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