Collectibles: GreenLight model cars accurate

Thursday, March 09, 2006 - By Don Hammonds, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - There's another "new kid" on the block in the collectible car industry: Greenlight L.L.C.  The Indianapolis firm makes a line of highly accurate 1:64 muscle cars, Indy cars and pace cars that sell for about $4.99 to $5.99, as well as a series of street and pace car Corvettes selling for about $29.99 and some 1:18-scale models selling for $39.99.

Company President Kevin Davey began his career as a director of licensing for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, working with numerous toy, diecast and video game companies.

"Our company was born out of the fact that the company which did the Speedway diecast collectibles had stopped doing that, and they asked me to work on a project for them," Mr. Davey said. "Ultimately it became ... a ¹/₆₄-scale Indy Racing League diecast race car replica. That got us started back in 2002, and it's grown into what it is today."

Unlike other new firms, which use third-party tooling for their products, Greenlight manufactures its own products.

Some ¹/₆₄ collectors might be surprised by some of the prices for Greenlight's tiny products, but "as we say, the difference is in the details," Mr. Davey said. "We worked very hard on them. We did authentic rally wheels and Magnum 500 wheels where applicable, and we included engine details like paint and so forth. We also numbered all of the cars on the bases. We wanted to do little things to finish our cars off, like license plates and painting the chassis, so that's why they cost a little more."

For example, the 1967 Pontiac GTO convertible has the authentic red line tires, alloy wheels and tiny GTO crest on the lower door panels, just as the real car has. The dashboard and seating reflect the detail of the real car. A tiny license plate can be seen in the rear.

The 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 is extraordinarily accurate from the shades of the paint to the Goodyear emblem on the tires and spoiler, and tri-color Mustang emblem up front. Even the trim is painted around the windows.

The company that is most likely to be compared with Greenlight's ¹/₆₄-scale products would be Johnny Lightning, mostly because both focus heavily on muscle cars and introduce them in stock or street designs, not the custom or fanciful concepts that often are produced by Hot Wheels. And Greenlight's ¹/₆₄ products certainly match or beat the quality of Johnny Lightning's offerings.

Mr. Davey said Greenlight chooses to replicate cars that have not yet been done or done to its level of detail.

The ¹/₆₄-scale Muscle Garage series includes the 1970 Mustang Boss 302, 1967 Pontiac GTO Convertible, 1968 Chevy Impala SS, 1969 Mustang Boss 429, 1970 Mustang Convertible and the 1971 Chevy Camaro Z28.

Its Corvette Collection and Pace Car Garage Series in ¹/₂₄-scale are equally impressive. The proportion and stance of the cars is accurate and the decals on the pace cars precisely replicate what were applied to the real pace cars. The only criticism I have is that the side scoops aren't as open as they are on the full-size cars.

A black convertible in the Corvette Collection was especially striking. The interior was one of the few models of this car that I've seen that has the correct coloring and feel of the materials and has the emblem on a divider between the two front seats.

For more information, see the company's Web site, www.greenlighttoys.com.

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