Thoughts and advice from 25 years of re-spraying diecast cars (along with a few pictures of some recent projects!)

Although I'm far from an expert on re-painting Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars, I've been doing it on an amateur basis for going on 25 years now, so I thought I'd share some of my advice about how to do it well, along with some photos of some recently sprayed cars.

The format of this blog-post will be some very basic advice (for someone who's never done this at all), followed by my more in-depth top 15 advice list.  

Basic Steps (that many readers will already know):

1.  Disassembly is a must:  Why?  Because even the steadiest hand and the finest brush won't allow you to brush paint right up to the windows, without getting it ON the windows.  You HAVE to take the windows out.  Plus, without taking the windows out, the inside metal of the car won't be painted, and will still be visible in the old color.  

We've all seen the gross flea market cars where some kid has attempted to change the color of the car, using some poster/tempura paint, with paint all over the windows, or WITHOUT paint in the new color going all the way up to the window.  So bite the bullet and realize that although disassembly is a pain, it makes everything MUCH easier...  

2.  How do you disassemble a car?  Easy (in concept), just drill out the rivets.  Most cars have 2 rivets on the bottom, one at the front and one at the back (though older Lesney cars sometimes have 2 rivets at the back, for a total of 3 (not including a potential rivet to hold the window glass in place)). 

Get a good and sharp set of drill bits, and start with the tiniest drill bit (this one will take the longest since you are getting the hole started) in the middle of the rivet, and go about 1/8th-1/16th of an inch deep.  Once the first pilot hole is done, just start moving up the drill bit sizes.  Most times you'll only need about 5-10 seconds of drilling as you move to a larger size - since the drill will immediately catch/bite using the original hole and expand the hold to the new size.  Do all 2-3 rivets for the car (or cars if you are doing multiple cars at the same time) before switching to the next largest drill bit.  Eventually you'll almost completely (90%?) drill out the rivet and suddenly the remains of the rivet will break, and the car will suddenly pop apart.  Once you have 1 rivet popped, you can start pulling apart the baseplate from the top of the car, and the other rivet(s) will quickly pop as well.  

Most cars have 4 main pieces - the diecast body (top), the baseplate (metal on old cars, plastic on new cars), an interior, and the plastic glass, plus the 2 axles with wheels.  Older cars may have more than 4 pieces (opening doors are individual pieces, sometimes there are multiple body pieces, or separate grills, etc.).  It'll all be pretty obvious once you get the car apart.  

On older cars (which are my favorites - and so also my favorites to respray) the glass is often held in place with another rivet on the underside of the roof.  For the glass rivet, I actually use a really large (wide) drill bit, since if I start with a tiny drill and try to make a pilot hole I'll actually drill right through the roof.  Instead I just try to remove enough of the expanded part of the rivot to allow the glass to pull away from the roof.  

3.  Paint ONLY using spray paint:  Again - this is a fairly hard and fast rule.  Don't try to brush paint a car - since you'll have lots of brush marks at the end, and the paint won't be smooth.  Spray painting is THE way to go to get a nice, smooth, professional looking finish (more on this later).  I've brush painted trim (headlights, taillights, sometimes grills, etc.) with moderate success.  But I've had very little success brush paining body panels (like doing a 2 tone paint job) since again the paint often dries with visible rough paint marks, and my hand is just not steady enough to make clean and straight lines with a brush.

The one exception to the brush painting advice is interior plastic...  In real life I really like brown leather car interiors, and so I often brush paint interiors in a tan or chestnut shade.   For some reason the plastic doesn't show up brush strokes.  Paint the interior a normal color (sometimes the casting will have a green or purple or sparkly interior which is entirely unrealistic and which NEEDS to be changed), and change black interiors (black absorbs light and hides detail) to a color that can actually be seen!

Top 15 advice list:

15.  Don't even start this project if you are not detail oriented/a perfectionist!  It's finicky, intricate, detail oriented stuff that you are doing.  If you aren't detail oriented, or don't really care about it, then it's just not worth doing.  Save yourself the time now!  But on the other hand if you are detail oriented and you love your diecast cars, then re-spraying them into a new car is a very do-able and satisfying project!

