly. My brother made that image. The color one above it was shot by my former girlfriend's father on color slide film. Long story.
Here are all the 1:43rd scale cars "scattered about". The C30 was the spiritual successor to the 1800ES of the early 1970's. To me, one of THE most beautiful cars ever made.
Just like the two V50 models I have, here are two real V50s. The grey T5 is mine, the silver one on the left is a 2.4i automatic. But, it does have a prancing moose sticker on the hatchback. I believe it belonged to a substitute teacher. It was parked there three days, by the elementary school, then I never saw it again. It was only the SECOND V50 I have seen. The first was a black one I parked next to at the post office. Owned by a young mother with two kids. She was getting them out of her car when I said, "Nice car. I have one too." Pointing to mine. She just smiled. Not an enthusiast, I guess.
A week or so, ago, I parked next to the V60 you see above, much to my delight. I shot this image and posted it on the various Volvo enthusiast Facebook groups. The parking spaces are angled, so I could not directly line it up next to mine. But, they appeared to be almost identical in size. BTW, it was the FIRST V60 I have seen, of that generation. I've seen taller ones, but not a plain V60 wagon.
I stated on the FB groups that they are almost identical in size which caused much discussion. Finally, one fellow posted this photo of his V60 and V50 side-by-side to help my argument. I thanked him for that. He also agreed that they are nearly identical, and that he prefers the V50 as his too has the six-speed manual.
So, I decided to get out all the diecast cars and do a comparison of my two V50s and the one V60 I have. Which, upon seeing up close while editing the pictures, I see it is a Volvo Ocean Race V60.
These two photos clearly show the SHAPE difference between them. Volvo may have gotten complaints, or maybe saw the error of their ways, straying from tradition with the S60/V60/XC60 cars. Because the next (and current) Volvo cars have returned to better proportions.
I really do not care for the greatly decreasing size of the windows as the get rearward.
The grille on the silver V50 is a sticker. Tsk, tsk.
Let's talk about SCALE when it comes to diecast toy cars and the more expensive diecast models.
Below, top shelf, are a: 1970 Mustang fastback, a 1972 Datsun 510 and a 1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger convertible. All are allegedly 1:24th scale.
Having "owned", i.e., I drove it all weekend when Dad was home from Washington, D.C., a Datsun (now Nissan) 510 is a TINY car. Way smaller than it appears in this grouping.
But, let's look at something you may be familiar with. Cobras and Ferraris. No? How about Volvo C30s and Audi TTs? My V50 wagon is a P1 model (C30/S40/V50/C70) all use the same chassis with different bodies. But all are almost exactly the same length.
The red Camaro is a dealer promotional model. I owned a 1997 Z28 (white 1:20th scale model shown above), followed by a 2000 Audi TT quattro. I can guarantee that the latter is WAY smaller than the former!
These shelves all hold models representing REAL cars I once owned. Two examples of a 1964 Impala (beige one, middle shelf/left) is now gone. Second shelf down has a: 1975 Chevy Monza 2+2, a 1996 Dodge Sebring Convertible and a 1980-something Porsche 924 Turbo. The Sebring (it has a cloth folding top!) is WAY smaller than 1:24th.
Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my humble blog. Below, as a bonus are the sneakers/shoes facing toes out and heels out. Which do you think would be easier to grab and go?
A brief background: I am 66 years of age, and as of September of this year (2023) I will have been a car owner for FIFTY years! 
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