It was December of 2023 when I had first discovered a die cast model of a yellow 1969 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S fastback for sale on the shelf of a local estate sale shop. It was one of several large, 1:18-scale replicas on display, with all of them in boxes with ancient, day-glow orange price tags still stuck on them. At first glance, and unless it was going to be a ridiculous amount of money, the price didn’t really matter as I hadn’t lately seen any replicas of this generation of Barracuda, anywhere. It wasn’t that I didn’t think there were some Matchbox or Hot Wheels versions out there somewhere, but having already amassed a decent number of 1:24 scale models, this larger Barracuda was significantly more substantial and also more highly detailed than some cars in my collection. The price turned out to be much lower than I had originally anticipated, so that Barracuda went home with me and under my Christmas tree that night.
This 1:24 scale 1970 Chevy Nova SS by Maisto has served as inspiration while I work from home.
The Plymouth ended up being just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the size of the collection being liquidated. I went back to the store in early January of 2024 for a couple more models, and thinking I had by then gotten the rest of the “good ones”, I decided I was done… until another chance stop-in months later, where I had discovered that the proprietor had restocked the exact same shelf space with more die casts of the same scale! For a stretch of a couple of months last summer and before I would sit down to write the first draft of a new essay on Friday evening, I would first go to the store, check out the remaining merchandise, and take home a new model every week, which had often served as the inspiration for whatever subject car I had chosen to write about.
To make a long-ish story shorter, that first Barracuda (which would eventually be joined by two Ertl ’70 ‘Cudas from the same store) was the “gateway” to me amassing a small, non-running fantasy garage, examples of which I could rotate in and out of my home decor as I made periodic updates. For example, some of my white-colored and snow-effect decorations that I had put up for the December holidays included a white ’67 Mercury Cougar along with a ceramic, midcentury snowman on the TV stand in my living room. Once I had believed the supply of the deceased’s toys to have been sufficiently depleted, I turned my gaze to e-commerce and found a whole, other world of die casts vying for some of my attention and weekly “allowance” money.
This is different than what our Peter Wilding has skillfully done with building a desirable empire of hand-painted and painstakingly detailed vehicles over the course of decades. Within basically a twelve month period, I had come to acquire, in painted metal form, small versions of many of the cars I had wanted grow up to own. I now even have a red Renault Fuego Turbo in my possession, which I’m convinced will be the closest that I will ever come to owning one. All of this is to say that I strongly believe that the very same mania for actual vehicles can manifest itself in acquisition of models… which, for some, can then turn into desiring vehicles that look like scale models. Have I lost you? I apologize.
This 2011 Chevy HHR spotted at the end of last year illustrates the idea I’m trying to present. It’s an actual, life-scale vehicle that’s painted and presented to look like a toy… that was modeled after the actual, life-scale vehicle. It’s like a reflection of a reflection, and I love it for that reason – certainly in concept even if not 100% in execution. My slight reservation of points has nothing to do with its color scheme, wheels, or anything like that. It’s just that, and as I had written about last year, I’m #TeamPTCruiser, with that Chrysler being the first retro-styled five-door wagon of its kind. I suppose it’s not like I’m being forced to choose one over the other. After all, Bryan Nesbitt was the same chief stylist responsible for the overall look of both vehicles. I can like the Chrysler and the Chevrolet.
This HHR, according to a license plate search, was built in Ramoz Arizpe, Mexico. It’s a 2011, which was the last of this model’s six-year run, with approximately 37,000 sold for the calendar year. Just under 527,000 HHRs were sold in the U.S., all-up. It’s powered by 2.2 liter Ecotec LE8 engine with 155 horsepower. Weighing in at around 3,200 pounds to start, fuel economy was estimated by the EPA at 22 city / 32 highway / 26 combined.
These figures look a lot like the EPA ratings for my old, 2.3L four cylinder-equipped Mustang, which was about six hundred pounds lighter, but also took a ridiculous amount of time to get to sixty miles per hour (around fourteen seconds), even on good days when my shifting the five-speed stick was on point. Multiple sources I could find online showed that the HHR with this base engine could get to sixty from rest in the mid-eight second range. For any economy oriented vehicle, the main concern with acceleration is being able to safely keep pace with traffic, and I would have been very happy with these numbers in a vehicle like this.