14.  The final project will be cool - but it's debatable HOW much you'll like it and if you will think that the time and expense were justified in the end.  If there is a color variation that already exists in the same color that you want to paint it in, then just go on EBay and buy that color variation.  It'll be much easier and cheaper (and more valuable)!  

13.  The final product will be valueless:   In general, code 3 (customized) cars are not worth anything besides their curiosity value.  So DON'T paint a high value nice condition car (it's a bad investment - plus it'll piss off other collectors who will think you ruined it!).  YOU are probably the only person who will truly appreciate the end-product!

12.  Be realistic about the time required:  Painting cars always takes longer (a LOT longer) than I expect.  This is not a one hour project!  

11.  (Related to #12 above)  Do more than one car at a time:  Doing multiple cars allows you to pick up some volume efficiencies from doing each of the various steps.  But don't do TOO many cars - or else you'll get overwhelmed, you'll get tired and start to rush, or it'll get too hard to remember which parts go with which car.  In my opinion about 4-5 cars is the optimal number to do at any one time.  

10.  (Related to #12 above...)  Patience is key.  Don't rush, take your time.  It's ok to redo a step.  

9.  Choose your projects carefully:  Only do cars/castings that you really like.  If you don't like the casting design BEFORE you paint it, you won't like it that much more AFTER you paint it.  And if you don't like it, you won't be inspired to really put the time and energy and patience into making the final project look terrific.

Also consider the condition of the cars that you are doing.  While scratched window glass can be mostly repaired (dip the glass into a container of MopandGlo and let it dry - the MopandGlo will fill in the scratches amazingly), I've never figured out how to repair/unbend axles (though there are plenty of guys out there who CAN do this), and I've never figured out a good way to repaint wheels without having the new paint look all blobby.  So either be OK with the faded wheel paint, or replace them with new wheels from other donor cars (easier said than done - since the wheels and axles need to be the same size and width or they won't work!).  

In summary - do cars that are in poor enough condition that you don't feel bad about ruining their originality, but in good enough condition that the unrestored parts of them won't detract from the new paint

8.  Spray painting cars is both incredibly easy... ...but can also be surprisingly tough.  Do smooth passes, a few inches away from the car.  I put the car on a painting block that I made on 8 inch lengths of 2 inch wide pine boards, sitting on nails pounded into the board (to keep the bottom lip of the body from touching the block), which allows me to turn the block for different passes from different angles.  Do the passes slow enough that you get good paint coverage, but not so slow that the paint collects on it and starts to drip/run.  You DON'T want thick paint - it'll dry funny - and it obscures all the great Lesney detail that made you like the car in the first place!  If you get the paint on too thick, just wipe it off with paint thinner (a NECESSARY item to have for this project) and respray it.  Allow the paint to slightly dry (10-20 minutes) between coats.  Allow the paint to dry much more (several hours) before handling the casting AT ALL , or before turning the casting upside down to do the inside and bottom (as well as getting a different angle on the outside of the casting).  In the unlikely scenario that the paint is NOT covering and you keep on adding more coats and it continues to not cover - it's probably too wet and is running.  Let it dry (or if already too drippy - wipe it off and start over).  

7.  Choose your paint carefully.  Get several different colors and types of paints.  Some paints work great - others don't - even if they are from the same brand/type of paints.  

Choose your colors carefully as well.  Some colors look great - others just don't.  About 10-20% of the time I'll spray a car and then think that I just don't like the way the color looks - it's too dark, or too muted, or too crazy and unrealistic, or just wrong somehow, and I'll wipe it off and redo it in a different color.  

