Seeing as I have a break from school, I am back in the lightbox again on this Teutonic Tuesday! Here are two 80’s droptop convertibles that perfectly encapsulate the state of the burgeoning affordable executive market in Europe of the time.

Hey LaLD! Today I’ve decided to try a new theme day. As you’ve probably noticed, a large portion of my 1:64 scale collection revolves around the delightfully mundane and everyday; thus, I propose that we have Suburban Sundays! This will be a showcase of all the cars that are average enough to be not particularly…

As you likely recall, when Matra first approached PSA after its takeover at Simca/Chrysler they brought with them the “Dessin Orange”, an orange sketch of an MPV that they foresaw as the future of family transport. The subsequently cold response from PSA meant that the design went to Renault where it became the first…

The station wagon is a body style that is increasingly associated with luxury marques and segments in America today, but its roots obviously harken back to the days of rudimentary practicality and outright load-lugging capacity.

Well, looks like the end of an era unless something changes soon. Interesting because this is an issue with Volvo’s non-car related branch so they don’t really have a direct stake in it, thus it’s hard to say how it will go down. That said, here’s the required reading and here’s the plea to Volvo. I feel sorry for…

Two weeks ago we took a look at the progenitor of all modern European-style compact vans—the Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot Partner. Today’s machine was right on the heels of that iconic pair: Renault’s Kangoo, released only a year after PSA’s two vans. While Renault may have been fudging a bit to come up with a…

The French have a knack for making charming cars. Even in this age of homogeneity and relative blandness, the French are able to carve out characterful little machines that may not be fast or particularly nimble, but are cute and whimsical: the Citroen C4 Cactus; the Renault Twizy; the Citroen E-Mehari. Yet this has…

Matra’s relationship with the French Big Three has always been one of political rife and strife, yet highlighted with many brilliant cars that resulted from subsequent partnerships with PSA and Renault. The Matra-Simca range produced masterpieces such as the Bagheera, Murena, and Rancho. However, Matra would go on to…

Hey LaLD! It’s been a while since I’ve showed up because Uni and the holidays have kept me busy and entertained thusfar—although I have been excitedly awaiting any opportunity for me to come back to one of the best diecast communities on the internet! Luckily I have a bit of breathing space this week and so, armed…

It’s been about six months since we’ve looked at some Design Details and, as I’m a bit burned out from Uni at the moment, I’ve decided it’s high time to look at some again.

Inspired by the FP post this morning: what would your three-car dream garage would look like if ONLY Camries were allowed (no, the Avensis and Aurion [JUST KIDDING THE AURION COUNTS NOW] don’t count.) Here’s mine:

Renault’s 5. The 4. The Dauphine. All iconic little cars from the Diamond brand that sold well into the millions within a single generation. Since their time, there have been plenty of generations of small Renaults that have gone into the seven digits, but only one truly captured the pizzazz and joie de vivre of the…

No history lesson from me today, guys; I’ve just been meaning to put these three recent Tomica castings together for a while now since I find it admirable for Tomica to replicate three directly competing mainstream vehicles in its model range. So, without further ado, here’s some pictures of some lovely Japanese vans:…

Ok, one last one for today. Or, in the case of French automakers, one last one for forever. The Citroen C6 and Renault Vel Satis, the last attempts by the Gallic marques to make something properly big and comfortable. (Yes, Peugeot had the 607, but Norev made only like three of those in 1:64 so obviously I don’t have…

After a tiring but fun day of hanging out with friends, I’m back on my computer and ready to finish up this French Friday action! So, continuing where we left off this morning, the big three of France did indeed produce successors to each of their large executive five-seat berlines of the ‘70s and ‘80s despite largely…

Alright, since Jobjoris seems to think I’m lacking in the French Friday department (and because this is my last French Friday before Uni), I’m going to take advantage of today a bit more than usual so please excuse my consistent postings. Anyways, this time we’ve got three competing French executives from the turn of…

As far as automakers go, the French have oft-been considered some of the most innovative and inventive with respect to market niches. They did invent the hatchback, crossover, and MPV after all with the Citroen Traction Avant, the Matra Simca Rancho, and the (Matra) Renault Espace, respectively. However, in the ‘90s,…

On this Thursday on the Thames we have three of Lotus’s greatest lightweight two seaters which range from playful roadsters to dedicated track machines. Technically, the latter isn’t strictly a Lotus at all, rather it’s Caterham’s modern-day interpretation of the classic Lotus Seven.

I’ve been meaning to put these two together ever since I got Matchbox’s E430 from a recent eBay purchase! The Audi may be a sports-oriented performance longroof and the Mercedes a comfort-oriented pragmatic longroof, but together they make about the perfect dream garage!