Space Ship

Borgward came and went within a single decade, but used their years well, producing a rather interesting and innovative variety of cars in the years 1952-62. The most successful was the Isabella; over 200,000 of those puppies were built.

Only one of our subject car was cobbled together, and the 1955 Borgward Traumwagen looks like a design lifted from a science fiction novella. I’d like to know which one; here on Earth, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward’s idea was to produce the ultimate dream car in mass production. Unfortunately the dream never went further than the one-off, which was badly damaged during a test drive in 1955. Repairs and modifications were made, and further testing (possibly including signals sent to, and received from, the Mother Ship) went on until early 1958.

In 1951, just one year after the official Formula 1 Championship series was begun, Ferrari won its very first Formula 1 victory at Silverstone with the car you see here in model form: the 375 F-1 piloted to victory by 29 year old Argentinean Froilan Gonzalez.
Many long-time 1:43 collectors will know that this car has been modeled by many specialist hand built makers over the years. For those not having the budget or desire to spring for a more accurate, more expensive hand built, the crew at Mattel have come to your rescue.

Special Delivery

Mercedes produced a scant number of these cars in both 500K, and the later 540K, variations. The production of the 540K ran from 1936 to 1938 or ’39, and only about twenty six were built. These massive two seat roadsters were, and still are, the epitome of elegance and extravagance.

This 1938 Mercedes 540K is actually a re-release by IXO of the very first classic car model from their “Museum Series” range. I’m so glad they reproduced this; I was one of those who sat on the fence too long when this was first issued, and by the time I finally decided to pull the trigger, I was not able to find one for sale.