I've had REALLY good luck with metallic colors - bronzes, coppers, silvers, etc.  You'll see several of these colors in the photos of the recently done cars.  In fact, that bronze color on the Lesney Mercury sedan and Scania tractor is my FAVORITE paint color ever - I've probably done 10+ cars in that paint color (and it's a big standard sized Rustoleum spray paint can available for $5 from any WalMart/Home Depot).  When I first started spraying cars I used the little 4 inch Testor cans available from hobby Shops - but I'm not convinced that those Testor cans are any better than standard (and much cheaper on a per ounce basis) Rustoleum cans (though the Testor cans DO come in a wider variety of colors!).  

When choosing a color - think about how realistic it will be.  Most real cars are painted white, black, silver or red.  Unfortunately, I haven't had great luck with the particular white or red shades that I've tried so far.  And I don't like black since it hides rather than shows detail.  Painting a luxury car a wild shade of purple or lime green is going to look a bit odd, though those can be great colors for muscle cars.   

6.   You don't need to strip all the paint from the old casting, but consider sanding it a bit to hide any existing paint chips:  Using paint stripper is messy, gross, environmentally unfriendly and it adds a lot of time to the process.  Most spray paints will provide excellent color coverage, and you won't see the old paint once the new paint is on.  However, if the old paint was significantly chipped, you MAY see the outline of the chips clearly visible in the new paint.  Therefore while I've stopped stripping the castings, I DO use a Dremel tool with a wire brush wheel attached to quickly sand/smooth the old paint and smooth down any chips. I don't worry about getting every speck of the old paint off unless it is really thick and blobby, or if it is so thick that it hides important metal detail in the casting.

5.  Have fun and consider additional customizations while you've got the car apart.  There are lots of customizations that are possible to do to a car besides just painting it.  The Mercury sedan in the foreground of the right-hand photo only came in a police/fire car, with an emergency police/fire light (in various shapes) on the roof.  So before I painted this car, I first ground down the lip surrounding the light (with a dremel tool), then I filled in the light hole with metal solder.  While the final result isn't perfect (you can see that the roof isn't perfectly smooth), I'm still pretty happy with it, and I now have a normal (non-Police/Fire) sedan that was never actually made by Lesney!  

Other customizations that I've done include:  1.  Cutting the roof off and making a convertible (cutting the roof off is easy with a Dremel cutting blade, but reforming the back deck into the shape of a convertible top can be pretty difficult), 2.  doing base plate swaps with other versions of the same casting, 3.  changing wheels, 4.  eliminating or adding huge off-road wheels (be warned that this can be pretty hard, etc.  

4.  Be VERY careful of fingerprints:  Avoid any serious handling of the car until the paint has had a chance to harden (overnight is best).   If not, when you pressing the hood/trunk/roof of the car to re-mate it to the baseplate - you'll transfer your fingerprints into the paint.  Seriously.  Learn from my mistakes - I've done this mistake WAY too many times!  

3.  The paint on repainted castings is VERY fragile:  For some reasons, it chips really easily.  I estimate that a repainted car will chip about 10 times easier than original paint.  I've chipped repainted cars just placing them back into cases!  I don't know why this is - I've tried adding primer and clear coat and they don't seem to make much of a difference (but feel free to experiment yourself!)

2.  Skip the primer and clear coat: Although you'd think that primer and clear coat would provide more protection and more durability, I'm frankly not convinced.  They add additional painting time (and more importantly - drying time).  Primer adds the possibility of being sprayed on too thickly and obscuring detail.  And clear coat can change the color of a lighter paint shade.  At this point, I just don't feel that their benefits offset their disadvantages - but I'll keep on experimenting and maybe I'll change my mind again!

1.  Use superglue to put the whole thing back together:  Serious restorers tap new screws and screw the body back together.  But I've never figured out how to do this - and frankly - superglue is a lot easier! 

Finally, enjoy your new and unique look!

The clash of the pizza vans

 

The term "Pizza Van" instantly conjures up just 1 image for me.

It was one of the most iconic cars from when I was a kid (and a car I didn't have!).  For several years, the VW Transporter (Dormobile) pizza van was advertised on the back of Matchbox blisterpacks as the prize for joining the Matchbox collectors club...

