VANGUARDS MINI MANIA 1:43 MINI COOPER STEVE McQUEEN

McQueen bought his Mini from Hollywood Sports Cars and had it taken straight to Lee Brown’s custom shop. He didn’t like the green body and white roof so had the car refinished in medium brown metallic with a beige roof. Brown also chromed and then reversed the wheels to widen the track, fitted a wooden dash, a fold back sunroof and had trimmer Tony Nancy re-cover the seats in brown vinyl. The engine was ported and balanced.

McQueen never had front number plates on his cars as he felt it spoilt the clean look.

Twenty years later Lee Brown spotted an advert for the car and bought it back, so he now owns the car he originally customized for the film icon. See more

JAMES BOND 007 - MERCEDES BENZ 'OCTOPUSSY"

During his escape from the baddies in Octopussy, Bond steals their Mercedes. With its tyres shredded, 007 steers it onto a railway track and uses the rims to slot onto the track, chasing the bomb carrying train. With seconds to go, he gets clear before the train hits it - naturally. This model has a nice deep glass finish to it. The model's little tricks include the boot and doors opening, plus it comes with a strip of rail track for you to remove the tyres and play James Bond for yourself. See more

VINTAGE GLORY FODEN C-TYPE STEAM WAGON

This is the Foden C Type steamer, and it’s a beautiful job. The front is very handsome, with the wheel to open the smoke box and various Foden signs being neatly done.

It comes is Tate & Lyle livery, as preserved by that company to replicate the Pease & Sons Fodens used by Henry Tate in the 1920s In fact AU6695 was originally owned by the Star Brewery, Nottingham. It was then owned by Foden itself, then by a stone company before being left idle until rescued by Tate & Lyle. The lettering is reproduced as on the preserved wagon.

The finish is well done, down to the solid tyres and various spare chains etc below the body. The rear of the model is largely plastic, but the careful spraying has ensured a good colour match and it looks like one die-cast moulding for the rear wagon sides, and higher body sides.

Inside it all looks like hard work to drive with various wheels and valves being neatly reproduced. There’s even planking on the underside of the cab roof.

CORGI 1/43 KOJACK'S BUICK

'Who loves ya, baby?'
If you've got the lollipop and the hairline's retreating swiftly, go the whole hog and buy Kojack's Buick. It's a re-release of an buy Kojack's Buick. It's a re-release of an old Corgi 70's favoutite, and now there's a white metal Kojak figure incorporated with the model, albeit a little over scale. He replaces the plastic Kojack and Crocker figures.
The brown Buick is the same moulding as ever, neatly finished with opening doors. The original colour of the model was a metallic dark brown; the new version is a more authentic light brown. However, there's a mystery surrounding the car that Kojak himself might not be able to fathom. The box says the model: 'was originally released in 1976 and included a mechanism recreating the sound of gun fire, which is still featured on this model.'
Either modern guns have better silencers than they did in 1976, or there is no mechanism on the new model. It used to be operated by a revolving toothed wheel at the rear of the car where the number plate should be, this produced a clicking gun noise. -- Model Collector See more

CHEVROLET NOMAD - BLUE & WHITE

The American Chevrolet Nomad of 1957 is a car that sums up an era. The Chevrolet Nomad was a station wagon model produced by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors. The Nomad is best remembered in its two-door 1955-57 form, and was considered a halo model during its three-year production as a two-door station wagon. Yat Ming's release in blue and white sums up the charms of a car you could get the kitchen sink in and drive huge distances. The chrome work is really nicely done, particularly the dramatic rear wings. Inside the seats and dash are again very good. See more

MAISTO 1/18 SCALE JAGUAR S TYPE

The Maisto 1/18th scale Jaguar S-Type captures the glamorous looks of the new saloon. Suffice it to say that in new limited edition metallic light lime green it is a hugely impressive as before. Really handsome detail touches make it the next best thing to owing a real one. See more

EFE 1/76 AEC 2RT2 - LONDON TRANSPORT

The first release of the newly-revised RT casting from EFE comes as one of the pre-war versions of the bus, in wartime livery, with single headlight and visibility markings. It captures the look of the vehicle very well. See more

VANGUARDS 1/43 JAGUAR XJ12 SERIES 1 SILVERSTONE FIRE TENDER

The first of seven Jaguar based Silverstone Fire Tenders, RHP133H started life as an X16 and was fitted with a V12 engine during its first career as an engineering development cart within Jaguar. The fire fighting equipment was designed by Chubb, but fitted to the vehicle at Jaguar. It involved fitting a 20-gallon tank in place of the back seat and a coiled hose in the boot. With the tank pressurised 100 gallons of AFFF foam can be discharged in 34 seconds.

