# 1:24 scale autos from the '30s [?]



## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

I've had a bit of trouble finding average American sedans and coupes from the 30's. I've been using 1:24 scale stuff as a compromise between my 1:20 and 1:29 trains which look normal enough depending on how close you put them to the tracks. 
I found some great deals [oddly enough] the last two Christmas seasons at my local grocery stores. They seem to lay in some of these toys and usually have them cheap, like about 8 bucks!! I got some nice '37 Ford pickup trucks, a cool '41 Plymouth truck but not everyone drove around in pickup trucks and I find it hard to find normal 1930s autos for my layout. Unique Replicas has one or two cool 'heavy' trucks from the 30's too but no period autos. I've checked a number of diecast/model sites and they have some nice stuff to be sure but few folks in the part of east TN I'm modelling drove '37 500K Mercedes convertibles. There is an awful lot of late 40's, 50's 60's cars available from Saico & Sunstar & Maisto though so lucky for you folks modeling those eras. Welly and MotorMax had one or two nice, more mainstream, american convertibles but I just haven't found the kind of pre war sedans/tudors that would've been more common in middle America as family cars. I've used a few plastic models but you have to be careful of those since so many are done as hot rods and no longer include stock parts and bits to build them stock like they did way back in the '60's when I was a kid.



Any suggestions?


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Oh yeah, I'd like to add that it would be nice if the aforementioned models I'd like to leave outdoors in all weather on the ground also didn't cost 100.00+ each. 10 to 50 dollar range would be nice depending on the model and how cool it is.


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## bvdrr (Jan 3, 2008)

I found a 32 Ford coupe in a flea market for $25.00 . Now the real kicker was a Danbeery Mint car. just look around and you can find them watch Ebay, swap meets and such they are out there.
Fred


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

VERY true, and not just an American thing unfortunately. I have had zero luck in finding a pre WWII German car that is not a Grosser Benz... A simple DKW, Adler, Opel, Hanomag....nope! 

Fortunately for me, there were quite a few American trucks in Europe pre WWII. Ford BB for example: 

http://www.olafs-fotoseite.de/And366.html


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

I found a '32 model A woody station wagon plastic model for about 15 bucks at a hobby store, Monogram, Testors, somebody's model.It was kind of set up to build it modified or stock. Actually, more like modified or REALLY modified. It turned out fine but even using the wire wheel option and painting the spokes battleship gray, the wide low profile tires look a bit 1960's and it didn't come with side hood panels at all so if you inspect it carefully you'll see a small block V-8 under there. I took the six pack of carbs and cut it down to one carb, painted everything dull coat and painted over chrome parts so it looks pretty good. 

Tough to find stock models. In the 60's when I was a kid it seemed model makers made a lot of models so that you could build them stock or hot rod. Wish they still did that. If someone modeled a limited run, plastic 37 Ford Tudor or Chevy sedan and marketed it on the G scale train sites they'd probably sell out of them.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

1:24 diecast in general has become harder to find, Cheap diecast is becoming hard to find at all except for flea markets and fleabay. Diecast will usually hold up better than styrene kits outdoors... or until the local midget mafia liberates them.


That I know of there have been at LEAST half a dozen versions of the Model A Ford produced, plus a 32, a 34 a 39 and a 40 Ford coupe as well, a 40 Ford sedan, the '39 Chrysler Airflow and a a 32 or 33 Coupe, a '36 dodge sedan delivery, Several Packard, Lincoln, Chrysler and Cadillac town cars, a 39 Chevy coupe and panel truck, a '36 Hudson 8 (these are getting very dear!), and more I have simply forgotten because I was looking for either pre-1926 or 1950-61 at the time.


Depending on when during the '30s there may still have been Model Ts running around as well. If you're modeling 'dust bowl' years, a beat up 20's car or two cut down into a flatbed truck would also fit in perfectly. 


Also, if you have a steady hand, a lot of patience, and don't mind making a huge mess, you CAN turn a sedan delivery (panel truck) into a sedan or station wagon.

BTW I will probably be turning my '41 Plymouth pickup into a flatbed farm truck sometime in the next month, I'll post a log in the model forum when I do.