So I was very pleased when I finally found and acquired this example 30 years later (regardless of how it smelled of stale cigarette smoke).  But upon closer inspection, it's not actually THAT great of a casting, with no interior (hidden by opaque green windows), no suspension, no opening parts, and overly wide (and thus very inset) tire/wheels.  Regardless, it's THE iconic pizza van in my mind.  

But now there's a challenger!  Tomica's new Hi-Ace van, a nice model (though sadly no longer with any opening parts) is now available in the same color combination (Italian flag colors) pizza van livery! ...which means it's time for a showdown...   a comparison test...   the classic tale of champion vs. challenger!

But if you've been paying attention to the words I've been writing, then you probably already have a pretty clear idea of how this will end.... ...which is an easy win for the Tomica. Yes, the Lesney is iconic, and vintage, and has pretty reasonable detail and nice paint (though the Tomica has equivalently nice detail and paint), but it's no match for the Tomica's silky soft suspension, the classic boxy design, and the seperate glass/plastic headlights!  

We have a new pizza van winner!

Best Vintage Opel Diplomat (KAD cars)... ("What other Diplomat's ARE there?!?")

When you think of a vintage diecast Opel Diplomat, exactly 1 car typically comes to mind...  Lesney's excellent Matchbox Opel Diplomat, shown here in the rare and preferred Superfast form.  

This has always been a favorite car of mine.  Not scaled too large (it is based on a contemporary Chevy II chassis after all, so it definitely should be smaller than an Impala or the full size Mercurys or Lincoln Continental), nice detail, nice suspension, etc.   A very nice car!

But this blog title implies that there are competitors...   ...So...   ...ARE there any competitors?  

Yes!  

Yatming, for one, made an Opel Admiral (same car, just different trim level).  And while many vintage Yatmings are cheapo-feeling car, without detail or heft, there are a few Yatmings that have high levels of quality (almost approaching Tomica-levels).  Unfortunately, this Admiral is NOT one of those few high-quality Yatmings.  Instead, this IS a cheapo-feeling car.  While it is an interesting curiosity, this car has no chance of upstaging the Lesney Matchbox!  

But there is another vintage competitor, and unlike the Yatming, this competitor is in fact a worthy competitor.  The car is a very rare car - a Siku Opel Kapitan.  Yes, its a different name, but like the Admiral - the Kapitan name just signified a different trim level on the same basic car (hence the acronym - "KAD" cars - Kapitan, Admiral, Diplomat).  

The first thing you notice about the SIKU is how large it is...  ...this Kapitan DOES in fact feel like an Impala.  In the photos at the end of the blog you can see how much larger it is than the more correctly scaled Matchbox.  Unlike the Matchbox, which has an opening hood, the SIKU has opening doors.  In typical Siku fashion, the headlights are actual glass/plastic.  The trim and detail are fantastic, easily eclipsing the nicely detailed Matchbox.  Siku really shows off the curve of the trunk (which is there, but much less evident, in the Matchbox).  And the baseplate actually has detail, unlike the Matchbox.  

So, what's the verdict?  Can the Siku compete with the Lesney?  Yes!  While I'm slightly bothered by its large size, I just find the Siku to be a more worthy model than the excellent and far-better-known Matchbox...  

Amazing Edai Grip Zechan pumper truck - and almost identical looking Tomica version

I don't know what to call this truck, or this post.  

I always thought this Edai Grip Zechan pumper truck (model on the right) in green with the white cab was a cool model.  But then I saw this Tomica model THAT LOOKED ALMOST THE SAME and... ...well...  now I have 2!

In reality - they really are very different models, of different trucks - but they are painted so similarly - that they kind of look the same!  

P.S.  The Edai truck is way nicer than the Tomica.  

 

944 Turbos... The new Hot Wheels casting of one of my favorite cars is awesome. ...But can it compete with the Original Matchbox version???

I've always wanted a 944 Turbo.  It was the hot car when I was in high school - cheaper but faster than a 911 Carrera, and with classic late '80s looks.  So when Hot Wheels released a retro 944 turbo this year - in both red and gold - and maybe more colors to come - I went crazy over it.  The shape is just right, the wheels are cool, etc.  