CLASSIC LINES OF THE MASERATI 3200GT FROM BBURAGO in 1/18th SCALE

Maserati 3200 GT Coupe Diecast Model Red 1/18 Die Cast Car By Bburago

Just when most people were writing Maserati off as a producer of modern stylish GT cars, the company came up with the 3200 GT Bburago, as a good Italian company, had to make a model of the new car

Though few will be seen on British roads, it's still an attractive car to own in model form. Quality touches on he exterior include the disc brakes visible behind the wheel hubs, the well reproduced Maserati grille, separately moulded rear window mounted brake light and well detailed engine.

Opening doors, boot and bonnet are well finished, and inside it's all very luxurious. We liked the metal-look foot pedals and textured 'leather' of the seats particularly. Perhaps the dashboard dials and central console switches and trim (both reproduced by paper labels) were a bit over colouful, but this is a car no GT collection should be without--Model Collector

CORGI: MONKEEMOBILE

The Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The members were Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Englishman Davy Jones, who were supervised and popularized by Don Kirshner.

At the time of the band's formation, its producers saw The Monkees as a Beatles-like band. At the start, the band members provided vocals, and were given some performing and production opportunities, but they eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the band's name. The group undertook several concert tours, allowing an opportunity to perform as a live band as well as on the TV series. Although the show was canceled in 1968, the band continued releasing records until 1970. In the 1980s, the television show and music experienced a revival, which led to a series of reunion tours, and new records featuring various incarnations of the band's lineup.

The 1/43nd scale ‘Monkeemobile’ was an accurate model of the customized 1966 Pontiac GTO as seen every week on ‘The Monkees’ TV show. The body was bright red with a red and white phaeton hood which was cast with the body rather than as a separate plastic item. The hood should really have been all white to be 100 per cent correct, but otherwise this is a flawless model, the Monkees logo on the doors being authentic. As Monkeemania ran out of steam in the early 70s the Monkeemobile was discontinued, after only a two year run.

BMW 750i - JAMES BOND 007 "TOMORROW NEVER DIES"

The BMW 750i found fame in the Tomorrow Never Dies film during that amazing underground car park sceen. This is a rather nice model of the stylish BM, with some good detail touches in its own right, including well replicated lights and interior. But best of all is the two stage sunroof missile launcher. Press it once and the roof flips open, press it again and the missiles shoot a fair way.

DIECAST 1937 ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM III - GOLDFINGER

40th Anniversary Edition 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III-Goldfinger. The Ultimate James Bond Collection Girls, Gadgets and Cars Could it really be 40 years since Dr. No exploded on movie screens worldwide? In that time the 007 movies have set the standard for excitement, girls, gadgets, and, of course, cars. The National Motor Museum Mint is proud to present three of the most famous Bond cars, all precision crafted by master die cast maker Corgi. Rolls Royce Phantom III-Goldfinger 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III- Auric Goldfingers personal car. Originally built for the Right Honorable Lord Fairhaven. Goldfinger replaced the body panels with pure gold as part of his smuggling operation. Model Features Running Boards Detailed Interior Baked Enamel Finish Precision Diecast Replica 1:32 Scale Model 5 Inches Long.

REVELL 1/18 SCALE LLOYD ALEXANDER TS

The Lloyd Alexander TS was a post-war German baby car, big on character and big on engine noise. Light cars were very popular in Germany after the war, witness the bubble car. The Lloyd TS, introduced in 1956 was 25hp, and had an opening boot from the outside - not seen on most earlier Alananders.

The Revell version is a gem, with wonderful details including seperate lights, wing mirrors, door handles, etc. It captures very well the charm of the original. Even if you've never seen the actual vehicle you will fall in love with the model - it looks a little like a 50's Hillman Minx from some angles.

The suicide doors have been well reproduced, and inside the simple metal dash is captured nicely. Under the bonnet is a laughably uncomplicated, very well modelle, engine.

It's odd, but it's often smaller details that make even a large scale model succeed. I think the Lloyd wheelhubs are excellently done and the icing on the cake.--Model Collector

MAISTO 1/18 SCALE - CHEVROLET FLEETMASTER 'WOODY'

This is 1/18th scale 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster 'Woody' from Maisto. From its stunning 'bakelite' dash to its realistic wood effect this is one of the best models we've seen in any scale, particularly for the price. Features include: highly detailed die-cast metal body with plastic parts, opening doors, hood, and trunk on most styles, full function steering, four wheel suspension, detailed chassis with separate exhaust system and display stand and Maisto Showroom display packaging. See more