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.
In recent times an exceptional car of Fiat mystifies those who are interested in car history. The car in question is a streamlined racecar.
Even experts have doubts whether the car was manufactured at the Fiat factory since strangely even the company does not know anything about the car. There are no historical and contemporary pictures existing and even written traditions about the car within the considerable literature of Fiat are not to be found. But the use of such a racecar surely should have left its marks in the reporting at that time. And this poses the next question - When? This prima facie simple question turns out to be a further problem! Experts doubt the stated year of manufacture 1943, as wartime events left no time for building such a classy racecar! The years 1946/ 47 and also 1948 are probably more realistic. Due to the lack of new technology the engineers used a prewar chassis and also the mounted six-cylinder engine with supercharger probably had its origin in the second half of the 1930s. It is possible that the body was newly crafted out of different, already existing aluminum parts, for example aircraft parts. But all that is and will be conjecture. With all the secrets, which grow around this car, it has to be considered as well that the car also might has been built right before World War II in 1938 or in the beginning of 1939. Especially visual aspects of the body and the whole design vocabulary of the car rather reflect the state of the prewar-art.
Be that as it might – the historians still have some work to do. 

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.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Mint boxed. Limited edition 333 items.
Giotto Bizzarini definitely belongs to the important names in the history of the Italian motoring scene. Among connoisseurs of premium cars he is known for his collaboration on the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO just as for the development of the 350 GT-engine for Lamborghini.
As a freelance constructor the, then 38-year-old, graduated engineer founded his own design office named Autostar in 1962. Two years later the renaming to Societa Prototipi Bizzarrini ensued, followed by another change to Automobilli Bizzarrini S.p.A. in 1965. At the plant based in his home Livorno Bizzarrini planed to produce a sports car, which should meet the needs of general public. Initially he thought about using a 1,5 liter engine of Fiat, but later he changed his mind and fitted his car with a new - as from 1965 produced - 1,9 liter engine type CIH (Camshaft in Head) of Opel. He named his car matching to its engine displacement Bizzarrini 1900 GT. The engine and the chassis were held by a fine tubular frame, on which the plastic car body was fitted. Due to this car body the Bizzarrini had a weight of only 650 kg - a real lightweight. The weight and its 110 HP-strong engine ensured a sporty locomotion. On top came the aerodynamic shape of the car body. First of all its low height of only 104 centimeters enabled the 1900 GT to reach a good cd value. But also the long hood, which housed the 4-cylinder engine, and a flat rear design with a sharply dropping tail, did their bit to minimize the drag coefficient. All these features made a top speed of 210 km/h possible.
In 1966 the car was presented at the Turin Motor Show for the first time. But the serial production only sporadically came about and this is how it came that only a few cars left the plant. According to contradictory information, between 12 and 17 Bizzarrini 1900 GTs were built. In 1968 Automobili Bizzarini S.p.A. stopped its assembly of the 1900 GT and in 1969 the production was definitely ceased.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Limited edition 333 items. Mint boxed.
The sounding lettering “Special” or “Speciale” added to the usual type designation of the Fiat 2100 marked the leap from a conventional car to a classy luxury sedan.
Main difference was the newly designed front end with its thick, horizontal-running chrome bars, which span over the whole width of the car’s front. A chromed bumper marked the lower end and above two twin headlights characterized the distinctive face of the car. Anyone who bought the 2100 Special and went for the whitewall tires, which were available at extra charge, together with the nobly appearing dark blue metallic varnish, could travel and feel like a aristocrat behind his steering wheel. The feeling of sitting in real luxury-class sedan began already with starting the engine. The six-cylinder in-line engine with 86 hp whirred with a low vibration but was able to accelerate the 1.5-ton-heavy car up to a high speed of 150 km/h. The visual upgrade helped to provide the Fiat 2100 with the addition “Special” in its type designation a place in the exclusive circle of state cars. One of the most famous owners of such a car was the Vatican City. Nevertheless the nobler version of the Fiat 2100 could not gain great popularity.
In the end exactly 1,174 copies of the “Special sedan”, whose car body was made at the in-house coach-building department named “Carozzerie Speciali Fiat”, left the factory of Fiat. The car body of the Special was exactly 16 centimeters longer than the version of the conventional Fiat 2100.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Mint boxed. Limited edition 333 items.
Giorgio Giugiaro – an Italian designer honored with the award “Car Designer of the Century” in 1999 – founded the company Italy-Styling in 1967. Shortly afterwards it was renamed to Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A. In the early 1970s he created a series of 3 cars under the term Asso (Italian for ace).
The first car of his series was called Asso di Picche (ace of spades). As chassis he used the recently presented Audi 80/B1. Over the state of the art at that time he put new bodywork, which looked like a mixture of two former design studies of him. One named Boomerang – deducted from a Maserati Bora – and the other one was an Alfa Romeo Caimano made in 1971. The Asso di Picche wore the typical four rings between its narrow grill quite natural like it would have been made at the Bavarian plant of Audi in Ingolstadt. Nevertheless the unique car was built without any contribution of Audi.
None of the standard Audis was such angular shaped and designed for sportiness like the Italian design study. Straight lines characterized the entire shape of the car and the small, off-center positioned air inlet on the rectangular hood was meant to be a real eye catcher. Furthermore they renounced on front and rear bumpers. This and maybe the frontline of the car, which could be recognized - with some imagination - as a shark´s mouth, might be too daring and outlandish for the customers of the brand with the four rings. But at the Audi headquarter they saw definitely the potential of the design study. Nevertheless they couldn’t bring themselves to borrow and to produce the car of Italdesign in series.
The Italian design study was presented at the international motor show in 1973. But all the interested and excited visitors hoped in vain – the Asso di Picche remained a dream.