But the Matchbox version from the Matchbox Toys International era is the OG, and one of my favorite castings from that time.  So is the new How Wheels version it's equal?

Simply put, no.  It's no comparison at all.  Pulling out the Matchbox version - in red, green and amazing yellow - let alone the premium red version - instantly shows that the Matchbox is way better.  The 2 castings are almost identical in size - and both are nicely detailed - but the all-metal construction of the Matchbox gives it much more of a quality heft, the Matchbox has opening doors, and the soft suspension of the Matchbox (vs. the rock-hard ride of the new Hot Wheels) all conspire to eliminate any hope of a close competition.  

It doesn't make me love the Hot Wheels any less.  It's a great model.  And I'm thrilled with Hot Wheels for bringing out these retro cars.  I just love the Matchbox castings more!  

New box of 12 Tomicas... Which is best and which is worst?

The problem with buying cars on-line is that you can't really see what they look like, the way you would if you got to see it in real life before you chose to buy it.  So when you open up your shipment, you are always curious about how the cars will actually look.

Today I got a box of 12 new Tomicas, fresh from Asia.  Most are new 2020 castings.  Some are great castings!  ...and some are not so great.  So for your benefit, I thought I'd rank them in order of how much I like them, from 12th (last place) up to 1st place...





























Tomica makes some winners...   ...and some losers.  In this group, there was an obvious loser.  This maroon Toyota Supra.  Its just a very uninspiring model.  Nothing about it that makes you want to play with it.  The window tint is so dark that at first it appears that Tomica really cheaped out and didn't even put in an interior (they didn't, there is an interior, you just have to look REALLY hard to see it).

The ONLY interesting thing about this model was that Tomica also made it's platform sharing mate (the BMW Z4 roadster - pictured in the back of this photo) and painted it in the same shade of maroon.

Other than that, its not a great model.  Its not as bad as the mid 2000s Mazda RX8 (in the running for the worst ever Tomica model), but its definitely not great.  It takes last place by a fairly wide margin.

11th place:  Nissan Note Police.  Tomica's micro cars are probably my least favorite genre within the Tomica range, and frankly, this one is no exception.  While it's ahead of the Supra, it still remains well behind 10th and better places.

10th place:  Nissan skyline.  If Tomica's micro cars are my least favorite genre, then Tomica's large Japanese luxury cars are probably in a tie with minivans for my favorite genre.  But this isn't the best Skyline sedan that they've done...  Its a little too narrow, with no opening doors.  On the other hand, the glass headlights are a nice touch, and I like it more than the previous Skyline sedan.  Overall, its good enough to be a solid casting and to just barely be edged out of 9th place.

9th place:  Ferrari F8 Tributo.  I'm a bit torn about this model.  From 1 perspective I like it a lot - especially the detail with all of its hood scoops.  On the other hand, it just seems too large - especially from the back - like it's out of scale.  Granted, the F8 has a BIG rear end (I was following one on the highway the other day), but this model might be too large.  I'm just not sure what to think about it...

8th place:  Isuzu Erga Personnel Transport.  This one is an interesting model - probably the first prisoner transport model ever made in 1/64 scale...  Although you can't see it well in the photo - all of the windows are heavily barred.  It may be the most interesting coach bus made by Tomica.  (Coach buses are ALSO a less favorite Tomica genre, since the scale is SO small...). 

7th place:  Toyota Supra.  This is part of the Dream Tomica series - and is painted like the Paul Walker 10 second car from the first Fast and the Furious movie.  The picture on the box is awful.  Frankly, even this photo doesn't make it look very nice.  But in the metal, it actually looks nicer than in the pictures.  Note however that its still not as nice as the (super nice) silver Supra from the Premium series.

