by Dave Weber, images by Doug Breithaupt |
Oldsmobile was originally founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897 as the Olds Motor Vehicle Company. At present this auto manufacturer is recognized as being the oldest existing producer in the US. The first models were Horseless Carriages. A small horsepower gasoline engine was used for propulsion. A corporate reorganization occurred in 1899 and the Olds Motor Works was established. Production of the famous "Curved Dash" runabout models began in 1901. This early car was equipped with a 1 cylinder engine that produced 7 horsepower. In 1904 R. E. Olds left the company over a production dispute. After leaving, Olds founded Reo Motors. Both cars and trucks were produced for many years. Diamond-Reo trucks were existed into the late 1900s.
In 1908 Oldsmobile was purchased and became part of GM. As a division, it became a luxury car producer. Following the Stock Market Crash in the late 20s, Olds attempted to issue a less expensive companion make called the Viking. This unsuccessful venture lasted for less then two years. In 1940 Olds introduced the Hydra-Matic fully automatic transmission. This innovation was cited as "the most important engineering advancement since the self starter."Subsequently, Olds introduced many model lines over the years which are recognizable to the consumer. These were the Rocket 98, Cutlass, Toronado, Aurora and Alero to name a few! For the past few years this Division has experienced a downsizing in sales and production, some of which was due to internal competition within the GM structure.
A fair number of toy/ model companies have produced replicas in approximate 1/64 scale of this car make. Since I recently completed a series on Cars of the 50s here on TofTC, I will begin my summary from 1960 to the present-including mention of the Concept Cars by Maisto.
Surprisingly a fairly large percentage of the small models are representations of Nascar Race Cars from the 80s and early 90s before Olds dropped their "stock car racing" program. But there are many other contributions in small scale also. I will present these toy/ model manufacturers in alphabetical order. I do not promise that all replicas have been included and welcome any additions or corrections.
ACTION PERFORMANCE produced a Nascar model of the #3 Dale Earnhart Sr car from the early 80s. This was issued in the mid to late 90s.
AURORA produced a plastic model of the original 1966 Toronado. It contains
a metal base and was available about 25-30 years ago.
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BUDGIE of England produced a Town Sedan #21 over 25 years ago. This model does not portray the fine detailing evident in models at present. It appears to represent a car from the 1967-69 vintage.
CHINA , is the only identification on the base of an early 90s race car. It represents the sponsor Hardees Restaurants of that era.
ERTL produced a model of the #4 Kodak Race Car from the early 80s. It was produced in the early 90s. No driver is identified.
HASBRO in their WINNERS CIRCLE line issued a #2 Mike Curb sponsored race car copyrighted in 1997. It represents a very early 80s car driven by Dale Earnhart Sr. In the late 90s an agreement between Hasbro and Action Performance was instituted in which Hasbro utilized designs and tooling provided by Action. Different baseplates were used on very similar castings by these two companies.
Just recently, HIGH SPEED of Hong Kong has issued a very detailed model of the 69 "442" Coupe # HF 442. At present it is only known to be available from Readers Digest Magazine. It has been included as a free premium with the purchase of the Select Condensed Books program as part of a set of Classic Cars. It is available directly from the Magazine at a cost of $8.95 which includes shipping costs.
HOT WHEELS issued a 69 Cutlass model "Olds 442" # 6467 in 1971. This coupe was reissued in 1973 as a Police Cruiser #6973, ( Fire) Chiefs Special # 7665 in 75, Maxi Taxi # 9184 in 76 and a Army Staff Car # 9521 also in 76. In the early 1980's, the 442 name was re-used and Hot Wheels produced a stock car version. A mid-1980's sedan, perhaps a Cutlass Ciera, appeared in the 'Flip Out' series as a police cruiser.A retooled casting of this car was subsequently issued in 93. It was part of the Demolition Man set and was designated as "Olds 442 W-30" # 11082. This model and the Aurora # 10566 were issued in conjunction with the unsuccessful movie from Warner Brothers. The Aurora was also available as a Police car until recently. In 1999 HW also issued an enhanced 69 "442" in their Collectibles line which was identified as a "Hearst " coupe. Also in 1999, a model of the Aurora GTS race car was introduced # 20158. By the time the model was introduced Olds had ceased their racing operation with the modified Aurora.
 1969 442 'Maxi Taxi' |
 1970 442 W-30 |
 1980 442 |
 1985 Cutlass Ciera |
 1993 Aurora concept |
 1999 Aurora GTS racer |
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In 1981 MAJORETTE of France issued a model of the compact Omega # 253b.
It remained in their line through 1986.
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JOHNNY LIGHTNING has issued many models since being introduced by Playing
Mantis in 1994.Their first Olds was a 69 "442" # 208 in the Muscle
Car 1 Series in 1995. It was followed by the Custom Toronado # 110 the same
year. It was issued as part of the Commemoratives Series which recognized
the original Topper casting from 1969. Models of the 70, 74 and 77 Pace
Cars were issued in 1996 as part of the Indianapolis 500 Champions Collection.
