Car dealer promo model cars

Remember when car dealers gave out promotional models of their new cars?
I'm not sure how far that practice goes back or when it stopped but I remember having a cool '56 Ford wagon promo model that I "customized" by "nosing & decking"with an Xacto knife, and lowered by pushing in the tin bottom that held the axles.
I searched here and didn't find any threads specifically about dealer promos but I found some pics on the web.
Anyone here collect them, have pics of their's or know much about them?

 

I have one that I believe started off as a dealer promo and later turned into a model kit of a 1968 Mustang GT Fastback... It's still on the shelves at your local hobby shop. It's the Revell 1/25 scale '68 Bullitt Mustang kit..

 

I love dealer promos. I have about 15 or 16, mostly 60's era Fords and later Corvettes, and a few others. It always seemed to me that they were more often given out by smaller, more rural dealers who may not have had as large a real car inventory as a big city dealer. This way they could give a potential new car buyer the chance to see their new vehicle in different colors even though they may then have to order it in that color. Just my thoughts. I may be completely off base. They are still quite collectable, some very expensive to acquire. Bet you wish you hadn't modified that '56 Ford.....Don.

 

I have a few....Wanted to build a model of my 1st car and that was the only body I could find....no kits available that I was aware of.....found the promo on ebay

 

I have one ,it looks like it was set too close to a heater and the front end is warped,It's a 58 or 59 Edsel

 

A lot of them did that.....I got 2 or 3 warped Falcons before I found a good one

 

The Ford dealer in my hometown had a glass display case on the wall in the showroom that was used to display the promo models for the current year. He was a good friend of my family and every year he would invite me to pick one model from the case when it was time to change to the new model year. This was from 1962 to 1967. I remember that one year he gave me a postcard that you sent in to receive a '32 Ford as a "special" promo. When I got it in the mail, I was surprised to find that it was an unbuilt kit! Does anybody else remember getting one?

This same Ford dealer (Fred Sayre Motors in Ripley, WV) gave me the neon dealer signs that I proudly display in my garage today. Sadly, Mr. Sayre passed away several years ago, but I will always cherish the memories of his generosity.

Jim

 

early promos were made of actetate plastic which warpped as they aged. later promos were made from styrene,,,much more stable. lotta promo collectors out there.

 

I havd a dark brown or maroon 51 or 52 Chev 2 door sedan for years as a kid, but also as a kid, I ruined it eventually. It was the toughest plastic toy I ever had and I loved to send it into a long roll down the yard.

 

i have a couple of em 2 silver 60 t-birds (badly warped) a 63 dodge 330 also warped
a 70 gtx, a 68 coronet r/t and a 69 cornet r/t

 

early promos were slush cast. whatever it is called. some sort of cast metal.

I have a couple 49 and 50 Chevrolets.

 

I collect them as well.
64 Rambler American conv.
65 Rambler wagon
66 Rambler wagon
71 Hornet hatchback
74 Hornet hatchback
61 Buick wagon
61 Olds wagon
91 Geo Storms (2 of them...don't ask!)

 

The car's over at my brother's waiting for the engine, but I've got a dealer promo of a 70 Torino 429CJ Twister Special. It came with the car when I bought it. I'll see if he can take a picture of it and send it to me.

 

I have just this one!

 

Actually, that one didn't start off as a dealer promo. It was developed in the past ten years. It was initially developed as the diecast Bullitt kit, then was turned into the Styrene kit that's on the shelves now.

And what Resinjeff says about the acetate promos is 100% correct. I've known the guy for years- trust what he says regarding car models.

 

The earliest one I have is a 47 chevy Fleetline made by national.

 

I had a neat one- my mom worked at a Ford dealership in '64-'65, and my folks bought a new turquoise '65 T-Bird- I watched them unload it off the transporter. With it came a 1/24 scale model with a Philco radio built into it- the radio controls were a pair of thumbwheels under the "car". I left it in my old room at my grandparents' house in NY when I went out west, and it disappeared while I was gone. I do still have the midyear '64 Ford lineup brochure introducing the new Mustang

 

I have a 65 mustang with the philco radio in it.

 

Is this the kit you got? Bought this from ebay. Looks like it's from -64, there are a note inside thats says it comes from Ford Motor Company.

