By Larry B. Schuknecht
Some people like assembling model car kits, others just enjoy buying and collecting toy cars. Before model car kits became available in the early 1950’s if you wanted a model car you built it from scratch. The quality of such builds depended on the skill of the creator. I admire what some people have done with the simplest materials to create what I view as a piece of art. Following are samples of a few scratch or what I call semi-scratch built or hybrid model cars.
First we have a true completely scratch built 1914 Stutz. Enjoy.
Secondly we have a Stanley Steamer which was a completely scratch built model.
Third we have another Stanly Steamer created from a early 1950’s (copyrighted in 1949) Hudson Miniatures model of which consisted of a few plastic parts and sheets of balsa wood with great detailed instructions.
Fourth we have a model of my Model T Ford speedster which I built upon the chassis of a Franklin Mint 1914 Model T Ford Touring car. I built the actual car about 14 years ago and after I sold it about 5 years ago I missed it so much that I was inspired to build the model. A year ago I bought the actual car back as parts and rebuilt it and I enjoy driving it again.
The fifth car is one that raises suspicions in my mind that it was created overseas in a facility knocking them out in quantity but I must say that I really do not know.
Last but not least we have a fantastic truly scratch built model of the highest quality on display in the Pierce Arrow Museum in Buffalo, N.Y.