In 1998, two Pro Stock car models in the Racing Dreams line were introduced.
They carry model # 341 and are sponsored by Kelloggs Frosted Flakes and
Mc Donalds Big Mac. Also issued that same year was a 70 "442"
Convertible #462. It was part of the Classic Gold Collection. A 72 model
# 481 was also issued in that same line. Also in 1998 a Nascar #11 race
car driven by Cale Yarborough and sponsored by Travelers Checks was issued
in the Stock Car Legends Series. Also in 98 , the 66 "Hairy Olds"
# 057 was issued in the Showstoppers 2 Set. In 1998-99 the above 3 mentioned
Pace Cars were reissued and joined by a 74 Hurst model # 463. A 1967 Cutlass
442 was also offered in the the Muscle Cars series. At present JL is producing
a Super 70s series. Available are the 76 and 77 Cutlass. Although both models
seem to be cast from the same die, an innovative process recently announced
has provided minor style changes . Not yet available but announced for 2003
is a 66 Toronado which will become part of the ongoing Classic Gold Series.
 1966 Hurst 'Hairy Olds' Cutlass |
 1967 Cutlass 442 |
 1969 Hurst 442 |
 1970 442 Convertible |
 1972 442 Convertible |
 1974 Cutlass |
 1976 Cutlass |
 1977 Delta 88 Indy Pace Car |
 1978 Cutlass Stock Car |
 1970 Custom Toronado |
KODAK FILMS produced a distorted model of their sponsored race car from
the early 90s. The actual manufacturer is not identified. The baseplate
reads "Oldsmobile Delta 88, Made in China and Kodak Films".
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MAISTO recently issued models of the Olds Concept cars from the Transit
Authority line. They are the 2000 Profile and 2001 "04 Concept".
 2000 Profile concept |
 2001 04 concept |
MATCHBOX produced the Aerotech concept car of the early 1990's.
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PIT ROW owned by Funstuff Inc existed for a few years in the early 90s. They did produce an early 90s Nascar race car model . One of these was a #94 sponsored by Sunoco.
PLAYART of Hong Kong produced a 1961 sedan that is called the "Man From Uncle" car , taken from the TV Series by the same name from the 60s. CORGI also produced a larger scale version of this model in 1966.
PLAYING MANTIS, the parent company of Johnny Lightning also produced a less expensive and smaller model in their SPEED REBELS line in 1997. The model was a downsized replica of the Muscle Car 69 Cutlass #408. The baseplate does not identify JL and states the car is a "Dominator "
POLE POSITION issued a similar model to the Pit Row race car in the early 90s The baseplate , also on a #94 sponsored Sunoco car is dated 1992 .
RACING CHAMPIONS issued a 69 "442" in 1196 in their Mint Editions
Series Set Issue #4 . A smaller version of this same casting was offered
in the Street Wheels series as well, including a nice Hurst model in white
and gold.. They also produced a late 80s race car in their first Nascar
series in 1989. This casting was somewhat crude in detail. An upgraded model
of the early 90s car was issued in 1991. One of these upgraded castings
represented the #68 car sponsored by Country Time.
 1969 442 W-30 |
 1969 Hurst 442 (Street Wheels) |
RACING COLLECTIBLES ( RCI) before they were sold to Action Performance, issued an early 90s race car in the early 90s which was actually produced by REVELL. My copy carried Nascar # 44 and was sponsored by Piedmont.
STOCK CAR MINIATURES ( SCM) existed in the late 80s into the early 90s. In the early 90s they produced extremely crude nondescript castings of Nascar models . It was only after the accompanying decals were applied that the casting gave a professional appearance. These decals even showed additional opaque windows and name plates representing the fullsize manufacturer. An Olds model was offered along with other race car brands.
SIKU of Germany has produced 2 Oldsmobile models. The "98 Holiday"
Sports Coupe # V245 was issued from 1964 -1969 . The details are very well
defined, but the body proportions seem to be slightly distorted. This model
appears to represent a 1963 fullsize car. Also a Toronado # V267 was issued
from 1967-1974. It is a good representative of the first car in the series
produced by Olds in 1966.
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TOMICA of Japan issued their model of a Toronado XSR in about the late
70s. It carries model # F54 and was readily available in the second hand
dealer market in recent years.
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TOPPER produced their Johnny Lightning rendition of the Custom Toronado
in 1969 . It appears to represent a 66 car. The business closed in 1971
and the brand name remained dormant until it was resurrected in 1994 by
Playing Mantis.
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TOOTSIETOY produced the original 1966 Toronado (example shown has been
re-painted).
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I wish to recognize the following authors whose books were utilized for
source material and data confirmation.They are MAC Ragan, Ron Lohr and Ron
Gold, Dr Ed Force and Mike Strauss.
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