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Sounds like you had the same thoughts I did regarding my 9 dollar 1941 Plymouth pickup that I found at Ingle's grocery store. The thing is real sweet in black and forest green and just screamed delivery truck/van to me when I got it home and the pickup bed unscrews with just two screws I believe so I plan to build a box van back for it. 
I took one of the '37 ford pickup trucks I got this holiday season [a nice red one, also for 9 bucks, that I masked the windows off and sprayed with Krylon matte finish. Made a nice "Sanford and Son" finish to the body], and unscrewed the pickup bed, cut off the tailgate and I'm in the process of building a wrecker derrick in the back of it for a gas station i want to have on the layout one day. 
Still, it would be great to find a source for standard family sedans of the 1930s. We were talking about how times are changing and you can no longer get things repaired affordably on another thread but innovation also brings unforeseen technology as well. I recall Craftsman marketed a computer controlled woodworking tool in the last few years and have to wonder how far off in the future [maybe not far] it will be before we can punch up drawings of things we want to model on the computer, put a block of wood or plastic in our personal CNC milling machine in our shop and spit out whatever it is we can find three dimensional drawings for. Eeeww! I'm almost salivating at the thought of it. Hope i live long enough to see that!


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

The best way, at least for me, to see what 1:24 diecast vehicles are currently on the market is to search on eBay.

Here's some links that might interest you:

eBay 1939 1:24 Diecast

eBay 1938 1:24 Diecast 


eBay 1937 1:24 Diecast

eBay 1936 1:24 Diecast 


eBay 1935 1:24 Diecast 


eBay 1934 1:24 Diecast 


eBay 1933 1:24 Diecast

eBay 1932 1:24 Diecast

eBay 1931 1:24 Diecast

eBay 1930 1:24 Diecast 





Over the last few years we've been collecting more vehicles then trains. It is easy to get carried away sometimes. But appropriate vehicles really help to set a specific era:























I hear you on the lack or sedans like tudors. Danbury mint makes a nice 1947 Tudor. The car looks so good and fits our era so well we had to get it. Too expensive though to leave outside. It comes out for special photo ops, and if we have guests visiting the layout.


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Wow!! I checked eBay earlier and missed all of those. Some are a bit pricey but...Most of those fit what I'm looking for. Thanks!! True, I don't really want to leave a 200 dollar model outside in the weather but at least to have one or two of those for photo shoots would be excellent! 

How do the Jada models look in real life. I saw one on another site, I think it was a 1947 COE truck and the pictures were a bit blurry but it didn't look real accurate. I also saw another car from my earlier searches [wasn't a Jada. I forget the manufacturer], but it was supposed to be a '40 Ford. It didn't look like any 40 Ford I'd ever seen. 

I really appreciate those links. Must be the ones Mik was thinking about.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Some of the Jada stuff is good. The 47 COE, however, has been 'chopped and dropped' ....If you're up to raising the roof about 1/2", raising the cab by about 3/8" and then cutting away the 'skirts' to look more like a frame, then it might make a 'stock' truck..... eventually, If I ever find one for $5, I might just try remaking it into a dumptruck 

And they already not only have small CAM outfits, but 3D printers, too ... and the cost really isn't THAT much more than a nice Aster loco.


And I just remembered Nylint made a stamped steel "Vicky" years ago. If you find one you could probably change the wheels, cut the blower off the motor, add a stock hood and use it (If you're not too fussy) They show up in 'played with' condition at fleas around here in the 50c to $5 range


