The first poster created by the Museum depicts some of the the most representative model cars and advertising objects of the Museum collection. It was produced in 250 numbered copies. Buy it now because it will no longer be replicated!

French news-stand series. New with blister pack.

French news-stand series. New with blister pack.

French news-stand series. 2 model cars. New with blister pack.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Mint boxed with showcase.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Limited edition 333 items.
On March 30, 1947 the Milan company “A.L.C.A” (Anonima Lombarde Cabotaggio Aereo) presented the Alca Volpe for the first time in Rome by Erminio Macario, a well-known and popular Italian comedian at that time.
The Volpe (= fox) was only 2,5 meters long, 1,02 meter wide and weighed only 135 kg. The back was slightly pointed and equipped with a 124-cubic centimeter engine. The engine could rev to 5.000 rmp and generated 6 hp. The maximum speed was about 60-70 km/h and had a consumption of 3,0 liters per 100 kilometers. ALCA manufactured the cars in Trient, but only made them in quantities of 6 at a time.
The Volpe delighted so many customers that they paid in advance to ensure that production would start for the small roadster. Therefore, the company earned more than 300 million lira (around 6 million Euros at the present time)! However the money never flowed into production as the responsible persons disappeared with all the money. This of course caused ALCA to fall into bankruptcy, and the company was liquidated.
Amid this scandal, six cars actually made it off the production line, but only a few of the original six models have survived.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Mint boxed. Limited edition 333 items.
At McQuay-Norris; headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri; germinated the wish of a big promotion tour in the first half of the 1930s. The company fabricated parts for combustion engines, such as pilot lamps or specific bolts and considered itself as the leading manufacturer for piston rings in the US.
The plan for the promotion tour was not only to drive from dealer to dealer with an event with audience appeal; the head office intended to raise awareness on the streets during the trip as well. In the eyes of the responsible persons a unique car that would be regarded as the attraction itself seemed to be the perfect solution. This idea was the foundation for the later development of the car labeled as the McQuay-Norris Streamliner. The car rightly got its name due to its uncompromisingly realized streamline shape. Especially the semicircular front appearance of the body showed how restrictively the principles of rheology applied. Due to a top speed of 129 km/h (80 mph) the promotion vehicle was fitted with special high-performance tires. The remarkable top speed was reached, beside aerodynamic reasons in the first instance, by the power of the integrated V8 Ford flathead engine with a capacity of 3.6 liters and a performance of 85 hp. The, during the promotion tour, visited dealers were located in Canada, the USA and Mexico. In order to master this mammoth task of over 100,000 miles, McQuay-Norris ordered six streamlined vehicles of this type. Both construction and production took place at the company Hill Auto Body Metal, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The new aluminum-steel body on a wooden frame was mounted on a Ford chassis with a wheelbase of 2.84 meters and four mechanic brakes slowed the vehicle down.
The production lasted one year and from 1934 the six McQuay-Norris Streamliners went on their big promotion tour. The tour ended only in 1940, but it is not clear whether the acts of war led to a compulsory end.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Limited edition 333 items. Mint boxed.
At the beginning of the 1960s, Henry Covington, an industrial designer from North Carolina, built himself a light; designed after the principles of fluid dynamics; streamlined car, which was able to reach the same driving performance as the then-common heavy and powerful US cars with a comparatively weak motorization.
In the shaping Covington got his inspiration from the animal world, because the visual shape of his car resembled the body of a shark. Matching to its shape the car was christened “El Tiburon”, Spanish for “The Shark”. However, many times the US press just used the English designation “Shark” within their reporting.
With an overall height of only 107 centimeters the car was extremely flat. During the construction of the car this extremely low height required a lot of technical cleverness of its creator. To emphasize this feature the car was often exhibited next to common cars. The chassis of the “Shark” based on numerous parts of a 1950 Renault 4 CV. Also the engine originated in France. Initially the engine also originated from the Renault 4 CV, but due to its relatively weak performance of only 19 hp it was soon replaced by the powerplant of a 1959 Renault Dauphine. The new engine displaced 845 cc and had a performance of 32 hp. According to his own statements, Covington spent 4,000 US$ on the realization of his dreamcar.
Due to the great and positive response, he probably thought about a small series production, but, ultimately, only six cars were completed as Henry Covington died at the age of only 38 in 1962.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Mint boxed. Limited edition 333 items.
The car design office of Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale & C was never so famous as their competitors Bertone or Pininfarina, however in this office in Turin a series of well-formed car bodies were developed. Starting in 1961, Vignale was producing for the manufacturer Lancia, Maserati and the British manufacturer Jenson. However Jenson stopped its production in Turin in 1967 and many doors of the type Interceptor remained in the Italian plant of Vignale. Such these doors were used for the own car body.
From 1967 the sporty car was offered under the name Vignale Samantha. The designers were imposing an optically and extremely successful and beautiful curved coupe form over the chassis of a Fiat 125 S. Also the production engine sized at 100 hp of a Fiat was also overtaken. The willingness of Fiat to provide a new and modern 125 S-chassis with a powerful engine for the competing company Vignale for the Samantha could not hide the fact that Fiat had no ambition to sell the sporty Vignale car over their own dealers. Probably it seemed that the designers of Vignale particularly speculate on this and as a result they could not establish an alternative sales network, so that the Vignale Samantha could not be sold in Italy as well as in France.
On the British island the plant of Vignale found for the sale the F. Demetriou Group. The Cypriot businessman, Frixos Demetriou, was hidden behind the group and who had a name as an owner of a gambling casino and who loved the spotlight. He was convinced of the salability of the Vignale-car and predicted that the Samantha would be a bestseller in the United Kingdom. In his dreams, he was planning to handle a separate production in Great Britain. However, neither this assembly was realized nor the Samantha was a sales success.
In total only 100 pcs. of the sporty Italian car were produced in the Turin plant.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Mint boxed. Limited edition 333 items.
The story behind the sports car, later known as Mismaque Squal, began as the young engineer Guy Mismaque planned to produce an affordable sporting car by using standard components of a Renault in 1956.
The conception of the car took 3 years and should be named “Coupe Sport Mismaque”. The sporting descendant was supposed not to be more expensive than the French popular automobile - Citroen 2CV (known as the “duck” or “tin snail”). However the assembly of the prototype protracted. Finally in 1959 the planning seemed to come to an end. The striking feature of the car was its alar shaped tail fins, which were similar to a modern airplane. Their purpose was to increase and to focus the contact pressure to the middle of the car in order to ensure a stable road holding. As powertrain they used the 425cc small engine of the 2CV with 12 HP. By using a lightweight synthetic skin the Mismaque weighed only 350 kg, whereas the Citroen 2CV had a weight of 520 kg at that time. With its flat and streamlined shape, drawn by Guy Mismaque, it was supposed to reach a top speed of almost 120 km/h.
The first car was finally ready in autumn 1960. But neither back then nor at a later stage he was able to find a producer for the serial production of the sports scar. Sundry discrepancies, wrong launched news releases and even Guy Mismaque himself caused the fact that nowadays the number of Mismaques is unknown. Experts assume that 4 cars were made, but it wouldn´t be surprising, if it would be more than that.