#1029 SOLIDO – LOLA T 280 (Nr. 15) (1973)

I have had chances to buy many Solido models over the years, but most of the times, I refused. Models by Solido are mostly in 1:43 scale, which was not very interesting for me until quite late in my collector´s life. Recently I found this excellent model of a Lola Sport Prototype with Swiss Cheese decorations (funny!) and in perfect shape. I couldn´t let this go. It is beautifully made and it comes with practicable motor cover.

As usual in this brand, the car is only decorated on the side that can be seen through the box window. A sheet of stickers is available in the box, that the buyer has to apply himself or herself. In this case, the owner didn't do that.

The real car was used in the year 1972 to run Le Mans. This decoration corresponds to two different teams. RN7 belonged to the Team Ecurie Bonnet Switzerland and the drivers were Hughes de Fierlant (from Belgium), Jorge de Bagration (from Spain) and Mário de Araújo Cabral (from Portugal). The team abandoned after only 26 laps. RN8 did a bit better, completing a total of 213 laps after abandoning. The drivers in this case were Joakim Bonnier (from Sweden), Gérard Larrouse (from France) and Gijs van Lennep (from the Netherlands). This last driver made the fastest lap in the race that year.

Seen at: www.conradantiquario.info/content/katalog/solido-export-1973.html

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name:  LOLA T 280 (Nr. 15)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1973
• Company: Solido (France)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#839 TOYS FROM THE PAST - MUSEUM (II)

See more of these entries here: http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/search/label/TFTP

See you next month!

Important notice: The items on display are NOT for sale.

#507 DALIA-SOLIDO – ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA SPIDER (Nr. 16) (Around 1959)

It was very difficult to find information about this Spanish die-cast brand, but I finally got to find a thread in a Spanish forum, that linked me to a French magazine. Unfortunately, I was not able to find that magazine,

The cooperations between Solido and Dalia starts in 1934, but we will focus on 1/43 scale models. Solido produced the “100” line between 1957 and 1973, which was partially produced in Spain, due to the lower manufacturing costs. This first references are marked in the chassis “Dalia – Made in Spain”, while the latter ones are only marked with “Solido – Made in France”, for this reason, it is difficult to recognise Dalia models, especially if the car doesn’t have its original package anymore. The only difference are the colours used for the cars in each country.

Dalia also produced its own casts, mostly for Spanish cars, like the Seat 1400 and 1500, that were decorated as taxis in two versions (Madrid and Barcelona), and also had a cooperation with the Danish company Tekno, producing several models for the Spanish market. Those Dalia-Tekno models were first produced by Solido.

But that’s not all. Dalia also reproduced a series of Italian motorbikes, which were actually licensed by Mercury: Vespa, Lambretta and a “motocarro”, which is a three wheeled motorbike with a big front cargo area/bed. I own one of these, but it is unfortunately missing the load. They were extremely detailed, and each motocarro included some load, in my case I think it was some ceramic vases.

 

You can see more pictures in the article that I mentioned at the beginning of the article:
http://www.autoescala.net/otras-miniaturas-de-coches-y-juguetes-clasicos/2213-coches-11.HTML

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA SPIDER (Nr. 16)
• Scale: 1:43 (approx.)
• Year: Around 1959
• Company: Dalia-Solido (Spain/ France)
• Size: approx. 10 cm

#453 SOLIDO – CITROËN VISA and ALFA SUD (Nrs. 1302 and 1310) (1980)

SHORT HISTORY OF SOLIDO

Solido is a French manufacturer of die-cast models from France. The founder of the company was Ferdinand de Vazeilles, who in 1919 already created an ironworks specialized in metal-casting for the automobile and aviation industries, and whose name was: Fonderie de Précision de Nanterre.
The idea of making toys using that same technique, came a few years later, in 1930. And after some trials, the first zamak cars were built and ready to sell in 1932. That’s also the origin of the name Solido, which wanted to show how robust the toys were.

The first series were called Major, Junior and Baby (1932, 1933 and 1935) and were in 1.35 scale
Solido as a brand started in 1937, dedicated exclusively to toys in Zamak.

In 1952 a smaller scale (1:60) series was launched. It had the name “Mosquito” and comprised 12 roughly made models.

In 1953, the company passed from Ferdinand de Vazeilles to his son Jean René, that together with his two sisters Charlotte and Colette ran the company for a few decades.

After the war, the company was relocated from Nanterre to Ivry-la-Bataille in Normandy, where it would stay until 1974. That year the company moved to Oulins/Anet.

 

In 1957 Solido sterted the production of vehicles in 1:43 scale, which was already being used by other major European competitors. The new series was called simply “100 series” and the first model was the Jaguar Le Mans, that also had suspension mechanism. The numbering system started some years later, so some “100 series” models  have no reference.

In 1960 Solido also started the production of a military line, which had great success, and slowly started producing higher and higher quality products, each time further from toys and closer to adult collectables, like a series of cars that took part in the 24h of Le Mans made after the actual plans of the car makers.

Solido also had a line of “classic” cars in 1964 called “Âge d’Or” (representing cars between 1919-1944) as Matchbox had done with the “Models of Yesteryear”, and also a line of quality replicas in 1:18 scale during the 80s.

The 70s were a period of financial crisis, Solido entered Jouet Français Group resulting a new company called Heller-Solido S.A. That’s when the de Vazeilles family lost control over the company. At the end of 1980 the company went into liquidation and was purchased by Majorette. The factory at Oulins remained active, but with many measures to save money in production processes.

In 1993, again a crisis period, the group Majorette/Solido is sold to Ideal, and only 5 years later (1998), Ideal sells it to Triumph Adler. Five years later (2003) Majorette/Solido would be sold to the Smoby group that would retain it for seven more years, until the companies (or better, the brands) were sold to the Simba Dickie Group in 2010, were they still belong together with many other toy brands like Schuco or Tamiya. The factory in Oulins was closed in 2006 and the production reallocated in Asia.

The toys shown in this entry are two 1:43 models from 1980, one of them in its original package. As in Polistil models, the date in which the car was designed appears at the base plate, in this case, both models were made in 1980: the Alfa in February and the Citroën in July.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: CITROËN VISA and ALFA SUD (Nrs. 1302 and 1310)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1980
• Company: Solido (France)
• Size: approx. 9 cm