Owning a certified Curbside Classic comes with its own set of risks and rewards. There’s nothing like hearing a neighbor utter “That thing’s a time capsule!” to his partner in passing while you slowly drive by. There’s also a unique feeling that surfaces in your gut when you exit said classic only to find a substantial amount of coolant on your driveway and later, in your garage. Ask me how I know.
A scale model doesn’t leak or breakdown. And it is still a reasonable approximation of the car you presumably love. But how exact of a replica would you want if you had the ability to get it? Similarly, if that option wasn’t available, what would make you settle?
I became motivated to write this QOTD after seeing this video on Doug DeMuro’s second YouTube channel that discussed him reaching a significant milestone and his acquisition of what you see in the above picture. It’s an exact scale model of his 1997 Land Rover Defender. Basically, he wanted a scale model of his Defender but couldn’t really find an example that looked like his, so he asked ModelWorks Direct if they would build one for him. The company normally fabricates ships but it appears they are branching out to automobiles as well, which may have been a direct result of DeMuro’s video. In any event, it is definitely possible to get a scale model of any car you desire…
…provided you have the cash to do so. DeMuro paid $1,500 for his Defender. You may scoff at that figure, but consider what he got for that money. It’s an incredibly detailed model. They even reproduced all the permits he has on his front bumper and his license plate too. And just look at that interior! As he says in the video, he is very happy with the final product. I cannot fault him for wanting a replica of one of his vehicles.
That’s mainly because I would like some replicas of my own. Before DeMuro published his video I was considering writing up a QOTD asking all of you what model you’d like to see in diecast form. Aside from the Focus, I am unable to get a decent diecast model of my current or previous rides. As far as I can tell, only the first generation Sable wagon received a decent diecast model and that was from Matchbox. But I would want an exact representation of all my former daily drivers. So it would have to be a Taurus.
The question is, how much would I want to pay? Since I don’t have YouTube money, $1,500 is a bit much, especially because that’s not too far off from the sale price of the Taurus. For a 1:18 scale model of my 1989 Taurus I think $300 would be the maximum I’d be willing to pay. I’d be okay with paying the same amount for a custom 1997 Sable. As for the 1986 Taurus, I’d go as high as $400 if it matched the quality of DeMuro’s Defender. If I win the lotto or something I would gladly spend what he paid for his. But I’m probably not alone in that regard…right?
Anyway, what is the maximum dollar amount you’d feel comfortable paying for a scale model of your car, warts and all? And if you’d be okay with a diecast that didn’t look exactly like your car, how much would you fork over?
I was lucky that Revell produced a $14 model kit for a Mustang convertible that is similar to mine. It’s off by a couple of model years, but once painted and put together, most people who know me well know why it’s displayed in my office.
I also have a die cast model of a Corvair I once owned; I think I paid $30 or so for it.
While I’d like to have models of my Flex, Ranger, and Samurai, I don’t see those kits being produced anytime soon, and I’m sure as hell not going to pay $1,500 a pop to have them custom made. My limit would probably be $100 or less. But if it floats Doug’s boat, more power to him.
You’d think with 3D printing there’d be a cottage industry for this.
Fujimi makes a model kit of the Suzuki Samurai – it was available as a Testors kit in the early 1990s (I had one back then) and Hasegawa now makes the JDM hardtop Jimny version. If this is a new Ranger, I don’t think that is available.
With the advances in 3D printing I think this service could become more common and cheaper as well. I can sure think of some interesting vehicles I would like to have replicas of!
There was / is a 1 24 plastic model kit of the s h o taurus ,I know because it’s on the shelf in my garage
It’s the first generation and I had the second gen 1995 Taurus i painted it the same color blue
Look for one on e bay or Amazon
Was going to say that about the AMT kit, it even has the same alloys as Ed’s car (although it was modified into an incorrect police car with the big change being Taurus L full-cover wheels, but iirc they took the place of the original issue’s generic late-80s “custom” wheels on the sprue leaving the stock Fomoco alloys intact).
It’ll take some reworking to shave off the SHO body kit and reshape the ends of the lower sides and it requires more shaving and fitting for a correct stance – it wants to sit high in front like an RWD car with the engine out – but overall it’s not bad, a solid 8 out of 10.
I’ve got a few that are close. A Spitfire that is slightly off (MkIV vs 1500). I was able find a couple Nissan Fairlady Zs in orange. Only the interior and aftermarket wheels don’t match. Close enough for me as I don’t want to spend $1500.
As for 3D printing creating the base model would still be time consuming expensive. Especially for more obscure models. It would make it cost effective to tweak wheels and colours.
