Solido 1/43 Scale Diecast Lionelville Police 1948 Chrysler Windsor

Hooray! This is it - the last one of our series on Lionel City / Lionelville diecast cars and trucks. We covered 18 sets with 24 items; cars, trucks, trailers, airplanes. Now I know there's a ton of cars and trucks out there in the wide world that I didn't even touch but really, I stopped collecting these over a dozen years ago and I'm just fine with what I have. Truth be told a bunch of these started making there way to fleaBay and other on-line sales. For the most part the Lioneville stuff will stay and the Lionel City stuff will go. 'Linelville' fits in nicely with the 'Marxville' and 'Plasticville' themes.

This last offering is a real nice 1948 Chrysler Windsor Police Squad Car made in 03-88. That's the marking molded on the bottom of the chassis and one I'm assuming is the production date - could be wrong though. It measures 4 13/16" (12.21cm) L x 1 5/8" (4.12cm) W x 1 5/8" (4.12cm) H and is a very deep blue, deeper I would say than Navy Blue. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Solido 1/43 Diecast Lionelville 1950 Chevy Taxi

We've got a new entry into the Lionel vehicle line-up today: Solido from France. Solido is known for their line of highly detailed diecast cars and trucks and it's no surprise that they would have done something in Lionel livery. This is a real nice addition to the Lionelville fleet, a taxi, which of course one needs to pick-up or drop off passengers at the Lionel station. My sample (as well as the rest I'll be featuring here in the next week or so) has no box, but has weathered being in storage quite well. It measures  4 1/2" (11.43cm) L x 1 5/8" (4.12cm) W x 1 5/8" (4.12cm) H. The number appearing under the chassis "05-86" I'm assuming is a production date. If it is, then this car was made in 1985 and wasn't part of the glut of vehicles to hit the market for Lionel's 100th birthday in 2000. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Eastwood Automobilia / Ertl 1/43 Scale Diecast Lionelville Fire Chief Car & Panel Van Set N o. F085 - Pt 1

From the mid-'90s to about 2001-ish I was scarfin' up any car and truck with 'Lionel' on it, even though I was pretty much hooked on Marx by 1996 or so. I still had Lionel trains and there was some pretty cool things coming out back then I just had to have. Just had to have....

...and then they just sat in boxes only now being brought out for photography and eventual selling. That is the collector's dilemna. We see glitzy, shiny little baubels and 'just have to have' them. It's a shame that I didn't take them out and use them on my layouts - at least that way I could have claimed to have some fun with them. Oh well, and life goes on.

Here's a nice twin-pack of vehicles made by Ertle for Eastwood Automobilia, a noted diecast vehicle outlet. Eastwood Automobilia was quite the rage back then however, I couldn't find out any history in searching the Web or whether they're still in existence. This set includes a spiffy 1932 Ford Roadster Lionelville Fire Chief's car with operating 'mother-in-law' seat, and a 1938 Chevy Lionel Plant Maintenance panel van. 

In our first installment we'll take a look at the Fire Chief's car which measures 3 7/8" (9.84cm) L x 1 1/2" (3.81cm) W x 1 5/8" (4.12cm) H  Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

The cars come wrapped in tissue and placed in a plastic bag, and then in their own individual box, and then in the set box. Takes forever just to get 'em un-boxed

My car had sat around for so long it developed splits in the left rear and spare tires.

Here we have it posed by a rural fire station