1955 Transformer Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle 1:64 Hot Wheels

The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its production period of 65 years is the longest of any single generation of automobile, and its total production of over 21.5 million is the most of any car of a single platform.

The Beetle was conceived in the early 1930s. The leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, decided there was a need for a people's car—an inexpensive, simple, mass-produced car—to serve Germany's new road network, the Reichsautobahn. The German engineer Ferdinand Porsche and his design team began developing and designing the car in the early 1930s, but the fundamental design concept can be attributed to Béla Barényi in 1925, predating Porsche's[d] claims by almost ten years. The result was the Volkswagen Type 1 and the introduction of the Volkswagen brand. Volkswagen initially slated production for the late 1930s, but the outbreak of war in 1939 meant that production was delayed until the war had ended. The car was originally called the Volkswagen Type 1 and marketed simply as the Volkswagen. It was not until 1968 that it was officially named the "Beetle".

Volkswagen implemented designations for the Beetle in the 1960s, including 1200, 1300, 1500, 1600, 1302, and 1303. Volkswagen introduced a series of large luxury models throughout the 1960s and 1970s—comprising the Type 3, Type 4 and the K70—to supplement the Beetle, but none of these models achieved the level of success that it did. Rapidly changing consumer preferences toward front-wheel drive compact hatchbacks in Europe prompted Volkswagen's gradual shift away from rear-wheel drive, starting with the Golf in 1974. In the late 1970s and '80s, Japanese automakers began to dominate the market, which contributed to the Beetle's declining popularity.

Over its lifespan, the Beetle's design remained consistent, yet Volkswagen implemented over 78,000 incremental updates. These modifications were often subtle, involving minor alterations to its exterior, interior, colours, and lighting. Some more noteworthy changes included the introduction of new engines, models and systems, such as improved technology or comfort.

1955 Buick Century Police 1:26 Maisto

Buick Century es el nombre del modelo utilizado por Buick que es una división de General Motors para una línea de vehículos de tamaño completo de alto rendimiento desde 1936 hasta 1942 y 1954 a 1958, y de 1973 a 2005 por un coche de tamaño medio.

En países como Venezuela se comercializaba bajo la marca Chevrolet aun cuando conserva el imagotipo de Buick.

Buick tuvo su gama de modelos completa para el año 1936 para celebrar las mejoras de ingeniería y los avances de diseño en sus modelos 1935. Las Series de Buick 40 gama de modelos se convirtieron en el especial , la Serie 80 se convirtió en el Roadmaster y la serie de 90 vehículos Buick más grande y lujoso, se convirtió en la limitada. El Century tomó el lugar de la Serie 60.

En 1954, Buick re introdujo el century utilizando la misma fórmula de la coincidencia de los más pequeños, ligeros cuerpos de Buick Special a su mayor y más potente motor 322 pulgadas cúbicas V8 con la intención de dar un Buick de rendimiento. Incluidos en la gama de modelos durante este período fue un modelo de camioneta, un estilo de cuerpo que no había estado disponible durante el período del siglo de la primera producción de 1936 a 1942.

El Buick Century devolvió la tracción trasera intermedia, compartió plataforma con sus hermanos, como el Pontiac Grand Prix, Pontiac LeMans, Pontiac GTO, Pontiac Grand Am y Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Cuando todos los modelos intermedios de GM fueron rediseñados en 1973, el nombre de Century fue reemplazado por Buick Skylark en sedanes y cupés y algunos vagones. A partir de este momento, el century fue uno de los pilares de la línea Buick más pequeños, junto con la nueva categoría Regal coupé. Estaba disponible con dos y cuatro barriles versiones del motor Buick 350, poniendo a cabo 150 y 175 caballos de fuerza (130 kW), respectivamente. Los 250 hp 455 fue también una opción.

1955 Ford Thunderbird Sunnyside 1:24

The first generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a two-seat convertible produced by Ford for the 1955 to 1957 model year, the first 2-seat Ford since 1938. It was developed in response to the 1953 Motorama display at the New York Auto Show, which showed the Chevrolet Corvette. The Corvette in turn was developed in response to the popularity of European sports cars among Americans.

Dubbed a "a personal car of distinction" by Ford, this appellation was also used by the motoring press at the time. The car built upon the heritage of the bespoke roadsters of the 1930s, yet was constructed largely of existing components, marking the first step toward the evolution of the personal luxury car as a mass market segment in the United States. While light weight for its era and fitted with a standard V8 engine, the Thunderbird focused more on driver comfort than speed, and was not a direct rival to either the Corvette or European sports cars. The Thunderbird proved more suited to the American market than the Corvette, with sales of 16,155, versus 674 Corvettes in 1955.  This remained the only two-seat convertible Thunderbird until the eleventh-generation was unveiled in 2002. The design of this generation of the Ford Thunderbird was the direct inspiration for the Auto Union 1000 Sp sports coupe.

1955 BMW 507 1:24 Motormax

 

 

The BMW 507 is a roadster that was produced by BMW from 1956 to 1959. Initially intended to be exported to the United States at a rate of thousands per year, it ended up being too expensive, resulting in a total production figure of 252 cars and heavy financial losses for BMW.

The BMW 507 was conceived by U.S. automobile importer Max Hoffman who, in 1954, persuaded the BMW management to produce a roadster version of the BMW 501 and BMW 502 saloons to fill the gap between the expensive Mercedes-Benz 300SL and the cheap and underpowered Triumph and MG sports cars. BMW engineer Fritz Fiedler was assigned to design the rolling chassis, using existing components wherever possible. Early body designs by Ernst Loof were rejected by Hoffman, who found them to be unappealing. In November 1954, at Hoffman's insistence, BMW contracted designer Albrecht von Goertz to design the BMW 503 and the 507.

Thirty-four Series I 507s were built in 1956 and early 1957. These cars had welded aluminium fuel tanks of 110 litres (29.1 US gal) capacity behind the rear seats. These large tanks limited both boot space and passenger space, and gave off the smell of fuel inside the car when the soft top was up or the hardtop was in place. Series II and later 507s had fuel tanks of 66 litres (17.4 US gal) capacity under the boot, shaped around the space for the spare tyre.

1955 Oldsmobile Super 88 Convertible Welly 1:24

From Wikipedia:

In the 1955 model year, new sales records were achieved for the U.S. auto industry and Oldsmobile that would endure for a decade. Wide public acceptance of the division’s well-appointed “Go Ahead” styled models, which were fortified with an even more powerful 324-cu.in. overhead-valve Rocket V-8, propelled production to 583,179 cars being built.
Oldsmobile offered the 88 and Super 88 series on a 122-inch wheelbase and the Ninety-Eight on a 126-inch wheelbase. The entry-level 88 line featured a four-door sedan, two-door sedan or two-door Holiday coupe (hardtop). A 324-cu.in. two-barrel engine and three-speed manual transmission were standard with the four-barrel engine optional.