$300. If I could get replicas of my 87 chevette. And my 86 mercury marquis
Hot Wheels made a replica of my ’81 Vanagon and sold it as a “Sunagon”. I had it in both blue and orange as a kid, and I know the blue one is upstairs in my parents’ attic somewhere, with a a bunch of other junk.
I gave in earlier this year and ordered a blue one off eBay. Cost me $8, which is about as much as I was willing to spend 😉
Revell made a model kit of that. I have one on my bench at the moment.
Maybe $300 or so dollars for an exact replica of my 1995 Plymouth Voyager with warts and all. I’d have to E-mail them some photos of it from 2012.
Thank you for enlightening us of this service, I look forward to looking at the website.
An exact replica? Maybe $50 or so, but I’m ok with close enough!
The Mustang pictured below is a GT, and my actual car is a lowly V6, but I got it for like $7 at Walgreen’s. It’s all black with no stripes just like mine, and has the same grey interior. The wheels are the 17″ 5 spoke ones of the day, and mine are the standard stock 16″ with spinners that look a little like the Elanor wheels from the Nick Cage version of “Gone in 60 Seconds”… But for $7? Yeah, close enough! The doors open up, and if you pull it backwards across the floor and let it go, it goes! In scale speed, I think it goes from Zero-60 faster than the real thing. ;o)
The Civic was FREE! (well, after spending $23K, but hey, I didn’t have to mail in any boxtops!)… It’s a key-chain and the headlights light up. My dealer (or Honda USA, I forget now) sent it to me right after I bought the car. The wheels aren’t the same on this car either, but the rest of the car is a dead ringer.
$20. This is because I just don’t put much value on scale models and partly because though I love my two DDs, I don’t love them enough to look at a scale model on my desk.
I realize that almost everyone here would be more excited about a scale model, but I am getting to the point in life where stuff should be going out of my house rather than coming into it. Humbug. 🙂
Yes to the Stuff plan!
It was $35. Right color but shortchanged on doors. It sits in the dark in my basement most of the time although I did have it in my office at work for a few years.
$1,500? Some people have more dollars than sense.
Well, he did spend $70,000 for a 20-year-old Land Rover three years ago, so…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRhe1ke06Xc
Though by making videos about it, I guess he gets to write it off.
Omg. That looks to be an exact replica of my families 63 (and a half?) Galaxie 500 fastback. Many fond memories.
For our Thunderbird – the only semi-collectible car that we own – I might pay up to $100 if I saw a good-quality miniature. But above that, I’d rather put then money into actual car maintenance.
The closest I’ve come to buying something like this is about a decade ago I bought my father a 1/18th scale model of a 1970 Oldsmobile Rallye 350, a car he once owned. I think it cost about $80… he loved it, so it was definitely worthwhile.
I’ve never owned a car that would be remotely collectible, but I love building model kits. Been doing them for over fifty years now. I’ve never really been into the whole collectible diecast thing, probably because I actually enjoy the time spent crafting the model my way. And many affordable models often have visual flaws that I can’t overlook.
Even if by some odd chance someone decided to tool up a large scale diecast model of a mark 3 Cortina, a bubbleback Ford Laser GL, an ’84 Suzuki Swift, or a first-gen Mazda 3 Maxx Sport, I doubt I’d bite.
But I do have this Cortina in HO scale. Roof colour is wrong, and it has the four-light grille instead of my two-light, but it was cheap!
I have one of a former car. i think I paid about $70, but it’s very faithful to the real thing.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/my-new-curbside-classic-1965-peugeot-404-the-holy-grail-is-in-hand-literally/
Exactly $0. I’d rather spend my time and money on real cars.
For my bone-stock Forester, probably no more than $250. If I had all kinds of mods, I’d be willing to pay more.
$100. I used to play with Matchbox cars as a kid and tried my hand at plastic model building but could never get them to look as good. I bought a metal 1:43 scale Charger Daytona in green and have a copy of a print ad to match – love it, and since I can’t afford the real thing, it will do. I once bought a $10-$15 1st gen Honda Odyssey taxi toy car in NYC since I had a ’98 that matched. I guess $100 is about the point I’ll need to start explaining things to my wife : )
Doug is willing to pay early adopter and/or custom made prices… I am not. $1500 USD? Not for a car I can’t drive. I do have an exact copy of the 1960 Corvair that my parents once owned, right down to the white and blue color scheme, 1/43 scale from the Franklin Mint. I paid $35 for it at an antique mall. It really took me by surprise when I found it for sale. Since when have they started making miniatures of such a bland-looking car?
Like this.
I just bought the same franklin mint car from an antique store back in January. It’s on my desk at work. Paid $20 for it. It’s not perfect but I like it
I could see $1500 for a replica of my dad’s 1985 Riviera, but there’d be some qualifications.