Resin model. 1:43 scale. Limited edition 333 items.
Mint boxed.At the sight of the 1969 initially presented VW-Porsche 914, the French company Brissonneau & Lotz held the opinion that it deserves a better and more beautiful car body. Designer in charge and driving force in the company, who supported the idea of designing a visually more appealing car body for the 914, was Jaques Cooper. Primary target of the design project was to convince the management of Porsche with the new shape.
To put Cooper’s sketched shape into action the French company purchased a Porsche 914/6 in 1970. Unfortunately shortly afterwards the financial situation of Brissonneau & Lotz worsened and due to this, the decision was made to abandon the design project. But Jaques Cooper was convinced of his idea and was not ready to abandon it. So he looked for a new company, who was willing to realize his design and found a reliable partner in the company Louis Heuliez S.A. Convinced that they have succeeded in making a visually appealing new body for the 914, the car was initially presented at the Paris Motor Show in October 1970. To attract and to ensure the attention of the press during the fair, a press release, which invited to booth 14 in hall C, was already issued a couple of days before on September 28th, 1970. The type plate at the booth read Heuliez Murène; the moray was the inspiration for the design of Cooper’s 914. But the new-designed Porsche missed its target and did not arouse the desired enthusiasm neither of Porsche nor of Volkswagen. It is not known, whether there had been any reaction from one of the both companies.
This was probably a bitter disappointment for the French manufacturer, but Henri Heuliez kept his feet on the ground. He was aware that the production and marketing in conflict with both German companies and on his own account would not be successful and ceased the project.

1:43 scale. Resin model. Limited edition 333 items.
The “marriage” of a Steyr Type 50 or 55 car body with a Volkswagen Kubelwagen chassis remains a mystery of automotive history.
It might well be that this conversion came privately into being in the years beyond 1940. But it is also quite possible that clever technicians set about realizing the car not until 1945. The fusion was feasible as both the Kubelwagen (Type 82) and the Steyr Type 50 or 55; also known colloquially as the “Steyr-Baby”; had almost the same wheelbase. The adjustment of additional air inlets at the rear together with an afterwards installed hood for the air-cooled boxer rear engine, imply a high technical understanding of the constructer.
According to present knowledge, the obvious assumption that the conversion was built under the direction of Ferdinand Porsche, within the scope of his occupation for Volkswagen in the late 1930s, can be ruled out.