FORD MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE 1964

Ford Mustang Convertible 1964

(newray 1:43 scale)

The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Initially based on the contemporary Ford Falcon compact car, production began in Dearborn, Michigan, on 9 March 1964 and it was introduced to the public on 17 April 1964 at the New York World's Fair. Media exposure included being televised nationally by all three American television networks on 19 April 1964. It also appeared as a character's auto in the James Bond film Goldfinger in September of 1964.

The Mustang had the most successful car launching in automobile history, selling, in its first eighteen months, more than one million cars. The Mustang created the "pony car" class of automobiles — the sports car's "long hood, short deck" design. It spawned competitors, the Camaro, inspired imported coupés, the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri. The Mustang remains in production after four decades-worth of stylistic and technologic revisions.

1967 SHELBY COBRA

1967 Shelby Cobra

(newray 1:32 scale)

The AC Cobra was an Anglo-American sports car built in the 1960s.

AC Cobras had an extensive racing career. Shelby wanted it to be a "Corvette-Beater" and at nearly 500 lb (227 kg) less than the Chevrolet Corvette, the lightweight car did just that. The Cobra was perhaps too successful as a performance car and reputedly contributed to the implementation of national speed limits in the United Kingdom. An AC Cobra Coupe was calculated to have done 185 mph (298 km/h) on the M1 motorway in 1964, driven by Jack Sears and Peter Bolton during shakedown tests prior to that year's Le Mans 24h race. However, government officials have cited the increasing accident death rate in the early 1960s as the principal motivation, the exploits of the AC Cars team just highlighting the potential risk.

MINI COOPER

Mini Cooper

(newray)

The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The most popular British-made car ever, it was superseded by the New MINI, which was launched in April 2001. The original is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout (that allowed 80% of the area of the car's floorpan to be used for passengers and luggage) influenced a generation of car-makers.The vehicle is in some ways considered the British equivalent to its German contemporary, the Volkswagen Beetle, which enjoyed similar popularity in North America.

JEEP WRANGLER

Jeep Wrangler

(newray 1:32 scale)

The Wrangler is an off-road vehicle produced by American automaker Chrysler under its Jeep marque. It is a successor to the famous World War II 'Jeep' vehicle by way of the Willys civilian Jeep (CJ) in the 1950s, later produced by Kaiser-Jeep and by American Motors (AMC). The Wrangler debuted in 1987, was updated in 1997 and again in 2007, and is still popular today.

1955 PONTIAC STAR CHIEF

1955 Pontiac Star Chief

(newray 1:43 scale)

The Star Chief was a car built by General Motors' Pontiac division between 1954 and 1966.

Between 1954 and 1957, the Star Chief was Pontiac's prestige model; the car was easily identified by its chrome star trim along its sides. When the storyline of I Love Lucy pointed towards a Hollywood setting in the 1954-1955 season, the characters "drove" (in episode 100) to the West Coast in a 1955 Star Chief convertible.

1970 OLDSMOBILE 4-4-2

1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2

(newray 1:43 scale)

The Oldsmobile 442 (pronounced four-four-two) was a muscle car produced by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. It was introduced as an option package for F-85 and Cutlass models sold in the United States beginning with the 1964 model year. It became a model in its own right from 1968 to 1971, then reverted to an option through the mid-1970s. Oldsmobile revived the name in the 1980s on the rear-wheel drive Cutlass Supreme and early 1990s as an option package for the new front-wheel drive Cutlass.

1970 saw the introduction of the Olds 455 V8 as the standard 442 engine. Magazine ads using an offbeat mad scientist trumpeted "Dr. Olds introduces as large a V-8 as ever bolted into a special-performance production automobile!" Output was 365 hp (272 kW) and 500 lb·ft (680 N·m), with a 370 hp (276 kW) W30 option available. The 365 and 370 hp (272 and 276 kW) power ratings were conservatively underrated at a lower rpm. Both engines are believed by some to produce 410 to 420 hp (306-313 kW). It was the pace car at the Indianapolis 500 race in 1970, along with the Cutlass Supreme. Motor Trend praised the 442, stating that "it's probably the most identifiable super car in the GM house".