– Made of actual metal, painted in the correct GM paint code
– Opening hood, doors, trunk
– Correct engine and FWD drivetrain
– Correct interior bits and pieces, including a (non-working) digital dash and cloth seats
Basically 100% accuracy. But to be honest, I don’t think $1500 would cover the labor on such a thing, never mind materials.
My car is a completely stock 2019 Mazda MX-5. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a model of one without needing to get one custom made.
Sure enough, the first Google result is a very detailed one for $179.98. They even included the infotainment screen sticking out of the dash, and defrost vents. The only problem is it appears to be a model of the JDM version, since it’s right hand drive and badged as a “Roadster”.
https://fairfieldcollectibles.com/mazda-roadster-1-18-diecast-model-by-kyosho/
I collect 1:18 diecast cars…Mostly BMW, Corvette, VW, Porsche and various other examples of cars I really like…I have been able to find a number of diecast examples of cars I actually owned. Not always the same year or color, but same generation…So far I have MK1 Scirocco, MK2 GTI, Corrado, BMW E46 coupe, BMW Z4 coupe…I also found a Matchbox Honda Element and a 1:43 diecasr VW Golf Variant…very close to my Alltrack
I don’t think I would, however I was once commissioned to produce one – this was back in 1986 after the new Supra was released, a customer at the hobby shop that I spent way too much time in as a teen asked them if they could create one that would match her husband’s new car. Since Tamiya produced a kit in 1/24, they supplied me the kit, paint, and photos of the actual license plates scaled at the correct size, I then built it over Thanksgiving weekend and was paid $100. Not pad when minimum wage was $3.35/hr or thereabouts at the time and I had nothing else to do anyway…No idea what they actually charged the lady but apparently everyone was very pleased.
I got an AMT model of a Dart Sport for a Christmas present one year, and it came out ok when I built it.
I have a diecast model of a 2005 Chrysler 300C that was probably less than $100 that someone probably bought me one year, I can’t remember. Close enough to my 2014.
If I could get a desktop model of a 1955 Dodge or Plymouth I would get it, if not more than $50.
If I was still working and had some play money maybe a sliding scale. Say 10% of the value of the real car? If you’re dreaming of a 15,000 dollar beauty, paying 1500 for a detailed replica isn’t bad. Or as someone mentioned, you want that model of your 87 Chevette that is worth a couple grand, 200 bucks for the model is reasonable.
Of course the higher the price the better the details but you get the idea.
Given the choice, I’d probably get a model—as a kind of memorial—of one of the family cars of my youth, since so easy to associate with memories of a particular point in my life (and my parents’).
Actually, I could more easily rationalize putting out a few hundred dollars that way that for anything I currently own .
BTW, Edward Snitkoff, I missed whatever follow-up story there was of getting your purchase (West Coast?) home. That Sable is very, very appealing!
I found the original dealer promo model of my 1979 Monte Carlo on eBay for $30. Apparently, they are not all that rare, though I had to have a saved search going for a few months until a yellow one showed up, same color as my car. I display it on the dash at car shows.
About $20 on Ebay got me a baby of my daily driver.
Had to spend /- $60 to get this close to the “fun” car.
I think it was around $60 NZ pesos, damn picture didnt load
I’ve done a couple of Toyota Land Cruisers for mates, back in the 1990s. Detailed to the extent of the floor littered with scale beer cans from our beach trips. Otherwise there’s no replicas of particular vehicles in the 300+ models on display. If I could find the 4 door bodies I’d do my ’63 Belair and ’67 Impala, though the RHD and the unique dash would be a PITA. As for my Skylark there are resin bodies available, and it’s at least LHD.
Forgot to answer the question. My cost is the kit/s, and paint. For mates, that plus a bottle of Black Label Scotch. And I keep any leftovers for my stash.
I have been lucky. Chrysler had Brookfield make 1/24 promotional diecast replicas of the 1993-1997 Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Concorde, Chrysler New Yorker and LHS, and with some customization to decontent it from an ES to a base model, I was able to create a replica of my 1995 Intrepid. Another of my cars, the Chrysler PT Cruiser, was popular enough to have many models available, both in plastic and diecast, from which a custom replica could be made at home, by up-contenting to the GT Turbo version with spoiler and Chrome package. Paint, in both cases, was easy enough with rattle cans of the exact color paint from the auto parts store.
The 1963 Corvette convertible had a 1/25 plastic model, which when combined with the wheels from the same-brand split-window coupe model, is a near-perfect replica.
My brother with a Plymouth Voyager minivan was also lucky in this regard, as was my sister with a Chrysler Cirrus.
