| There is quite a long history of craftsmen building | | | | based on real cars and trucks were produced and |
| detailed miniature replicas of transport vehicles | | | | sold separately. Dinky Set 30 was based on the |
| and machinery, but it wasn't until 1934 that | | | | Rolls Royce, Set 36A on the Armstrong Siddely, |
| diecast model cars and lorries arrived on the | | | | 36B a Bentley, and 36F was a Salmon sports |
| market in any great numbers.At that time the | | | | car.With the passage of time the quality of detail |
| model cars and trucks weren't regarded as | | | | and reproduction greatly improved. The Dinky |
| collectable items in their own right - they were | | | | sets had diecast alloy bodies and tinplate radiators |
| produced to lend added realism to model | | | | and rubber tyres. The later models also came |
| railways.Since the early 1920s Frank Hornby had | | | | with drivers and passengers. The Armstrong |
| been making increasingly complex train sets. One | | | | Siddely had a footman and chauffeur. Just before |
| of the sets, Meccano Set No 21, was embellished | | | | the Second World War some superb military |
| with six diecast models, consisting of a motor | | | | models were produced, including tanks with |
| truck, a sports coupe, a delivery van, a sports | | | | catterpillar tracks and rotating turrets.Few models |
| car, a farm tractor, and an Army tank. These | | | | from that era have survived in acceptable |
| were the first Dinky models, issued under the | | | | condition, and examples in good condition are |
| "Meccano Modelled Miniatures" label, as Set No. | | | | extremely collectable - pre-war Dinkies can fetch |
| 22.These early diecast cars were fairly crude by | | | | prices up to $1000 in auction.In the 1950s, new |
| modern standards, being cast from an alloy with | | | | production techniques heralded a new era in the |
| high lead content which didn't lend itself to a high | | | | history of diecast model cars. Lesney, famous for |
| degree of detail. Also they didn't attempt to | | | | their splendid Coronation Coach, and Corgi, ("the |
| depict genuine vehicles, although the sports car | | | | ones with the windows"), entered the market to |
| bore a resemblance to the S.S.1, a popular make | | | | provide competition to Dinky.This new generation |
| of the period and a precursor of the Jaguar.In | | | | of diecast vehicles, with finer detail, better running |
| terms of scale, they were not very well suited to | | | | gear, and better color finish, leads up to the |
| the train sets which they were intended to | | | | present day, where millions of precision diecast |
| adorn.It soom became apparent, however, that | | | | replica models are produced, at quite affordable |
| there was a healthy market for such models, and | | | | prices for the collector. |
| it wasn't long before individual diecast replicas | | | | |