Brekina PKW Offensive

[geco65]

Dear All,

Well, its easter here in the United Kingdom and as its a long holiday weekend, I thought I would take some time out to think of some nice models that would be welcome by me to our scale.

Not sure if you remember the glory days, a good few years back now, when Brekina announced a PKW (car) offensive with cars launched each month for a year. Well, I thought I would dream a little and think what would be produced should Brekina do it again, say next year. Bearing in mind Brekina mainly concentrate on models from 1950s to 1970s, maybe creeping into 1980s now and also models that allow for many different versions. Also, I thought I would try to select at least one from each of the following countries, France, Italy, Sweden, Great Britain, USA and Japan, as Brekina seem to put the cars into country categories too. The rest would mainly be German or popular in Germany, which is, of course, their main market. So, here is my thoughts on what Brekina may or could produce.

France - Citroen Dyane
Italy - Fiat 127
Sweden - Volvo 164
Great Britain - Rover 3500
USA - Camaro 1967-69
Japan - Datsun 240Z * (*I know BUB did a 240Z, but I think Brekina would also do this as their Japan car - it would be better as well. Alternatively, a Datsun Bluebird 1968 - 1971 would be good)

Germany - Ford Escort Mk II, Ford Taunus 1976-82, Opel Kadett C City 1975 and Opel Rekord B 1965-66

Others - Daf 44 or 55 or 66.

One more left and although it would not be German and a second from France or Italy, I believe my choices were popular in Germany at the time, so I would nominate one of either a Peugeot 305, Simca 1100 or Fiat Ritmo.

Of course, knowing the industry at the moment, I expect a PKW offensive from Brekina would be very, very remote, but its an enjoyable aspect of the scale to come up with wish lists every now and then and as always, I welcome any thoughts and your own wish lists on this subject, if you wish to have a little dream time like me.

All the best and happy easter, Gary

[hovehicle]

Gary,

Yes, the good old wish list; they are still fun for me even after all these years. I'm only going to represent the USA, but I would love the 1967 Chevy Impala instead of the Camaro. Malibu did the '69 Camaro in convertible form.

Vito L.

[geco65]

Vito,

Hi there and thank you for your reply. It's always an enjoyable way of spending some time and as you say, fun, eventhough in the current climate, I think we are very unlikely to see many of these models in the short term, but we can hope.

Anyway, I like your choice of the 67 Impala, though think for Brekina its not a 'worldwide recognised American' car, which is what they seem to be producing when doing the American models i.e. Camaro 1970-81, El Camino, Dodge A100, Chevrolet Corvette C3. It was hard to think of one that they would make. I know, there are lots to choose from, but my remit was that it could produce some variations, like a police/fire chief car, maybe a racing car, maybe a convertible. Plenty of muscle cars, but worldwide recognised and able to produce variations limits the choice and also many of the most notable ones have been produced already. I did have as reserves a Plymouth Belvedere 64, as I think it was a major car in NASCAR and an Oldsmobile 442 1966-67, but again was unsure of the worldwide recognised and variation possibilities for these.

On further thought though, perhaps an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser would be a good choice or something along those lines. Big American station wagons are recognised worldwide - not necessarily the manufacturer - but the type and variations are even better, as service vehicles can be included, so maybe this type of model would be better than the Camaro.

Anyway, thanks for joining in and your thoughts, you never know, we could both be surprised next year !

Thanks, Gary

[hovehicle]

Gary,

Maybe Brekina will consider doing cars from around the world again, but I wouldn't expect it at this point. They sure do make some quality vehicles, that's for sure.

Perhaps our best chance for that 1967 Impala would be BoS Models. Are they a subsidiary of Neo, or their own company? Either way, they seem to be going American and I will support them as much as I can. I like your Olds Vista Cruiser as a suggestion as station wagons are iconic in a way. Oldsmobile has been long neglected in our scale! BoS Models probably has the edge now and momentum as far as I can see. CMW could also do some 1960's American cars, which would be a nice change for them.

Vito L.

[geco65]

Vito,

Hi. I totally agree with all your comments there.

As far as I know, BoS are owned by the parent company of NEO, so the link is there. When NEO pulled out of 1:87 scale, BoS took its place. I think the issue was pricing and detail. NEO models were exceptionally detailed, but came at a price. BoS models have less detail (for example usually painted lights rather than real lights) and the price reflects this and is much more affordable for the collector. BoS have announced something like 20 models for this year and the range seems quite unusual so far, but, fortunately, including some American cars. My understanding is that BoS have employees who love their cars and may make some choices that we would not expect to see in 87th scale, considering the mainstream models that are generally produced in order to sell and make a profit. As you say, I think the momentum at the moment is with BoS and let us hope, unlike others who have come and gone in this scale, they last for a good while and feed this scale with some desired 'wish lists' models.

On saying that though, I must add a congratulatory pat on the back to the manufacturers in this scale. When I was composing my list for Brekina models for the future, I noted that models from the 1960s/1970s and creeping into the 1980s from the mainstream manufacturers were mostly presented in our scale. If you discount the variations like coupes and estates, then most models are made from the mainstream continental European makers. For example, nearly all Audis, BMWs, Mercedes and Volkswagens are made. A couple of models for Opel and Ford remain to be made, with the Fords being the most significant absence I think. Also, car manufacturers from France, Italy and Sweden were well presented with only a few gaps remaining. So, all in all, there is not too much left to do from that period, apart of course, from looking into British, Japanese and American cars which are not so well presented in this era. However and I understand the dilemma facing the manufacturers, selling these models to the mass markets of Germany and Austria, would be much tougher and more difficult to obtain profit than the cars that they all saw on the roads of Germany and Austria in the 1960s and 1970s. That is one of the big issue facing the industry and collector at the moment.

Thanks, Gary

[jim68cuda]

Brekina, a 67-69 Camaro. Really? Why not just another 55 or 57 Chevy. Or hey, maybe a 65 Mustang convertible or a 56-57 Corvette. I am kind of disappointed. I really thought we would have seen a full range of 59 Chevys by now since they brought us such a nice El Camino.