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Ah, roger that. The COE truck was cheap in a set with a wacky chopped VW bus flatbed which besides being useless to me...looked pretty silly with it's dual axles. I'd like to stay under late 1940's but I also run a Southern F3 A/B unit and a RS-3 so they push things pretty much into the early 50's if you want to pick nits but the other trains I model in my east Tennessee layout are the ET&WNC steam locos and those narrow gauge engines were around long enough to see 1940's autos while they were still running and as to older cars still being on the road...people were running anything that still ran, like model T's into the late 30's. Heck, it's the same to this day, it still snaps my head around to see what people are still driving down here. I can pull into a shopping center and park next to a Chevette, a Fairmont, a Valiant or even a Pinto here these days. 
It's a fun combination modeling the Southern and ET&WNC in east TN and it gives me a big slop factor as to autos. As long as they have nice round fenders...they pretty much look right. '57 chevies, Corvettes, and T-birds are right out though for the 1940's feel. 
I did a search earlier on eBay of "1:24" and got none of the mint models Matt linked me too. I need to revisit that because many of those he linked me too fit the bill and won't hurt the purse too bad.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Post WWII 1:24 diecast stuff is easy to find, and some brass era and As are easy to. Later 1920s - 1941 that is NOT a friggin' hot rod is getting tough. And according to a restoration buddy, the hot-roders have about killed the 1:1 classic market. Sure, in the old days it was take yard art and make it a driver, but since those are gone a lot of good clean cars are getting cut up and given crate motors....oy.


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

These are the cars of the 30's that I have. Don't know whether any are still available 
1932 Chevy Confederate Convertible Yellow Franklin Mint 
1932 Chevy Confederate Convertible Lt Blu/Drk Blue Franklin Mint 
1932 Ford 3 window coupe tuscan brown SunStar 
1932 Ford 3 window coupe Green SunStar 
1932 Ford Classic 5w Coupe Plastic Ertl/RC2 
1932 Ford Highboy Conv Roadster True Value #27 Blue/Red stripes RC2 
1932 Ford Open Roadster street rod Bumper to Bumper red/wht/yellow Spec Cast 
1933 Willys Coupe True Value #26 Blue/Red/white stripes Ertl/Learning Curve 
1934 Ford Convertible Blk MotorMax/RedBoxToyFactory 
1937 Chevy Cabriolet Convertible Campbell's Soup MM'M Good Red/Wht Spec Cast 
1937 Chevy Convertible Amoco Santa Ltd 1993 Silver/grn fenders Spec Cast 
1939 Chevy Coupe Burgandy MotorMax/RedBoxToyFactory 
1939 Chevy Coupe Green MotorMax/RedBoxToyFactory


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

Where are the pictures? Well, every once a while a container full of cheap Chinesse diecasts hits the toy shops. Sale goes on, as long as the supply lasts.


[url="


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

The Praha truck- was it a plastic kit, or is this one metal Juergen?


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

The Praha Pickup is made mainly from metal, with some plastic parts. They used to be offered as kits, but come assembled these days.

[url="


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Juergen!


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

The last two train shows here, a guy has all these vehicles and range in price 10 to 15 dollars. It's where I pick mine up at. Later RJD


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

I'm going to a train show this weekend and will look around. 
Still, we see the modelmakers mostly reproduces [understandably] the 'sexy' cars of the respective eras. The four door sedan and station wagon is conspicuously missing and you can end up with a layout where every street and driveway has Hemi Cudas, Roadrunners, Corvettes, and Mach 1 Mustangs. As a child in the 60's I might have wished our driveway had one of those in but the truth was that our family, like most families, had four door Galaxies, Bonnievilles, Caprices, Furys, LTD Wagons, etc.... Same with the era I am trying to model and all the fancy convertibles that were in the minority on the road. 
Most folks don't tend to notice the lack of family cars as much as they notice the cars not from the proper time frame. A '57 Chevy coupe is more glaringly out of place in a 30s-40s layout than the lack of the Joe Average family cars i guess.


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

An odd thought I just had on 'older' cars but from my recollection most 'average' folks traded them in earlier and more often in the pre-70's era didn't they? Or is that just me? 
My old Man was self-employed and worked 6-7 days a week and made pretty good money back then, I thought, [and still do], hovering in that area between what might be considered blue and white collar, we ate hamburger helper a lot, etc. but could've maybe spent more. He was frugal, but by no means cheap in hindsight. He also didn't care a lick about what the Jones's had. We were quite comfortable but certainly not extravagant. Anyway, it seems to my recollection that we still bought a new family car about every 3-4 years throughout the 60's and 70's. It seemed that most cars were considered to be getting 'long in the tooth' by about 60-70,000 miles. People bragged about cars going 100K. Nowadays it seems most folks would be disappointed about a car not going closer to 150-200K. [I certainly know I would]. am I remembering that correctly for the average family car or does that seem incorrect? I'm sure someone will write in that their family had a Valiant with a slant six that went 150-200K but those things were bullet proof. In general i mean, when did your old Man and other family members and friends replace vehicles?


