ROUTE 66 - THE ROAD THAT BUILT AMERICA

A 2448 mile ribbon of highway that stretched from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean. Since its cration in 1926 Route 66 was the road of salvation for some, a treasure trove of popular culture for others and for the rest the ultimate motoring high! Many of America’s classic cars first felt tyre on tarmac on Route 66. Today it is still the road of discovery bringing miles of adventure and the freedom to go as you please.

This is 1939 Dodge Streamliner Route 66, finished in white and red.

LLEDO VANGUARDS: VW BEETLE

Similarly the Volkswagen Beetle has been uprated, this version being with the oval, split rear window. Again the shap of this familiar car has been beautifully captured, and all the trim has been detailed, particularly the aspects picked out in silver. This version is offered in blue and green.

LLEDO VANGUARDS: AUSTIN 7 MINI

The Austin 7 Mini now forms part of the Vanguard range, and as such has been upgraded with its chassis detail, chromed bumpers, headlights and radiator, plush door handles, petrol filler cap and other similar detail picked out in separate colours. This is a very pleasing model of the Mini, for we feel Lledo has captures the difficult shape perfectly. It is offered in red and blue.

HOT DOG WHEELS FROM HOT WHEELS

Believe it or not, the ‘Oscar Mayer Wienermobile’, looking very much like a Hot Dog sausage on wheels is actually a real vehicle and very much in the vein of the Tri-ang Macleans toothpaste van, the Worthington bottle car and the outspan orange car. These are custom built vehicles created to emulate the product being advertised and are used for publicity and promotional purposes. This is a real 'Hot Dog' vehicle. See more.

OLDIES BUT GOODIES: 1956 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

The 1956 Chevrolet Corvette comes in mettalic rust orange and white, the hood being detachable so that the model can be displayed with top off, thereby revealing more of the interior. The level of detail is very good, not least the wheels. See more

CORGI: THE ITALIAN JOB

It has to be the most famous Mini film of them all: The Italian Job. Not the first time from Corgi (an ‘Italian Job’ set was released with the Minis in 1/43rd scale), but now it is the 1/36th scale Minis that come in the familiar red, white and blue. Although now a few years old, this casting of the Mini has always looked good, and so this set is certain to prove popular. See more.

MATCHBOX: LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH

The Lamborghini issued by Lesney in the Matchbox range was the Lamborghini Countach (27e). When released in 1974 it was painted yellow and had an opening rear engine cover to reveal a detailed silver-plated engine. A No.3 label was positioned between the front headlights. The base was unpainted and the windows were purple.

The main body colour was changed in 1975 from yellow to red and, although shades of red exist, this color scheme was retained until the model was deleted from the range (to be replaced by the Swing-Wing Jet in 1981). The interior colours of light and dark grey, yellow, white and tan is easy to distinguish. The windows are subject to shades but the main colours are purple, red ,a mber, blue, smoky grey and clear.

When the label was replaced by tampo printing a lime colour became by far the most common although a number of models exist with green decoration.