CATERHAM SUPER SEVEN

Caterham Super Seven

(newray)

The Lotus Seven was a small, simple, lightweight two-seater open-top sports car produced by Lotus Cars (initially called Lotus Engineering) between 1957 and 1972. It was designed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman and has been considered the embodiment of the Lotus philosophy of performance through low weight and simplicity. The original model was highly successful with more than 2,500 cars sold, due to its attraction as a road legal car that could be used for clubman racing. After Lotus ended production of the Seven, Caterham bought the rights to it, and today make both kits and fully assembled cars.

FIAT BARCHETTA 1995

Fiat Barchetta

(newray 1:32 scale)

The Fiat Barchetta (pronounced "bar-KET-ta") is a roadster produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1995 to 2005 (though production was paused between May 2002 and 2004). "Barchetta" in Italian means 'little boat'.

The Barchetta was developed between 1990 and 1994 under the project name Tipo B Spider 176. It was designed by Andreas Zapatinas, Peter Barrett Davis and other car designers at the Fiat Centro Stile, and prototyping was carried out by Stola.

Production began in February 1995. The Barchetta was based on the chassis of the Mark 1 Fiat Punto. Its 131 PS / 96 kW engine is the 1.8 L petrol engine, with twin-cam and variable camshaft timing, which is notorious for its diesel-like clattering noise when failing. The Barchetta weighs 1056 kg (2328 lb) without air conditioning and can accelerate to 100 km/h in 8.9 seconds.

The Barchetta was revised in 2003 for its relaunch the following year, with a myriad of small alterations inside and out. Production of the car finally stopped in June 2005.

VOLKSWAGEN VW 1200 (1951)

VOLKSWAGEN VW 1200 (1951)

(newray 1:43 scale)

The Volkswagen Type 1, more commonly known as the Beetle or Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. Although the names "Beetle" and "Bug" were quickly adopted by the public, it was not until August of 1967 that VW itself began using the name Beetle in marketing materials in the US.

In Britain, VW never used the name Beetle officially. It had only been known only as either the "Type I" or as the 1100 (eleven-hundred), 1200 (twelve-hundred), 1300 (thirteen-hundred) or 1500 (fifteen-hundred), which had been the names under which the vehicle was marketed in Europe; the numbers denoted the vehicle's engine size in cubic centimetres. In 1998, many years after the original model had been dropped from the lineup in most of the world (production continued in Mexico until 2003), VW introduced the "New Beetle" (built on a Volkswagen Golf Mk4 platform) which bore a cosmetic resemblance to the original.

THUNDERBIRD 1956

FORD THUNDERBIRD 1956

(newray 1:43 scale)

Ford Thunderbird was manufactured in the United States from 1955 through 2005 — through thirteen generations and various body types.

The name "Thunderbird" was inspired by the name of an exclusive housing development and recalls the mythological creature common to Indigenous peoples of North America.

It entered production for the 1955 model year as a two-seater sporty car but, unlike the similar Chevrolet Corvette, the Thunderbird was never sold as a full-blown sports car. Ford described it as a personal luxury car, a description which named a new market segment. In 1958, the Thunderbird gained a second row of seats.

Equipped with a V8 engine, the Thunderbird could hit 110-120 mph. It was a smaller two-seat "personal luxury car", compared to the wallowing barges that roamed all the roads in the 1950s. It was designed to be a brisk luxury tourer, and not a sports car.

For the 1956 model, more trunk space was added, the spare wheel was mounted outside, the exhausts were moved to the ends of the bumper, and air vents were added behind the front wheels to improve cabin ventilation. To improve rear-quarter visibility with the removable hardtop in place, "porthole" windows were made available as a no-cost option. An optional 312 Y-block V8 was made available for those that wanted more performance.

MG MGA ROADSTER

MG MGA ROADSTER

(newray 1:43)

The MGA is a sports car produced by MG division of the British Motor Corporation from 1955 to 1962.
The MGA replaced the older T series cars and represented a complete styling break from the older vehicles. The car was officially launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show of 1955. It was replaced by the MGB when production ceased in July 1962. Through that time, BMC sold 101,081 units, the vast majority of which were exported with only 5869 cars sold on the home market, the highest export percentage of any British car