Getting back to the the lilac-and-white two-tone paint treatment of our subject car, it looks a lot like one of the die cast toys for sale in the aisle of my local chain drug store, even without wheels that are either too large or overly shiny. Part of what I have traditionally looked for in building my collection is good value, meaning that if the price was right, I could overlook a few details that might be slightly off and still find great enjoyment in my new acquisition. There are many perfect models out there that cost hundreds of dollars, but those aren’t for me.
By the same token, one of this HHR’s prior owners could have taken the cost of its fun, aftermarket paint job and applied it to their principal investment in a different vehicle with some dynamically superior qualities, but he or she had their reasons for going this route, and I respect that choice. Few material objects have elicited the kind of joy that unwrapping a new toy car had made me experience when I was a kid. I’m betting that at least one owner of this HHR has known the feeling that I’m talking about.
Wrigleyville, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, December 29, 2024.
I have scrupulously avoided buying scale model cars – mainly to guard against my tendency to keep buying more of something. It is easier to stop at zero than at 3 or 7 or 92. Though they are certainly cheaper than real ones.
“…3 or 7 or 92” LOL – funny, but absolutely true. I bought a 40th Anniversary Corvette diecast about a month ago and openly asked the proprietor at the store when collecting die cast cars becomes an addiction. No joke. There are a few Reddit threads about this topic.
I honestly think I’m okay and space will dictate when I need to slow down or just stop, much like with my music collection. I admired my red Corvair convertible on the shelf just this morning. It brought / brings me joy, and I still consider that a no-regrets win.
After my model car building phase ended, exacerbated by the fact that I didn’t really have space for them, I stored them away/sold/traded some for a real car. Currently, I only have two scale models, a copy of the Challenger that I own, and a matching “retro” Challenger that were given to me as a present. I’ve resisted the compulsion to acquire any more models, due to the fact that I’m economical (cheap!) and the perfection that I desire costs more than I’m willing to spend! LOL!! 🙂
That’s cool. Honestly, if one were to have any singular die cast (or two), one could do much worse than for it to be of a beloved car that one owns or has owned.
I prefer my die cast cars to the real ones, they don’t turn into piles of rust or disappear in clouds of smoke or steam.
I put a stop to buying last time I moved, but now I’ve bought another cupboard…
It would be nice to find a physical shop to buy from as well as on line.
Keep on collecting.
I also miss hobby shops! I was thinking about finding one in Chicago but decided against it only because who knows what I might bring home with me that day.
Your opening sentence reminds me of how happy I am to have that red Fuego Turbo in my possession. It absolutely will not break down, and I just love its looks and vibe. No disappointments.
It’s good to know that you too draw inspiration from your desktop fleet. I have just a few of the larger scale die cast models, but I’ve tried very hard to stick to the 1:64 scale models since I have run out of room to fully display those; it’d be much worse if I had many larger models. I could see the whole situation for me getting quickly, further, out of control.
Your whole premise for this article brings up something I’ve kind of struggled with (yes, first world problems for sure) my whole life, and that is the desire to only own die cast models that are in fact actually models and not fantasy creations by the Hot Wheels designers (and sadly, now that they’re owned by the same corporation, BOTH the Hot Wheels and Matchbox designers). Not that I’ve never slipped up and as a kid acquired some iconic 1:64 vehicles such as TwinMill or Splittin’ Image, or more recently some very weird Hot Wheels Volvo 245 derivatives, but I have always tried to fill my fantasy garage with tiny little representations of real cars.
Which is why the current trend to forego actual scale with Matchbox/Hot Wheels and instead just go with “it needs to be 3″ long” drives me nuts. The fact that I can’t park a model MINI Cooper S or 2002 alongside a 3 series Touring and have them the correct relative size (yes, they’re all about 3″ long…) is maddening. Again, I probably should find other things to worry about.
I like the color scheme of the HHR you found. But that’s about it. I wound up with one of these (in a factory color) once and it was a miserable miserable car. I don’t remember the performance so much but just that it was horribly plastic-y and an ergonomically awful experience. It’s interesting that it was designed by the same person who designed the PT Cruiser as I had the same experience with the PT Cruiser. I guess one is either a fan, or not, of these.