Source for 80's and early 90's autos?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’m modeling the early 1990’s and have found it hard to find automobiles from that era. 1950’s or earlier and modern vehicles abound but I’m finding it difficult to find those 80’s and 90’s versions. Does anyone have any sources?

2

Busch, Herpa, Kibri and the like have lots of 1980s vehicles - of course, they’re European models, and they aren’t cheap. A lot of those vehicle models were molded in the 1980s, so that was the then-current styles.

Sort of why IMO Presier unpainted figure sets have 1980s fashion styles, and Athearn Blue Box had a lot of 1960s style freight cars - that’s when the molds were created…

The (cheapish) die-cast stuff really came into being after 2005 or so, so you get vehicle styles that are now reasonable modern (but may not be in 20 years).

Here and there you’ll find stuff like Fresh Cherries (is that Motormax now - well,check Model Power anyway), or Atlas or Williams Bros. The 1/87 Vehicle Modlers website probably won’t help you too much (but it’s really cool to browse), but the yahoo group (if its still around) may.

3

River Point Station has a run of modern Fords, but maybe too recent for your modeling
http://riverpointstation.com/pages/vehicles.html

Trident had a lot of GMC/Chevy trucks, beyond their military models; some of the website is in German. also check Walthers to see what is available
http://www.trident-miniatures.co.at/Inhaltsverzeichnis.html

Also check Atlas vehicles; they show a 1993 Explorer, and used to have more
https://secure.atlasrr.com/mod1/items.asp?Cc=H975&iTpStatus=0&Tp=&Bc=

4

Dave,

Check a Walthers catalog; preferably one of the soft-bound editions - like the ones at your LHS . There should be a number of cars in the era you’re seeking.

I feel for you, Dave. Only a few short years ago there was a dearth of cars and trucks from the 30s thru the early/mid 40s. Thanks to Sylvan, Classic Metal Works, and Athearn, they’ve made some real strides in filling that void.

Tom

5

I checked Riverpoint Station’s website and they have discontinued their line of Ford crew cab pickup trucks. [:(]

6

That’s not what I read:

“News: January 16, 2013”
Crew Cab Pickup Trucks

If Riverpoint come thru with their new Ford Vans and E-Series Chassis (for box-trucks, dumps, flatbeds etc), that would be quite useful - a Ford E BoxVan with a mounted refrigerator unit unloading directly from a reefer is a common enough sight in urban areas…

Anyway, the OP can get a lot of 80s vehicles (and late 1970s vehicles are useful too for the early 1990s - think the Atlas Ford Fairmount) - the issue would be if he wants such vehicles CHEAPLY.