Model Collector Magazine Review.

October 2014 issue I haven't bought a modeling magazine in years and decided to get this one for some light reading and i thought i should do a review on it. This magazine is great with diecast models for sale and some new releases.


There's a great story from Lyndon Davies, MD of Oxford Diecast about starting in the business when he was 16 and working very hard to move his way up the corporate ladder. He was forced to close his doors in the UK because most other manufactures had moved to China, Taiwan, or Japan. He tried to survive in the UK but with other manufactures going over seas he decided to close his UK factory. He has still kept all his passion and quality with diecast models going, still producing great diecast models.

There's also a great review of the Trans-Am cars by Bill Oursier describing the real racing ones and the diecast models. He explains the rarity of some models and the inaccuracies of some. There are some great photos of the models with some explanation on their racing history and model history.
There's also a section for all you plane lovers by Dominic Borrelli. He talks about De Havilland and that they got taking over by Hawker-Siddeley and that Geoffrey De Havilland started in 1920 when engineering was at its beginning. He goes on to explain about some of the early models with some great photos.

Then we get to the legendary Mazda MX5 Mk1 written by Ian Rogers celebrating 25 years of the MX5. He explains about the different types of models from the diecast to the pewter. He explains about the different manufactures and different details that each do. It's great to see that even though the scale is the same there can be different details that are added.

I like the section on the car of the year from the 1970's by Peter Miskelly, starting with the Fiat 128. He talks about the cars that were in close competition with this one for car of the year. 1970 Fiat 128 - A nice small family car with plenty of interior space despite the overall size.
1971 Citroen GS - This four door saloon looked futuristic for its time.

1972 Fiat 127 - Another great Fiat with excellent space for a 3 door with folding seats.

1973 Audi 80 - The early Audis were not known to be a prestigious brand but the Audi 80 started this to rival the BMW.

1974 Mercedes 450 SE/SEL - This big luxury 4.5L V8 was short listed a year after its initial launch.

1975 Citroen CX - This comfy large saloon had advanced hydropneumatic suspension later used in a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.
1976 Simca 1307/1308 - Better known as the Chrysler Alpine, this large 5 door hatch had great styling but niggling problems.

1977 Rover 3500 - This 5 door hatch was powered by a powerful Rover V8 and had supercar looks.

1978 Porsche 928 - This started the revolution of the front water cooled engine that was meant to replace the 911.
1979 Simca/Chrysler Horizon - This mid sized car 5 door hatch was essentially a shortened Alpine.
This was a great magazine with some great history on some interesting diecast models and their originsand history.