1951 Studebaker by Racing Champions

The 1990s were a good time to be a model car collector. The rapid rise of the Chinese diecasting industry led to all kinds of new products springing up and, as adults rather than children were now the main target market, the vehicle subjects reflected the tastes of car enthusiasts.

Among the many newcomers was Racing Champions, founded in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, in 1989. The initial idea was to model cars from American professional racing series, particularly NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing). While these were popular with fans, Racing Champions widened its market further in 1996 with a new range of classic American cars called Racing Champions Mint. These were to approximately 1:64 scale rather than the traditional 1:43, making them just over three inches in length, which meant they could be sold more cheaply but still had detail comparable with larger models’, such as chrome trim, whitewall tyres, mascots and in most cases an opening bonnet. Some of the earliest issues also came with a display stand carrying the badge of the real car.

To get collectors hooked, batches of six new models were issued per month – though many of these would be recolours of the same car, in bright two-tone combinations. Within three years the number of models had already exceeded 180, covering not only popular subjects such as the Ford Mustang, ’56 T-bird and ’57 Chevy but many less obvious ones too: ’58 Edsel, ’56 Chevrolet Nomad Estate, and this ’51 Studebaker.

From 1999, Racing Champions started to swallow up other toy companies, soon expanding into playthings for infants, and in 2011 it was itself bought by Tomy of Japan.

Fortunately, in spite of all the corporate changes, they’re still making Racing Champions cars…