17 replies to this topic

[pete53]

I can't find a suitable thread to post this to so have started a new one.

When I was a young motor racing enthusiast growing up in England in the early/mid sixties I would very occasionally come across Solido models. Being imports they were obviously nowhere near as commonplace as Dinkies and Corgis. Boy! Did I want to get my hands on them. What was particularly appealing was that they were making models of racing cars that were not generally being produced by British diecast manufacturers. Unfortunately, they were also about three times the cost of the average Dinky or Corgi and were, therefore, out of my modest pocket money range.

So, with a bit more disposable income than I had as a child, I have over the last 25 years collected some of those Solido models that I longed for as a boy.

Here is a picture of some of those models, most of which were produced in the 1960s. Particular favourites of mine are the Aston Martin DBR1, the Chaparral, Porsche 906 and the Ferrari F1. I just love these models - thanks Solido



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[Hse289]

Very nice collection, do you know if Soildo ever made a Cobra back in the 60`s?

[timf5000]

I was in the same position as pete53. Solido models were out of my price range too. But did manage to acquire some mostly from the Brands model shop. Have in front of me now 330P3 (race number 14), Martini 917 (#33) and yellow Ford Mk4 (#1). Know I have the 2D somewhere as well as Alfa Monza.

[EDWARD FITZGERALD]

Very nice collection, do you know if Soildo ever made a Cobra back in the 60`s?

No Cobra in the 60s , they did one in the late 90s IIRC .

[pete53]

Very nice collection, do you know if Soildo ever made a Cobra back in the 60`s?

I am pretty sure they never made a Cobra, which is a shame.

[EDWARD FITZGERALD]

I am pretty sure they never made a Cobra, which is a shame.

Solido released the model in 1995

[T54]

I always loved the Solido cars from the "100" series. The first three were a 1957 jaguar D-Type, a Ferrari 500 TRC and a splendid Maserati A6GCM/250F. All were the first die cast models with coil-spring suspension and they had machined aluminum wheels with those O-ring tires... the quality of manufacturing was well above that of Corgi and Dinky, and they had drivers that were a bit clumsy but the overall appearance was very attractive.
The next model was a Vanwall, and as a boy, I got it signed by Moss, Trintignant, Lewis-Evans and Brooks. I still have it, i never played with it...

[Hse289]

I have the 1995 Cobra , its a 427 style body painted yellow car with a Bardahl Trophy.

[Stephen W]

I was in the same position as pete53. Solido models were out of my price range too. But did manage to acquire some mostly from the Brands model shop. Have in front of me now 330P3 (race number 14), Martini 917 (#33) and yellow Ford Mk4 (#1). Know I have the 2D somewhere as well as Alfa Monza.

I bought a couple from a Post Office in town and also picked a few up at the Model Shop at Oulton Park. They were usually too pricey for my level of pocket money!

[Barry Boor]

Prior to getting deeply into slot cars I developed a method of racing smaller scale models.

This began around 1959 and lasted until about 1965.

My grid was a motley collection of Dinkys, Crescents and Corgis but on holiday in France in 1962 I spotted the Solido Cooper. Oh joy! A year or so later although from this distance in time I cannot recall where I got them from, my grid consisted of virtually all Solido models.

Not shown in the above picture is their Porsche 718 or their Sharknose Ferrari and I am not sure if I am looking at two Lolas or a Lola and a Brabham.

I still have a bag of mucked about with Solidos in the loft somewhere.

[pete53]

Prior to getting deeply into slot cars I developed a method of racing smaller scale models.

This began around 1959 and lasted until about 1965.

My grid was a motley collection of Dinkys, Crescents and Corgis but on holiday in France in 1962 I spotted the Solido Cooper. Oh joy! A year or so later although from this distance in time I cannot recall where I got them from, my grid consisted of virtually all Solido models.

Not shown in the above picture is their Porsche 718 or their Sharknose Ferrari and I am not sure if I am looking at two Lolas or a Lola and a Brabham.

I still have a bag of mucked about with Solidos in the loft somewhere.

Barry, the front row line up is from L to R .. Ferrari, BRM, BRM, Lola, Lola, Cooper, Cooper, Cooper, Lotus.

I just missed out on the bidding for a Ferrari sharknose on Ebay a couple of weeks ago. Actually, I don't think it wasn't one of Solido's better models, but I'd still like it in my collection.

[Barry Boor]

Spot on there, Pete. For some reason they seemed to think that the body sides should be curved and the body height was too small.

[pete53]

Here are a few more Solidos. As you can see we are edging into the 1970s with these ones.

As anyone of my age will know, back in the 70s, and before, there were precious few decent racing models available to the adult motor racing enthusiast. There were some good plastic kits around but little on the diecast front. Basically, one had to make do with toys, some of which were better than others. I would suspect that quite early on Solido had become aware of this gap in the market and that their produce was beginning to appeal to a wider audience than just youngsters. The attention to detail on these 1970s models, particularly with the transfers, would seem to be in excess of what would be required of a mere toy.

Shown L to R: back row - Gulf Mirage; Alfa 33TT; Sunoco Ferrari 512; Ferrari 312P . front row: Martini Porsche 917: Martini Porsche 917K; Ferrari 512; Ferrari 512S



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[dmj]

Actually this idea that few racing models were available to motor racing enthusiast back in Seventies, or even Sixties, can be right only for UK. At the continent it was quite different. A good part of my collection dates from those days and a lot of racing cars there. So even in a communist country I was able to get them, mostly Italian ones by Politoys, Mercury and Mebetoys. Solido and other great French maker of 1/43 racing cars from that time, Champion – no they weren't available in Yugoslavia. But generally, with addition of a few German Gama and Marklin models, spanish Pilen and some Corgis and Dinkys one today can get quite nice collection of period racing models.

First Solidos I saw were in late Eighties but I fell in love and ever since I'm collecting both road and race models. They used to have some special charm and I think they are great.

[pete53]

Actually this idea that few racing models were available to motor racing enthusiast back in Seventies, or even Sixties, can be right only for UK. At the continent it was quite different. A good part of my collection dates from those days and a lot of racing cars there. So even in a communist country I was able to get them, mostly Italian ones by Politoys, Mercury and Mebetoys. Solido and other great French maker of 1/43 racing cars from that time, Champion – no they weren't available in Yugoslavia. But generally, with addition of a few German Gama and Marklin models, spanish Pilen and some Corgis and Dinkys one today can get quite nice collection of period racing models.

First Solidos I saw were in late Eighties but I fell in love and ever since I'm collecting both road and race models. They used to have some special charm and I think they are great.

I think you are right. As I mentioned in my previous posting, we in the UK had to make do with what were first and foremost toys. Even when you got a good casting the model was usually spoilt by a totally inauthentic colour scheme and/or poor wheels. But, fair enough - they were toys.

[Barry Boor]

In my attempts to collect all 55 cars from the 1966 Le Mans I recently lost a Solido C.D. Peugeot on Ebay France. Until it appeared there I had no idea that they ever made one. If you happen to see one....

[EDWARD FITZGERALD]

In my attempts to collect all 55 cars from the 1966 Le Mans I recently lost a Solido C.D. Peugeot on Ebay France. Until it appeared there I had no idea that they ever made one. If you happen to see one....

Barry Solido never made the CD , search under Norev , they did it.

[Barry Boor]

Yes, I have one of those - searching for another, but the Ebay item clearly stated Solido and it was definitely not the Norev version, which is yellow and black. The Solido one looked a fairly accurate blue.