6th place:  Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.  This car is part of the more expensive (2x normal price) Tomica Premium series.  As such, the wheels are accurately modeled, there is lots of detail, etc,  Overall, while I'm not a big fan of newer Lamborghini models, this is a reasonable and typical example of the (very nice ) Premium series.  FYI - the green paint is super cool. For this (6th place) and higher models, I highly recommend that you buy them if you don't have them already. 

5th place:  Toyota HiAce Communication Satellite car.  I liked this HiAce when it first came out last year.  I already like Tomica minivans, and I liked the HiAce, though I thought it was a little plain.  But dressed up with the satellite dish, it turns a nice model into a great model.  Although I ranked this as 5th place, it is definitely set apart from 6th and lower places.

4th place:  Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato.  Wow.  This is a GREAT model.  It's one of the best Tomica models EVER.  Its large, solid, with opening doors, wonderful detail, beautiful rich paint, glass headlights, etc.  I love this model.  You need it too!

3rd place:  Nissan Gloria Gran Tourimo Ultima.  This car is part of the Limited Vintage series, and as such is VERY expensive, about 6X the price of a typical model.  But I bought the car in red, and loved it so much that I ante'd up the cash to buy it in white as well... 

Some limited vintage models let you down with slightly smaller than normal scales, and make you wonder whether the excessive price tag is worth it.  But this is one of my favorite Limited Vintage castings, and the only 1 that I've liked enough to buy in multiple colors.  (Note that my favorite Limited Vintage is probably the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero). 

2nd place:  Cattle Transporter.  This is part of the extended length series - and is definitely my favorite model in that series.  The longer size allows it be (slightly) more accurately scaled, though it still claims to be 1:90 scale.  The truck comes with 8 cows (4 black, 4 white) and an opening ramp door in the back. 

1st place:  Aston Martin DB5.  This model is again part of the premium series (2x the normal Tomica price), and is 1 of the nicest models in that series.  Taking it out of the box I was stunned at how beautiful it looks.  At how metallic it looks.  At the incredible detail of the grill.  The solid opening doors.  etc.  It was a no-brainer to pick this car as the best car of the 12. 

Writer's note:  It's interesting that this set of12 cars includes my first 2  Tomica Aston Martins, both of which are amazing models.   As a real life Aston owner, I'm proud that the Tomica Astons are such faithful and beautiful models. 

Vintage Rolls Royce Convertible Comparison

If you've just read my prior post, you know that I love the Lesney-era Silver Shadows...  ...and I also love the "Silver Shadow Coupe", as Rolls Royce itself initially called the 2-door coupe that would soon be renamed the "Corniche", a name it would hold for the next 20 years.  Matchbox stuck with the original name even after Rolls Royce renamed it as the Corniche, resulting in a Corniche Convertible called a Silver Shadow Coupe.  Which I find confusing...

Regardless of the confusing name, it's a great model in both thin and thick-wheel transitional versions.  Technically it doesn't QUITE meet the strict definition of a transitional - as it was never available as a regular wheel model - but it was made during the era of the Transitionals, and thus is sometimes considered an honorary transitional.  It typically is seen in an aqua-ish blue, but occasionally can be found in a yellowish-greenish-gold color.  For most diecast enthusiast, it is the only known vintage model of a Rolls Royce convertible.

But the fascinating thing is that it is NOT the only vintage casting of a Rolls Royce Convertible...  Instead there are not one, but TWO other contenders within my collection - and they are both very interesting and worthy contenders...:  1.  Majorette did a lovely and highly detailed casting of the Corniche as part of their premium series (red with the brown interior).  And Impy LoneStar Roadmaster SuperCar (did you get that full name?) did a Silver Cloud convertible (red with the ivory interior). 

So with 3 distinct and beautiful castings, the obvious question is...   ...which is best?

Frankly, it's a hard question.  All 3 castings are great castings in their own right, and each have certain virtues and advantages to them.  But while all 3 are fascinating, picking a least favorite is a quick decision. 

