North American automobile models

[JWB]

I'm not an eBay addict, but I've had results searching for things like "1:87 diecast" or whatever other scale.

[Glorious NSE]

If you're in the UK*, look at Ebay's categories, go to "toys and games", then "diecast and vehicles", and down the left hand side you have a whole heap of filtering options, one of those is scale. You can select one, or more than one scale if you go into the "see all" menu - and you can then use other search terms without picking up too much irrelevant stuff.

 

For example - 1/87th items for sale located in the UK with the word "chevy" in the listing: http://www.ebay.co.uk/dsc/Diecast-Vehicles-/222/i.html?_from=R40&LH_TitleDesc=1&_nkw=chevy&LH_PrefLoc=1&_dcat=222&rt=nc&_pppn=r1&Scale=1%253A87

 

(*If you're in the US, the categories *may* be different!)

 

HTH!

[highpeak]

For a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at the splendor that is/was Detroit iron, this site is worth a browse: http://www.curbsideclassic.com/

 

If you can't tell a Gremlin from a Pacer, you will be enlightened. Lots of pictures of cars in their prime and not-so-prime years.

[torikoos]

If you're in the UK*, look at Ebay's categories, go to "toys and games", then "diecast and vehicles", and down the left hand side you have a whole heap of filtering options, one of those is scale. You can select one, or more than one scale if you go into the "see all" menu - and you can then use other search terms without picking up too much irrelevant stuff.

 

For example - 1/87th items for sale located in the UK with the word "chevy" in the listing: http://www.ebay.co.uk/dsc/Diecast-Vehicles-/222/i.html?_from=R40&LH_TitleDesc=1&_nkw=chevy&LH_PrefLoc=1&_dcat=222&rt=nc&_pppn=r1&Scale=1%253A87

 

(*If you're in the US, the categories *may* be different!)

 

HTH!

Thanks for that one, I didn't have nearly as good as a result earlier in the week when i tried, it's got several models I would like, but nearly 26 pounds for a Chevy Caprice Classic? It is the model I would need a couple of to make the streets appear more 'average', but that's costing as much as a decent freight car almost? I'd be willing to pay about 10 for such a car, but this is a bit much.... 

Edited November 8, 2013 by torikoos

[Glorious NSE]

I'd suggest the CMW 1978 impala* as a more affordable alternative.

 

(*My phone wants to change Impala to unpalatable....)

[PhilJ W]

Cararama made an excellent series of American trucks (IHC?) in HO scale that are still obtainable. 

[mp55aec]

The Dutch company NEO make plenty of 1/87 US cars but little expensive as handbuilt eg--

 

http://neoshop.replicars.nl/detail.php?nr=176631&massstab=&marke=

 

http://neoshop.replicars.nl/detail.php?nr=174788&massstab=&marke=

 

http://neoshop.replicars.nl/detail.php?nr=174793&massstab=&marke=

 

Very nice models, can be found cheap on Ebay

Edited November 9, 2013 by mp55aec

[mp55aec]

The lack of 70's & 80's cars is true for O scale, too, although I have managed to track down 1980 Chicago Police car & Chicago Taxi models.

 

One problem I have :- How do you search for American cars & trucks easily on Ebay?? 'Car' & 'Truck' are more Railroad terms on Ebay.com than anything that has rubber tyres....!! "Automobile" doesn't seem to throw up much, as vehicles tend to be listed by make & model specifically.

Oh and the other problem in O is the variation in scale... with 1:43, 1:48 & 1:50 all to choose from, although I do admit I mix them all quite freely as they're pretty close - far closer than 1:76 & 1:87 are to each other; one 'scale' description I loathe is "OO/HO"......

Again look at NEO Models,,,you will be spoilt for choice

 

http://neoshop.replicars.nl/

 

http://neoshop.replicars.nl/index.php?massstab=43&marke=Dodge

http://neoshop.replicars.nl/index.php?massstab=43&marke=Cadillac

[shortliner]

.....and spoiled by the prices! All the ones I have seen are between £20 and £30 on ebay, particularly the chevys refered to above

Edited November 9, 2013 by shortliner

[mp55aec]

They are very low number hand built resins,but true the prices are rather high,,,maybe 3 or 4 on a parking lot, or do you buy a loco for the same money!

[F-UnitMad]

.....and spoiled by the prices! All the ones I have seen are between £20 and £30 on ebay, particularly the chevys refered to above

Yeah, I'm not that desperate...

[shortliner]

Yeah, I'm not that desperate...

