Welcome to my blog. It was initially created in 2012 to post music I recorded. I posted a few quick experiments in 2013 and never posted music again, though I did record more. Since I already owned lots of boats and outboard motors, I decided to post about boats, ATVs and snowmobiles. I posted a few snowmobile photos and then nothing until 2025. Since I planned to sell my cottage and move south, I started selling all my boats and motors and switched to Radio Control vehicles in early 2024. In February 2025 I started collecting 1:64 scale diecast vehicles and decided to catalogue them on this blog...may you find freedom in my toys!

Sunday, September 14, 2025

M2 Machines 1:64: 1969 Ford Mustang Funny Car

The first-generation Ford Mustang was manufactured by Ford from March 1964 until 1973. The introduction of the Mustang created a new class of automobiles known as pony cars. The Mustang's styling, with its long hood and short deck, proved wildly popular and inspired a host of competition.

It was introduced on April 17, 1964, as a hardtop and convertible, with the fastback version following in August 1964. Upon introduction, the Mustang, sharing its platform with the Falcon, was slotted into the compact car segment.

The first-generation Mustangs grew in overall dimensions and engine power with each revision. The 1971 model featured a drastic redesign. After an initial surge, sales steadily declined, and Ford began working on a new generation Mustang. With the onset of the 1973 oil crisis, Ford was prepared, having already designed the smaller Mustang II for the 1974 model year. This new car shared no components with preceding models.








M2 Machines 1:64: 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air

The 1957 Chevrolet is a car that was introduced by Chevrolet in September 1956 for the 1957 model year. It was available in three series models: the upscale Bel Air, the mid-range Two-Ten, and the economy/fleet model One-Fifty. A two-door station wagon, the Nomad, was produced as a Bel Air model. An upscale trim option called the Delray was available for Two-Ten 2-door sedans. It is a popular and sought after classic car. These vehicles are often restored to their original condition and sometimes modified. The car's image has been frequently used in toys, graphics, music, movies, and television. The '57 Chevy, as it is often known, is an auto icon.




Thursday, September 11, 2025

Tarmac Works 1:64: Vertex Nissan Silvia S13

The Nissan Silvia is the series of small sports cars produced by Nissan. Versions of the Silvia have been marketed as the 200SX or 240SX for export, with some export versions being sold under the Datsun brand.

The Gazelle was the twin-model of Silvia sold in Japan at different dealerships for the S110 and S12 generations; the Gazelle name was also used in Australia for the S12 generation. For the S13 generation in Japan, the Gazelle was replaced with the 180SX, which was a hatchback model of the Silvia with pop-up headlights that was also sold as the 200SX and 240SX for export purposes.



Para64 1:64: 1999 Honda Civic Si

The sixth-generation Honda Civic is an automobile produced by Honda from 1995 until 2000. It was introduced in 1995 with 3-door hatchback, 4-door sedan and 2-door coupe body styles, replicating its predecessor's lineup. The sixth-generation Civic offered two new 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engines and a new continuously variable transmission (CVT) on the HX model. The coupe and sedan are 2.3 in (58 mm) longer and the hatchback is 4.3 in (109 mm) longer than the previous-generation Civic. This was the last generation of Civic to have front double-wishbone suspension, as the succeeding seventh generation would change the front suspension to a MacPherson strut.

A 5-door hatchback was also on offer, replacing the Honda Concerto hatchback in Europe. This model utilized the same design language as the rest of the Civic range but was actually a hatchback version of the Honda Domani, sharing that car's platform which was derived from the previous-generation (EG/EH/EJ) Civic. The Domani replaced the sedan version of the Concerto in Japan while the sedan version of the Concerto was directly replaced by the sixth-generation Civic sedan in other markets. Two wagons were also made available; the JDM Orthia, based on the Civic sedan/3-door hatchback line, and a 5-door hatchback/Domani-based model for Europe, sold as the Civic Aerodeck. Neither type was offered in North America. The Civic 5-door hatchback also formed the basis for the 1995 Rover 400 although the 4-door sedan version of the Rover was quite distinct from the Domani. The sixth generation Civic was the first one where Honda made a dedicated version for the European market.