The Majorette is an amazing piece.  The amount of detail is over-the-top crazy.  The lights are real plastic (not just painted - and the other 2 don't even have painted lights).  The wheels are correct replicas of a Corniche's wheels, rather than standard Matchbox or Impy wheels.  The interior appears to have individual seats rather than a 1 piece molded interior.  The are decals on the dashboard for dials.  The list of detail goes on and on and on... 

But while the detail is amazing, the model has 2 primary and over-arching flaws that limit it's ability to compete....  First, its BIG.  And while I like big models of big cars (and the Corniche was a BIG car), this model is TOO BIG.  It is overly large.  It is closer to 1/55 scale rather than 1/64th scale.  In the photos you can clearly see the size difference vs. the other models. 

Secondly, its got no heft.  It feels very light and plasticky.  It looks nice, but as soon as you touch it you feel let down by it's lack of substance.  You find yourself tapping the panels to see if anything is made of metal.  So in the critical "gotta-have-it" factor, the "pick it up and play with it" factor, the Majorette drops in contention compared to it's correctly scaled and HEFTY less detailed competitors, and ends up with a strong, but still third place, finish. 


Which brings us to the next casting - the Impy.  I've always been kind of fascinating by Impy's, with thier castings of atypically modeled cars, and multiple openings.  Impy is the only true vintage toy-maker (at least in 1/64 scale) who regularly offers opening doors AND trunks...  ...and sometimes even hoods. 

And this Silver Cloud is so cool that it might just be my favorite Impy casting.  The opening doors and trunk instantly give it a leg-up over the Lesney casting, but a closer inspection reveals that the hood opens as well - in TWO central hinged pieces!!!  A total of 5 opening parts in an era when you were lucky to get even 1... 

Scale-wise, the model appears slightly narrow (although full-size Clouds always look narrow to my eye - so maybe its actually accurate/correct?).  I've never been particularly sold on the Edsel-ish look of the Cloud's headlights and grills -  and I don't like it anymore in the casting.  But - its a pretty accurate representation  (and very well done!) of an ugly front-end.

The casting is identified as a Silver Cloud MPW, where MPW stands for Mulliner Park Ward - Rolls Royce' in-house coachbuilder. 

With 5 openings in the model, it's hard to argue with the level of detail.  And unlike the Majorette - this one is undoubtably made of metal.  In fact, this rare casting is SO solid, and the detail is so great, that I find myself wondering why Impy's like this one haven't been driven higher in price.  How is a Hot Wheels Redline worth so much more than this car?!?  But while the Impy Silver Cloud MPW is an amazing piece - is it good enough to de-throne the traditional king of diecast Rolls Royce Convertibles? 

As mentioned earlier, the Lesney/Matchbox casting, is a lovely casting, with nice size, nice weight, nice detail, a soft suspension from the glory days of the Transitional SuperFast era, etc.  I particularly like it with the thin rather than the thick wheels (the yellow/gold one shown has the later thicker wheels while the blue has the thin wheels).  In mint condition with an undamaged windshield (they are fragile so poor condition cars frequently have broken or bend windshields) and a tonneau boot cover still in place (again - these seem to get knocked off easily), it's a grand-looking car.  The grill and headlights are a single stuck-on metal piece - similar to the Silver Shadow Sedan's, which looks high quality until you compare it to the Impy - when it suddenly looks "stuck on".  Overall, it's a favorite casting of mine, and (before seeing the Impy) I would have had a hard time believing that anyone else also modeled it - let alone modeled it better...

So the real question is - can the Impy knock off the Lesney Matchbox and take the crown of best Vintage Rolls Royce convertible?

This one is definitely going to come down to personal choice.  The Impy is the more interesting casting.  And is of an older and even more rarely done model.  With 5 opening panels.  Including a SUPER cool center hinged hood.  In contrast, the Matchbox is a traditional Lesney Transitional - big and square and nice, a favorite model of mine for several decades.  How do I choose?

In the end, although I changed my mind a few times, the quircky charm of the rare Impy Cloud overwhelmed my loyalty of the traditional Matchbox Silver Shadow Coupe Convertible... 

Hope you enjoy the photos!