 

Put HO Fresh Cherries into Ebay.co.uk - and weep when the first one (from Germany) comes up - although postage is Free 

However winding down the page shows some more at reasonable prices - provided you have a mate in USA who can ship them

Edited November 10, 2013 by shortliner

[torikoos]

indeed, the NEO models are amongst the most detailed and accurate models, (and indeed they are 'normal' cars that would look good in any scene), and also among the most expensive. 

I really want to buy some but indeed the price per car is a huge barrier. It would be great of any of the big 'german' makers (Herpa/Wiking/Brekina to name a few) could produce these, even if it means doing a little work to them to make them look as good as a NEO models version, as long as the 'look' , dimensions, and details are up to modern standards.

The classic metal works Impala is also a good option indeed. 

 

Koos

[dana]

hot wheels cool classics  seen at my local walmart for 3.92 canadian 

 

https://www.google.ca/search?q=hot+wheels+cool+classics+2013&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Y2h_UsziI-nDigLG7IHgDw&ved=0CFMQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=856

http://www.hotwheelscollectors.com/news/news.aspx?news_id=1553#.Un9pKnBJPTo

 

Seen at wal mart and ToysRUS 

 

Don't know if this is any help to look for on ebay or amazon 

[shortliner]

Dana - not sure about those you have linked to - but an awful lot of the Hot Wheels items are 1:64 rather than 1:87 - away too big for HO purposes - the "Cool Classics series are definitely 1:64

Edited November 10, 2013 by shortliner

[shortliner]

I came across these and have just ordered a set - possibly too new, but may be of interest Price is very reasonable at less than £1.00 (US$1.60) each

eBay item number:121112253434

[shortliner]

Some interesting things come up when you put Chinese made 1:87 cars into Ebay.co.uk including some Brazilian made resin Jeeps

[Glorious NSE]

I came across these and have just ordered a set - possibly too new, but may be of interest Price is very reasonable at less than £1.00 (US$1.60) each

eBay item number:121112253434

 

They look good, but, back to the OP, hardly average American cars. Unless the mix has changed a lot.

[298]

I'd agree that it's more of an issue of availability rather than what has or hasn't been made, as there are plenty of the ordinary out there. It's just a case of not falling to the usual cliche's and modelling the ordinary. And don't forget foreign cars such as VW Beetles and Vans were quite popular, especially in California amongst ex-pats (just watch a contemporary movie for ideas).

 

Here are three I found in the car-box (although I can't tell you now what they are). They aren't layout ready, as I like to add appropriate licence plates, details, and weathering.

 

 

My favourite is a Trident Chevrolet Suburban, modelled on the car a good friend was driving at the time.

[mp55aec]

indeed, the NEO models are amongst the most detailed and accurate models, (and indeed they are 'normal' cars that would look good in any scene), and also among the most expensive. 

I really want to buy some but indeed the price per car is a huge barrier. It would be great of any of the big 'german' makers (Herpa/Wiking/Brekina to name a few) could produce these, even if it means doing a little work to them to make them look as good as a NEO models version, as long as the 'look' , dimensions, and details are up to modern standards.

The classic metal works Impala is also a good option indeed. 

 

Koos

 

Herpa have done a couple of US models like this Buick Grand National, normaly they can be found cheap on ebay.de not ebay.co.uk , also of note is that it seems model cars are sold as 1/87 not HO !

[highpeak]

As Martyn points out, the assorment of cars in that mixture, while no doubt a very good value, isn't really very representative of what would be seen on American streets really at any point in time, some parts of, say, Southern CA excepted which would probably not have a railroad running through them. And the crux of the OP was to do with the mundane.

I am going to assume the vehicles are intended for the layout Tree Point, which is a thread the OP has that shows good progress on a reasonable switching layout. I would suggest that you aren't likely to see that many automobiles in the space where rail and industrial plant join together, most plants would have employee parking, and obviously the parking lot would be on the road side of the plant, not the rail side. There is a road running across the rails as I recall, but in an industrial area I don't think you'd have a big backup of traffic at the crossings.

And the other thing I'd point out is that your assessment of what is typical needs to take into account context, what's going on here. Grain elevator, corn syrup facility, these involve people who get their hands dirty to make a living. A lot of those folks like to drive pickup trucks to work, their wife will have the minivan or car. Heck, there was a time when I had a small pickup truck, and I'm an IT guy. Something about the utility of these vehicles appeals to a lot of guys. I'd guess you'll see more beat up pickups than nice cars in this location.