Tarmac Works 1:64: Lexus LS400

The Lexus LS is a series of full-size luxury sedans that have served as the flagship model of Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, since 1989. For the first four generations, all LS models featured V8 engines and were predominantly rear-wheel-drive. In the fourth generation, Lexus offered all-wheel-drive, hybrid, and long-wheelbase variants. The fifth generation changed to using a V6 engine with no V8 option, and only one length was offered.

As the first model developed by Lexus, the LS 400 debuted in January 1989 with the second generation debuting in November 1994. The LS 430 debuted in January 2000 and the LS 460/LS 460 L series in 2006. A domestic-market version of the LS 400 and LS 430, badged as the Toyota Celsior, was sold in Japan until the Lexus marque was introduced there in 2006. In 2006 (for the 2007 model year), the fourth generation LS 460 debuted the first production eight-speed automatic transmission and an automatic parking system. In 2007, V8 hybrid powertrains were introduced on the LS 600h/LS 600h L sedans.

Development of the LS began in 1983 as the F1 project, the code name for a secret flagship sedan. At the time, Toyota's two existing flagship models were the Crown and Century models – both of which catered exclusively for the Japanese market and had little global appeal that could compete with international luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar. The resulting sedan followed an extended five-year design process at a cost of over US$1 billion and premiered with a new V8 engine and numerous luxury features. The Lexus LS was intended from its inception for export markets, and the Lexus division was formed to market and service the vehicle internationally. The original LS 400 debuted to strong sales and was largely responsible for the successful launch of the Lexus marque.

Since the start of production, each generation of the Lexus LS has been manufactured in the Japanese city of Tahara, Aichi. The name "LS" stands for "Luxury Sedan", although some Lexus importers have preferred to define it as "Luxury Saloon". The name "Celsior" is taken from Latin word "celsus", meaning "lofty" or "elevated".



GreenLight 1:64: 1991 Ford LTD Crown Victoria

The Ford LTD Crown Victoria is a line of full-size cars that was manufactured and marketed by Ford from the 1980 to 1991 model years. Deriving its name from the Ford Fairlane coupe of 1955-1956, the LTD Crown Victoria served as the flagship of the Ford LTD model range in North America. Serving as the Ford counterpart of the Mercury Grand Marquis, the model line was offered as a two-door and a four-door sedan and a five-door station wagon (including the woodgrained LTD Country Squire).

For 1983, Ford revised its full-size and mid-size product ranges across all three of its divisions; the LTD Crown Victoria remained the sole full-size Ford sedan with the mid-size Granada taking on the LTD name. Following a minor update for the 1988 model year, the LTD Crown Victoria was discontinued after the 1991 model year, replaced by the redesigned Ford Crown Victoria (dropping the station wagon body style and retiring the LTD prefix).

Through its production, the LTD Crown Victoria was produced by Ford at several different facilities. At launch, it was built at the Louisville, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Oakville plants. By 1982, Oakville was the sole assembly location, and the following year production was added alongside the Mercury Grand Marquis at St. Louis Assembly in Hazelwood, Missouri. Canadian production shifted from Oakville to St. Thomas Assembly in Southwold, Ontario for 1984 models; the facility would become the exclusive production site a year later, producing the LTD Crown Victoria until 1991.



M2 Machines 1:64: 1976 Dodge Adventurer 150

The D series (also called D/W series) is a line of pickup trucks that was sold by Dodge from October 1960 to 1993. The same basic design was retained until the October 1993 introduction of a completely redesigned Ram. The D/W series shared its AD platform with the Dodge Ramcharger/Plymouth Trail Duster twins. Two-wheel-drive (4×2) models were designated D, while four-wheel-drive (4×4) models were designated W.




M2 Machines 1:64: 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner 440

The Plymouth Road Runner is a muscle car introduced by Chrysler in the United States for the 1968 model year and marketed under its Plymouth brand. Initially based on the Belvedere, the brand's basic mid-size model, the Road Runner combined a powerful engine with a spartan trim level and a price that undercut increasingly upscale and expensive muscle cars such as the Pontiac GTO and Plymouth's own GTX. It was initially a sales success.

The Road Runner was built in three generations on the mid-size B platform. Like most muscle cars, its performance and sales declined in the 1970s due to an increasing focus on fuel economy and the adoption of more stringent U.S. emission standards. The nameplate became to a trim package for the compact Plymouth Volaré for model year 1976 - no longer offering any special performance capability - and was discontinued in 1980.



