ERA RACER IDENTIFICATION

PHOTO enclosed of an ERA racing car. It’s not mine and I know nothing about it. Might someone ‘out there’ be able to help? Brian Gower, Dorset

ED Oh she's a beauty, sir! And you've come to the right place as the real cars were made less than a mile from where Diecast Collector is produced, in Bourne, Lincolnshire. It's by Scamold and these are rather hard to find. This model is No 101, and a quick internet search brings up one sold on ebay at some point since 2013 (specific date not known) in very similar condition for £53, unboxed. Scale Models Ltd., hence the name Scamold, made these at a small factory at the Brooklands site, in Surrey. True-to-scale, with proportionate dimensions accurately miniaturised, these were stated as being to 1/35 scale and featured working suspension. Produced between 1939 and 1950, there were three racing models manufactured – this one (in British Racing Green, light blue, royal blue, white, works light green, and yellow), No 103 Maserati (bright red, dark blue, dark green, Maserati Red, mid-green, and silver) and No 105 Alta (dark green, light blue, light green, pale blue, silver, and white). Supplied in very attractive cardboard picture boxes, these gave a hint of what might have been for future models, as they sported Austin, Bugatti and MG logos as well as the three brands released. These wonderfully accurate models proved to be too expensive to be successful, compared to the Dinkys available after the war, and the moulds and jigs were sold in the summer of 1950 – the business was wound up a decade later. These were also known to be sold in kit form and, given the bare metal of this one, it could well have been made up from one.