Matchbox Rolls Royce Silver Cloud Restoration

A little bit of vintage British luxury to class up your evening a bit. This old Roller was picked up on ebay for very cheap, and given a new lease on life!

I've always loved this casting, but never had one until now. I think its new color suits it well, as do the wheels. The wheels weren't my first choice, but I have a pretty limited supply of nice wheels at the moment.. Oh well, I like it. 

Maisto Porsche 356A Coupe - Detail and Wheel Swap

The Porsche 356 is one of history's all time greats. Great styling, a perky little air cooled engine, and fantastic competition history make for a perfect classic. I always made fun of the guys that, back in the day, thought the end times were near when the 356 was replaced by the new-fangled 911.. But having spent some time around the old bathtub Porsches, I can certainly see why one would think that way.. I'd have a hard time buying a 911 knowing that the 356 is out there...

The 356 is a car that has been sadly under-represented in small scale diecast. I have a Brumm 1/43 model, the Maisto 1/24th replica of the original 356, and a very well-worn Bburago 1/18 356 Cabriolet. That Bburago is very special to me, as it was the first diecast car I ever received as a kid.

I've wished for a long time that Matchbox would do a 356. I've heard rumors for a while that Hot Wheels is doing one, but I haven't seen it yet. So I picked up this Maisto at the Dollar Tree recently.. Nice casting, but no interior, ugly wheels, and lack of tampo detailing left a lot to be desired.

So I decided to do it up a bit... Some Matchbox wheels, and a bit of silver sharpie detailing is all I did here, but wow did it transform this car!! Now I'm hoping to find more of these cars to play with :)

Lesney #33c-Lamborghini Miura Superfast Chassis Swap

The Lamborghini Miura is an absolute classic, one of my all time favorite cars. And the Lesney version is just as good. A real gem, everyone should have one in their diecast collections.  I made a sort of reverse-transitional version. Just a chassis and interior swap with a beater purchased from ebay. As far as I know, there were never any made like this, so this is a "one-of-none" Whatcha think??

Other Miura restorations I have completed:

Regular Wheel Miura

Superfast Miura

And some of the other Miuras I have in my collection.

And some 1:1s to boot!

Amelia Island Concours d/Elegance 2015

Keeneland Concours d'Elegance 2014

Lesney #21c-Commer Milk Float Restoration

The Commer Milk Float, which debuted in the Lesney 1-75 lineup in 1961, isn't one of the most popular models with modern-day collectors. Though there are some rare variations, it tends to pass mostly under the radar. But that's why I like it! It's a cool little casting, nicely colored and detailed. Here's one I picked up in a big job lot. I'm embarrased to say that it has been painted for nearly a year, but I only recently got around to ordering decals. Here it is as it arrived to the workbench:

Condition isn't too bad overall. A quick repaint and front axle replacement was all that was really needed. Turns out, the front wheels were damaged as well, so a replacement set was pulled from the "junkyard" I didn't have a mint green color to match, so I went for a similar pastel shade of blue. Not original, but I could easily imagine Lesney painting it in this shade back in the day. 

You may notice the banner decal on the top is missing... Funny story about that. Turns out the decals I purchased were actually stickers. I thought they were waterslide, so I had it submerged in water before I realized it! So the adhesive was completely ruined! Oh well, live and learn. I might order another set sometime. 

Lesney #19d-Lotus Racing Car Restoration

Evening everyone.. Here is a Lotus Racing Car restoration I recently completed. It came out well, even though it was recently brought to my attention that the front tires are the wrong size.. Potato potahto haha. Here's what I started with..

Certainly in better shape than my usual restorations, but I've been wanting to do one of these up for a while, so under the knife it went..

I decided to recreate the fairly rare orange version. The driver came from a big lot of beater Lesneys I recently purchased. Was very surprised to find an intact driver. It was dirty but in great shape!

Matchbox Lesney #75b-Ferrari Berlinetta Restoration

It's time.. time for ANOTHER FERRARI BERLINETTA!! Haha I think I'm up to 20 now.
This is actually a copy of a rare variation, the red with disc wheels. I've had the donor car for a while, but I finally got a much nicer example and decided to take this one to the workbench..

Here's the finished product:

My collection of variations... Any guesses as to which ones are customs??