Vintage and classic car models

A modern car is a few large panels. A 1930s car is dozens of small ones: separate wings, running boards, external headlamp bowls, a radiator shell, wire wheels, a folding hood and exposed exhaust pipes. Each is a separate part to cast or mould, chrome-plate, and fit, and each is a place where a manufacturer can cut a corner. The 500K roadster in this collection has more than twice the part count of a modern saloon in the same scale, and it shows in the price and in the box weight.

Chrome is the other challenge. Real chrome cannot be applied to zamak at this scale, so bright parts are plastic with a vacuum-metallised finish. Good vacuum plating is mirror-bright and survives handling; poor plating looks grey and flakes at the edges. The models here use the better process, and we check the radiator shells and bumpers on every one before listing, because those are the parts that catch the eye.

The 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL is the standout. The gullwing doors pivot from the roof on proper hinges and stay up on their own, the tartan seat inserts are printed, and the bonnet opens on the straight-six with its fuel injection modelled. The 1936 500K Special Roadster has a folded hood, a separate luggage rack and chromed exhaust flexes down the bonnet sides. The 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I is the largest and oldest car we sell, with an open driver's compartment and a closed rear cabin, and it needs a shelf to itself.

For a more recent kind of classic, the 1988 BMW M3 E30 in 1:18 has the box flares, the rear wing and the correct cross-spoke wheels, and the 1970 Dodge Charger in 1:18 is the film car with the supercharger through the bonnet.

Lift by the roof or the chassis, never by a wing or a bumper; the thin chromed parts are the ones that snap. Open gullwing doors from the bottom edge, not the handle. Keep vintage models further from windows than modern ones because the cream, maroon and dark green paints used on them fade faster than metallic silvers. Dust the wire wheels with a brush; a cloth will catch the spokes.