We’ll say it again, one of the coolest brands in the scale model community is AutoCult Models. The latest October release brings three new specimens. One, in particular, tickles our fancy best, this is the 1:43 1946 Buick Float. More on the uber parade vehicle below. The last two, both in 1:43 scale include 1922 Voisin C3 S “Strasbourg Grand Prix” and Mazda MX-5 Miata Concept Duo 101 V705. Give these guys a look, they are what this hobby is all about!
About the Buick Float… “For the 50-years anniversary of the US automotive industry, a big party with an impressive parade was held in the automotive stronghold Detroit. On the 1st of July 1946 an opulent parade of the General Motors Group, in a dimension, as nobody has seen before, drove at walking pace through the main streets of the city. The whole parade was a successful and nice presentation of the big US car manufacturers. Marching bands accompanied the floats and vehicles and provided the musical entertainment.
The biggest eye-catcher of the fleet was the unorthodox presentation vehicle of the brand Buick. They fitted the back-then latest Buick front end with a cylindric rear end onto a huge, wheeled platform. Even if the piggy-packed Buick was real, it was not able to drive by itself, not even for a single meter; as it was just a dummy. But it was a dummy with a special connection. The front end of the car bore a strong resemblance to a concept vehicle, the so-called Y-Job. The cryptical abbreviation Y-Job was the designation of the first concept vehicle in automotive history, which was designed by the renowned car designer Harley J. Earl in 1939. It was downright riddled with groundbreaking features. The short before the outbreak of the war finished Buick concept car featured the first electric windows, but this just as little as the pneumatically actuated pop-up headlamps were not implemented on the Buick float in 1946. Instead of pop-up headlamps, two standard front lights were fitted. Also, the striking, large, chromed front grill was just rudimentarily equivalent to the 1939-version.
Unmistakably was the slogan, which was written in big letters on both sides of the parade float – “When better automobiles are built Buick will build them”.”
Product# 11011 / 01009 / 06021
This company is great. They continue to think outside the box and produce really unique models….excellent choice. There is a wealth of specialized subject matter out there and Autocult certainly figured this out.