Mini GT 1:64: Fiat Abarth 595

The Fiat 500 is an A-segment city car manufactured and marketed by the Italian car maker Fiat, a subdivision of Stellantis, since 2007. It is available in hatchback coupé and fixed-profile convertible body styles, over a single generation, with an intermediate facelift in Europe in the 2016 model year. Developed during FIAT's tenure as a subdivision of FCA, the 500 was internally designated as the Type 312.

Derived from the 2004 Fiat Trepiùno 3+1 concept (designed by Roberto Giolito), the 500's styling recalls Fiat's 1957 Fiat 500, nicknamed the Bambino, designed and engineered by Dante Giacosa, with more than 4 million sold over its 18-year (1957–1975) production span. In 2011, Roberto Giolito of Centro Stile Fiat received the Compasso d'Oro industrial design award for the Fiat 500.

Manufactured in Tychy, Poland, and Toluca, Mexico, the 500 is marketed in more than 100 countries worldwide, including North America, where the 500 marked Fiat's market return after 27 years. The millionth Fiat 500 was produced in 2012 and the 2 millionth in 2017, after 10 years. The 2.5-millionth Fiat 500 was produced in the Tychy, Poland plant, in March 2021. The 500 has won more than 40 major awards, including "Car of the Year" (2007) by the British magazine Car, the 2008 European Car of the Year, and the "World's Most Beautiful Automobile".



DCT 1:64: Toyota Corolla Levin GT-APEX

The AE86 series of the Toyota Corolla Levin / Sprinter Trueno are small, front-engine/rear-wheel-drive compact cars within the mostly front-engine/front-wheel-drive fifth generation Corolla (E80) range - marketed and manufactured by Toyota from 1983 to 1987 in coupé and liftback configurations.

The cars were light, affordable, easily modifiable, and had a five-speed manual transmission, a limited slip differential (optional), MacPherson strut front suspension, near 50/50 front/rear weight balance, and a front-engine/rear-drive layout - at a time when this configuration was waning industry-wide. In certain areas of the world (and optional in others) it was powered by a high revving (7800 rpm) twin-cam engine.

Widely popular for Showroom Stock, Group A, and Group N, Rally and Club racing, the cars' inherent qualities also earned the AE86 an early and enduring international prominence in the motorsport discipline of drifting. The AE86 was featured centrally in the popular, long-running Japanese manga and anime series titled Initial D (1995-2013) as the main character's drift and tofu delivery car. In 2015, Road & Track called the AE86 "a cult icon, inextricably interwoven with the earliest days of drifting."

The AE86 would go on to inspire the Toyota 86 (2012-present), a 2+2 sports car jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, manufactured by Subaru - and marketed also as the Toyota GT86, Toyota GR86, Toyota FT86, Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ.

In November 2021, Toyota temporarily restarted the production of a limited number of parts for the AE86, with dealers beginning to take orders for new steering knuckle arms and rear brake calipers. Rear axle half shafts have also been scheduled for new production. Toyota has also announced that this reboot is temporary, and parts will only be available as long as stocks last.



Enchery 1:64: 2021 Land Rover Range Rover

The Land Rover Range Rover, generally shortened to Range Rover, is a 4WD luxury mid to full size crossover marque and sub-brand of Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India-based Tata Motors. The Range Rover line was launched in 1970 by British Leyland and since 2022 is in its fourth generation.

Additional models have been launched under the Range Rover name, including the Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque, and Range Rover Velar.




M2 Machines 1:64: 1964 Dodge A100 Panel Van

The A100 is a range of compact vans and trucks manufactured and marketed from 1964 to 1970 by Chrysler Corporation under the Dodge marque in the United States and the Fargo marque in Canada.

The A100 competed with the Ford Econoline, Chevrolet Van, Chevy Corvair Greenbrier, and the Volkswagen Type 2. The range included a pickup truck and van, both with a "forward control" design. Placing the driver on top of the front axle with the engine between the front seats, just behind the front wheels makes it a "cab over" vehicle. The unibody vehicles used a short 90 in (2,286 mm) wheelbase. An A108 was also available from 1967 to 1970, with a longer 108 in (2,743 mm) wheelbase. The A108 was popular with camper conversion companies. A substantially modified, Hemi-powered A100 wheelstanding exhibition pickup called the "Little Red Wagon" driven by Bill "Maverick" Golden was a popular drag strip attraction from the 1960s to the early 2000s.