 

First wife's dad was an Oldsmobile dealer in the 60s and 70s - he gave our kids all kinds of dealer promo car - 442s, Cutlass hardtops and converts, big 98 sedans, even a Vista Cruiser or two. The boys played with them until they were worn out, and he'd just keep handing them out. I was too stupid to keep any of the really neat ones, being happy that someone was giving them toys.

dj

 

The history of Promos as i know it -----

Promos as we know then started on the late 40's. The were typically cast aluminum (AMT stands for Aluminum Model Toys) or injection molded in Acetate with die cast bumpers. Acetate is not a stable material and degrades over time. Most promo manufacturers switched to Styrene in the early 60's

AMT sold "Assembly kits" that were unassembled promos (3 cars per box) starting in 53 that included stock parts and decals. Using the Promo tooling AMT introduced thier first "Customizing kits" in 58. They were molded in white Styrene and included all of the stock promo parts plus customizing parts. AMT, MPC, and Johan shared tooling between promos and kits up to the 70's.

I enjoy promos and I have a couple dozen or so but since I really enjoy building and making modifications so kits are more my thing. I do use beater promos on ocation when a kit isn't available. Nice promos just cost to much $$$$.

Carmak

 

I got a '49 Plymouth promo when my folks bought their '49 DeSoto. I kept it for many years but a buddy badgered me to trade it to him, probably around 1959, and he promptly destroyed it. It was done in by a boulder or firecrackers, I don't remember. It really annoyed me at the time, but I guess it was understandable, his dad was a Chevrolet salesman.

 

I never had any promos when I was a kid,but I bought some newer Corvette pace car promos over the years. Not really the same thing I know. I remember going to G.C. Murphy in the early 60's and looking at the promos they had. I never bought any,because they were already put together and the hoods didn't open. They cost about $1.49 then. Now they're worth what? $$$$$ Stupid,stupid,stupid.

 

My dad had a few of these. I crushed them with a toy monster truck when I was little. As a three-year-old, it seemed like a good idea, but now I feel like a dummy.

 

When I was a kid I had an uncle in Cinci . Ohio who was the service manager for a large Pontiac dealership .A couple times when we visited him he would give me one of them .I had a 67 GTO conv. and a Bonneville ragtop also.The Bville got lost in a move and I think my brother Ate the GTO.
My same uncle used to send a cousin of mine one every year for Christmas .Several years ago I visited the cousin. He found out I was into car stuff .He went into his bedroom and returned with several dusty shoeboxes with tissue paper inside with about 12-15 promo cars he had been given by our uncle.There was some cool stuff .
Pontiacs and Chevrolets from 55 to about 68 .They had not seen daylight in 20 years . And the probably won't for another 20 either .And he won't sell the to me either .Sure was fun to someones cool stuff .

 

The box litho is very similar, but mine is a '32 Vicky. It would have been 64 or 65 when I got it. Mr. Sayre gave me a white Mustang coupe promo in '64-'65 and a red Mustang 2+2 fastback in '65-'66. I always got them at the year-end model changeover when the new promos went into the display case. Thanks for posting the pics.

Jim

 

Here's a couple I have:
First two are cast aluminum and I believe are reproductions of original vehicles.The wheels on both are machined aluminum.
The 60 Chevy I picked up at a yard sale for $2.someone else customized it.
The next three(70 Javelin;Ford concept car;and 70 Rambler 440)were picked up at a flea market for $5 apiece.
The 49 Chevy I got when I was 5 years old.
The BMW concept is actually an aerodynamic wind tunnel model that was given to dealer principals at the factory.It is made of resin.

 

I have some newer Camaro and Firebird promo models (from the 90's), but would LOVE to find older ones from the 50's and 60's!

 

My first model promo was a then new 53' Corvette I had gotten for Christmas. I had a few others, 54 Nash, 54 Pontiac, 57 Ford wagon and a few others I can't remember. Parents threw them out when we moved.

 

I collect powered promotional cars that are larger scale than the ones most people are familiar with. But they were used by dealers to attract in customers generally by the kids dragging them in for a test drive. They were expensive when new so not many made and since they were powered they had a tendency to get wrecked.


I am currently restoring the following.
1958 Desoto Firemite Gas powered


1961 Thunderbird Junior Electric powered


1966 Mustang Junior Gas powered


I also have the molds to make the bodies and bumpers for the following.
1957 Thunderbird
1958-60 Thunderbird
1965-66 Mustang
1967-68 Mustang
1971-73 Mustang