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

In the early to mid '60s Dad had a '40 Ford, then a '57 BelAir. Then he got married........In the late '60s- early '70s he had a matched pair of '58 Desotos..... mom would drive one while dad was fixing the other (usually transmission trouble). In the early '80s we had a '68 Fury and a '66 4wd Chevy P/U -- in between was a '70 Chrysler 300 and a '69 Plymouth Fury wagon that nobody else wanted because they both had 440s, and a '70 Impala that the brake booster quit on a hill. Mom said 'no more junk' somewhere around 1995 and has had two 10YO (when she got them) Jimmies since. Dad is driving a '90 something long bed club cab Chevy he put together from 3 wrecked ones. 

I started with the '68 Fury, then had a '70 Delta 88 until some clown ran me off the road, followed by a '72 Cutlass, a '76 Newport,a '73 Charger, and another '68 Fury then a '84 Ramcharger and a total PoS '84 Ranger. My ex was sort of uppity, so we had a bunch of newer (10 YO) trendy junk while I was married even though we couldn't really afford it. I'm currently driving an '85 Dodge van because it's all I can afford... so, yes we 'traded' every 3-5 years, but no, they weren't for new cars or even necessarily newer, just running. The old ones were just to the point they cost too much money to fix


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Fritz, it appears that wagon is scratchbuilt? "Great job!" if it is, "Where'd you get it?" if it is commercial! I'm always on the lookout for plastic horse-drawn wagons and the like, since I model 1913 and cars weren't at all common in south central PA at that time. I found one at a swap meet last summer, but there were no markings anywhere to give me any indication where it came from. 

Later, 

K


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

The horse wagon was built in 1 : 22,5 after a 1 : 12 Plan, which I bought somewhere in the UK years ago. Used Pola plastic wheels and some wooden strips. This type was used all over Europe.

Made another one from a Pola Hearse by giving it a suitable wagon undercarriage. 

[url="


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By SRW on 23 Feb 2011 08:54 PM 
An odd thought I just had on 'older' cars but from my recollection most 'average' folks traded them in earlier and more often in the pre-70's era didn't they? Or is that just me? 
Anyway, it seems to my recollection that we still bought a new family car about every 3-4 years throughout the 60's and 70's. It seemed that most cars were considered to be getting 'long in the tooth' by about 60-70,000 miles. People bragged about cars going 100K. Nowadays it seems most folks would be disappointed about a car not going closer to 150-200K. [I certainly know I would]. am I remembering that correctly for the average family car or does that seem incorrect? I'm sure someone will write in that their family had a Valiant with a slant six that went 150-200K but those things were bullet proof. In general i mean, when did your old Man and other family members and friends replace vehicles? 


Exactly. We all claim that they don't build them like they used to as many say, and we should all be thankful for that. I used to drive 1960s European cars daily until about 15 years ago. True, you could pop the head off and replace a gasket in two hours with hand tools, but the point was one HAD to do it.

Were they cool to drive, yes but at a total disregard to safety and reliability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrXViFfMGk


I would not even think of it now, especially when you consider that a 2007 Honda Fit weighs more than a '59 Studebaker IV Lark! Crumple zones? Safety glass? Break away steering columns? Nah! None of it is as cool as looking as a big bakalite steering wheel with a chrome horn ring tho...(that the horn beeps whenever it pleases half the time due to the switch design).



As far as the horse wagon, thansk Juergen and Kevin, nice work. Forgot about the NENG ones too, thank you for the reminder!