Now if you want an example of something that is typical as can be, and doesn't seem to be available, I'll offer these: the pickup truck with a cap (a cover usually fibreglass over the bed) and a pickup truck that is used for snow plowing, either with the plow (sets your layout firmly in the colder part of the year and in the snow belt) or without the plow but with the hydraulic apparatus that isn't usually removed from the vehicle (snow belt location, but warmer season). And if your season is winter, a  pickup truck especially a 2WD needs weight over the back axle to get any where, so a couple bags of sand would ride in the back if the owner wanted any sort of traction at all

 

[shortliner]

It isn't my intention to use all of them - but it is becoming noticable, in TV shows for example, that the Landrover Freelander is becoming quite ubiquitous - I have a collection of Fresh Cherries, obtained when Walmart were doing them, and they were freely available and not at silly prices, so I'm not stuck with just these ones

[Glorious NSE]

Jack - trouble is if you only use a couple of them then it doesn't end up so cheap (although I guess you could always resell the real exotics, you'd probably end up in profit that way!)

 

Here are three I found in the car-box (although I can't tell you now what they are). They aren't layout ready, as I like to add appropriate licence plates, details, and weathering.

1384112277855.jpg

 

LH is the CMW 1978 Impala, middle is the Atlas Ford Fairmont sedan, RH is the Busch Dodge/Plymouth, also late 70s (Same body, different grilles from memory?)

 

I agree you can get away with a limited number of European ones, and what the mix is depends on era/locale. My impression from my all too brief trips is that European ones are rare in general, especially so outside of cities, but you get pockets where they suddenly become quite common - for example Boston was full of Ford Cargo's in 1994, and in 2000, whilst seeing anything Euro was rare elsewhere, when I go to the DC beltway it seemed like it was full of Beemers, Volvo's and Audi's!  

[torikoos]

Thanks all,

 

yes it's true, over the years there have been some american automobiles modelled (and currently you can also get a Chrysler 300C etc), but the models I like have either been produced and currently no longer are, or were never made. The Buick Grand National as above is a good example of stuff I am looking for.

You also need a good % of japanese cars and vans to populate the streets. Again it depends a bit on era and area, but the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and other similar cars were very popular in the 80's 90's.

The cars I'm after are not destined for Tree Point per-se btw, I also need some for my home layout. That one is set in California and I have a few VW cars (Jetta, and Passat) that I have seen in the USA on my travels, that are not out of place, but indeed, I need the vast majority to be US brands to make it look ordinary, and therefore real.

 

Koos

 

PS: Also Monogram made a couple: They did the same Buick, a Ford Mustang, and a few other exotic cars. I happen to have a few of those already (the more mundane of their releases), and just found a Grand National for 2,- GBP, so had to snap it up :-) That's one more in the collection of 'mundane' cars :-)

Edited November 11, 2013 by torikoos

[Adrian Wintle]

Thanks all,

 

yes it's true, over the years there have been some american automobiles modelled (and currently you can also get a Chrysler 300C etc), but the models I like have either been produced and currently no longer are, or were never made. The Buick Grand National as above is a good example of stuff I am looking for.

You also need a good % of japanese cars and vans to populate the streets. Again it depends a bit on era and area, but the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and other similar cars were very popular in the 80's 90's.

The cars I'm after are not destined for Tree Point per-se btw, I also need some for my home layout. That one is set in California and I have a few VW cars (Jetta, and Passat) that I have seen in the USA on my travels, that are not out of place, but indeed, I need the vast majority to be US brands to make it look ordinary, and therefore real.

 

Koos

 

PS: Also Monogram made a couple: They did the same Buick, a Ford Mustang, and a few other exotic cars. I happen to have a few of those already (the more mundane of their releases), and just found a Grand National for 2,- GBP, so had to snap it up :-) That's one more in the collection of 'mundane' cars :-)

 

For that vintage, see if you can find the Fresh Cherries Honda Accord, Ford Escort, and, for the ultimate in '80s mundane, Ford Tempo. I'm not sure I would consider a Buick GN to be mundane, though. The Atlas Ford Fairmont would also be a seriously mundane car (despite sharing a platform with the Mustang of the day). The FC AMC Concord would be another mundane piece. If one of the European manufacturers does a Renault 9 or 11, they were marketed over here as the AMC Alliance and Encore repectively. The 3-door Sierra was also marketed over here as the Merkur XR4Ti, albeit with a different rear spoiler setup. VW Golf I (Rabbit) and Golf II were also very common cars.

 

One thing to remember about the West Coast is that cars tend to last quite a long time due to the lack of road salt. Thise means that there is a higher proportion of older cars (>5-8 yrs old) on the road as compared to the Mid-west or the North East, where the winter salt eats cars (especially '70s and '80s ones - Japanese cars of the period tended to be very suceptible*).

 

*my '83 Accord hatchback (bought used) was retired (junked) in '90 when I noticed I could stick my finger through the sides of the front strut towers.

 

Adrian