1 Model Display Cabinet -1-

This is the First Model Quest I Display Cabinet
as of 2002-10-23 (October 23, 2002)

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You can see some of what I have collected in Model Quest I, my attempt to find a 1:43-scale replica of each car I have had a proprietary interest in, i.e. either actually owned or been part of the ownership family. I count 29 in this view The models in the cabinet are arranged as close to chronological order as I could manage. (First effort with a 3.1 megapixel digital camera. Photo was made with reflected halogen light and natural light from a window 20 feet away)

(My ownership begins with the bronze-ish 1949 Ford Tudor, near the upper center) ( In 2006 I added a Ford Mustang to the list of real cars I've owned. And in the intervening years, six more Mustangs. I have acquired several Mustang models, few of which are close matches to the actual cars, and even fewer of which I have photos of. To see the actual cars' photos, each in its own album, go to FLICKR by clicking this text).

(Current list of Cars I've Owned: CLICK HERE).

Missing or pretty far off the mark are:
(12-16-01, 02-15-02, and 04-27-02 updates in parentheses)

a black 1935 or '36 Ford 4-door sedan, the car my parents had when I was born (I have settled for the 1/43 convertible '36 Ford)
a light blue metallic 1965 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass 2-door hardtop, white inside, owned by Mom, borrowed for one trip to Guaymas in the Healey-Morris era (no progress to report in this line)
a metallic medium blue 1967 Dodge Dart 273 V-8 2-door hardtop, in front of the MG Bs, or behind the VW bus (settled for a 1/64 hot-rodded Dart; not that bad if you ignore the scale [1:64, here pumped up to more-or-less fit], year ['69], color [orange] and engine [in the trunk] . . . OK, Another one: a 1:25 Dart, 1969, built kit, correct color and shape, really looks like the car I had, except the decal stripe around the back. I presume that will soak off. I need to make my own pictures . . .)
a 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible, gold with a white top, just to the rear of the blue Valiant (got two of the green 1/43 Sabra models; I decapitated one and painted it gold; it too looks pretty good)
(What "blue Valiant?" Right. I don't know where it went from this picture. Wait. There it is in the living-room lawyers' bookcase)
a 1956 Buick Special 2-door hardtop, red over white, should be just before the white Plymouth Satellite (found a 1/43 convertible, 1955, top down, blue over white)
two (of total four owned) Vegas, Kammback and GT Coupe—I'm a little slow deciding which of the many available photos to spruce up and include in the display case
a butterscotch 1977 Datsun pickup, should be between the white Chevy Van and the TR7 coupe, on the bottom row (settled for the 1/64-or-so slot car, no King Cab, but rollover bar and racy numbers; I like it; this photo shows the right color)
a white 1989 Toyota Xtra Cab pickup, should be on the right end of the bottom row (settled for the 1/64 4WD racer model; I like it, too)

So there: it is complete but patchy, now. I suppose I may find other, more nearly exact models, but it will be accidental, not part of a concerted effort. Whew. Updated photos pending.

Easy to see that some of the items are not 1:43 scale. You will eventually, if you have the patience, learn how each example differs from the ideal I was searching for. As a matter of reference, there were a yellow Barracuda and a blue Valiant built at 1:25 scale, a little more than seven inches long (I had shrunk their images to more-or-less fit); the VW bus is 1:43 and a bit more than four inches long.

What may not be so obvious is that each of the images above has been (or wll be) made into a hot spot (SORRY. Hotspots flew away with the FOTOTIME DISASTER) : click on a car and be transported to a page that shows a larger image of the model and perhaps a photo of the actual vehicle as it appeared in my history. I expect the current clips from the big image will eventually be replaced by individual photos of higher quality.

Around the end of October, 2001, I will have bought more than 300 (three hundred) miniature cars and trucks. Addicted, compulsive, impulsive little-car buyer. That's what I found inside, once this project got rolling near the beginning of April, 2001.

Update, January, 2004: more than eight hundred little cars and trucks.

Update, January, 2005: more than a thousand little cars and trucks.

Some date in 2007: Created a "Model Cars" album in FLICKR.

August, 2015: I have no way to know how many hundreds of little cars have been added to my collection. Quite a few are 1:18-scale, which is kind of self-limiting because of space requirements.

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