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Talking about older autos from earlier times made that thought pop into my head. It just seemed to me that folks traded their cars in with less years/miles on them than today. They also didn't seem to cost the better part of a year's wages and need 5 year financing to pay for them. I do remember that appliances and TVs, etc. in the early 60s WERE rather expensive but unlike today washer dryers, TVs, refrigerators seemed to last for the better part of 20 years [or more. Some of those old refrigerators are still running in garages and basement club rooms]. It's kind of like the things got reversed somewhere along the way. Car costs got proportionally more expensive but last almost twice as long, appliances and TVs got inexpensive and break or are obsolete in a very short time. 
I was thinking about the appliance obsolescence issue this morning that I'm glad I resisted the urge to buy a Blue Ray DVD player now that they've announced that they're closing all the Blockbusters in my town.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Spule 4 on 24 Feb 2011 05:39 PM 
Exactly. We all claim that they don't build them like they used to as many say, and we should all be thankful for that. 

Actually the '73 Charger I'd really, really love to have another one just like. With a 440 and a pistol grip 4 speed it would go like stink (as in 15 sec quarters and bury the 150 speedo), or get 18mpg if you didn't beat on it. Kim's 6 banger '95 Nissan has trouble getting out of it's own way on any kind of grade and only gets 23mpg on a good day with a tailwind. I only got rid of the Dodge to make my ex happy, "You're a _family_ man now you need to get a _family_ car..."


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Had a old neighbor with almost the exact same car and the rear end was geared so that you pull large stumps out of the ground with it but.....18 MPG with a 440 cu.i ? Where did you find a mountain with an 18 mile straight stretch of downhill road? What kind of mileage did it get when you actually put it in gear and took it out of Georgia Overdrive? [laugh!] In high school of all of my buddy's family cars I think the puniest motor in the bunch was still a 350 on up to around a 455. I remember all of us emptying our pockets at the gas station on a Friday night to put a couple of gallons in the massive fuel tanks and barely watch the needle even move. What we would've given for some double digit mileage back in those days. 
I was merely generalizing about overall middle America in the 50's-70's seemed to trade in cars a little sooner. 

Jurgen, I admire your hearse to delivery wagon conversion. When did you stop seeing many horse drawn vehicles still in regular use across Europe? I have read that they were used farther into the last century than around the states.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

The charger had 3.21s and a thermoquad.... I had both the chassis and engine books from Direct-Connection (now Mopar Performance), new metering rods, a slight readjustment of the secondary air door, an MSD 5 box with Mallory coil, windage tray, variable duration lifters, a hemi grind cam w/ the grey (battleship) springs and a H-pipe with REAL hemi mufflers all worked together to up the mileage without hurting the performance one bit. The chassis mods, including all urethane bushings and aftermarket front and rear sway bars made it handle more like a small block Duster than a b-body

The only problem was in Plum Crazy and white it got _too much_ attention. I'm not sure which was worse, having every punk in mommy's lumina wanting to run you, or getting pulled over so the local gendarme could look under the hood... "How fast will this thing go, son?"... 55 sir!... "Don't sh-- me! How fast?" ...55 sir!... "If I clock you over that, I'm not even gonna chase you, I'll just leave the citation in your mailbox, smart guy!" (Had that same conversation at least 3 times the first summer)

Okay, I lied, learning to drive it on ice was an adventure, too. 


As for the "exact same car", Dodge didn't offer the 4 speed with the 440 after '71 or early '72..... I found a junker '74 360 2bbl car with a modified pistol grip for $300 and stripped the parts (trans, driveshaft, 9-1/4 w/ limited slip, z bar, floor pan extension, clutch pedal, etc) I needed. The 4 speed gets you about 3mpg better than with the auto. Chrysler also says that you need to change the K member to put a big block into a small block car with their Quiet Ride suspension - you don't.... You DO need a '62 or '63 van oil pan, and a custom left motor mount. - being friends with Jim Kramer (Kramer Automotive Specialties, the Max Wedge guy) really helps when you need weird stuff like that! He also suggested a few tricks of his own.The conversion and complete re-working took 3 weeks of long nights after work. 


And, yes, if you drove like a total idiot it would only get about 5-7mpg -- but 35 foot long burnouts on dry pavement (without brakes) were kind of fun.


I don't know how often you rich folks traded them in, but I sure miss the days of being able to get a half decent beater for less than $400 now if it's less than $2k it's probably going to die within 6 months


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