I missed out on a model of my first-generation Ford Taurus wagon; there was a limited-production resin kit but by the time I was looking, it was made of Unobtainium instead. Fourth-generation Taurus wagon? Never found one.
Note, however, that if one assigns an hourly dollar value to the labor involved in making one’s own replica car, the “price” could get very high!
I used to build Airfix 1/32 scale car kits for 25p in the early seventies, same model now is £12-£15. I consider all plastic kits, to dear now.
I’ve modified plastic scale models to more closely resemble various cars I’ve owned, including my ’71 Vega, ’64 Beetle and ’71 Campmobile, “The Mayfield Belle.” I’ve also picked up Hot Wheels (used in the generic sense) of various cars I’ve owned as well as an International L-series truck and a couple 8N Ford tractors.
The only hard cash I’ve plunked down ever for a scale replica was for a model of the Cessna 172 I part-owned back in the 1990s. It was a gift to the main owner and good friend, who had let me use the airplane to learn to fly for only the cost of fuel. I’m thinking it was several $hundred and was made of painted wood. I had them modify the model to match the paint scheme as well as the wheel pants and ‘droop’ wingtips.
And here’s the actual aircraft:
I’ve still got my toy cars from my childhood. My Dad said he was saving them for the grandchildren but my children never got near my collection; for very good reasons! This 1950s’ Dennis bus was my last and most expensive purchase. Cost me about US$50 dollars and the detail is exquisite. I use to go to town on this very same bus route and remember the bench seats were wood with zero padding. Ouch!
Only once have I duplicated my vehicle – for some reason I wanted a copy of my ’93 F-150. It was a stripper – short box, painted front bumper and none on the rear. I modified an AMT 1:25 scale kit by shortening the bed, dechroming and painting the bumper, changing the wheels (with resin parts) to painted steel with dog dish caps and painted it like my truck – white, red vinyl interior.
And I have some Mercedes die cast models that come close to (but not duplicate) ones I’ve owned.
I have a couple of my Augusta (dark) Green ’68 Cougar, which was luckily a fairly popular color. Have always wanted one of my all-black ’73 Marquis Brougham sedan, but don’t think there will ever be one. As much as I like scale models (have over 350 dealer promos), I don’t think I’d pop $1500 for one.
As for 3D, why don´t you check this: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/madaboutcars.
These models are all unpainted and need finishing. Anyway many uncommon models.
Many of the model wishes above already exist in various scales. The biggest Problem, if you would try to put together a collection of models of all the cars you owned is probably finding all of them in the same scale. Here in Germany 43rd or 87th scale sized models should be the most popular.
Eventhough most of the latest cars I have owned were unmodified, I never managed to get an exact replica of them. Some Detail never fitted. Let it be the rims, sunroof or color. Most of them were common ones like an Golf III, ´97 Audi S6 Wagon, 2005 E 350 Wagon, 2013 C200 Wagon. At least there are similar ones, I could try to customize to match the real ones.
@mercury 6768: I´m also pretty sure, there will never be a model of my ´71 Marquis 2-door Hardtop Coupé.
I am so shocked that a company like, I think Vitesse or Solido, made a 1958 Edsel Bermuda (wood paneled) wagon (I have one somewhere) and did not bother to make a 1957 Ford Country Squire which would have been a great seller. IIRC Revell had such a model (hard to build, I have heard) but cut it down to make a Ranchero. I would pay $50 or so for a diecast 1/43 or 1/25 and would probably buy a couple. Just such a nice looking car.
$1500 is cheap, I was at one of the Pebble Beach events a few years ago and there was a display from a German firm that would make you what ever you wanted. The examples they had were lifelike and amazing, as was the US$150,000 tag.
I found a very good diecast of my car sold by Maisto. The color is right and detail is fairly accurate. I found it on eBay for $24. I have no idea when it was produced but someone on Reddit purchased the same thing at Walmart for $8. This seems awful low. I can not find a list of the products produced by this company. And I can’t find a diecast of any other car that I have owned.
My name is Herman from Modelworks. https://modelworksdirect.com We built the Doug Demuros custom Landrover Defender Model. Comparing Premade Diecast Cars that are Mass Produced in the thousands is like comparing apples to oranges. When a car model is mass-produced at 1000 units, a model that sells for $50 to $100 will have a total sales volume of $50,000 to $100,000. It cost $10,000 to get car engineering into CAD and to set up the production in China. Models that are 100% custom made are built from scratch.
Here is a Model of a Chevrolet Race Car Engine that is one of a kind. Take note of the sparkplug, cables, and more. Comparing $50 and $1500 is no comparison at all. It takes up to 500 hours to make a scratch-built model.