The 1969 Chevrolet Kingswood Estate Wagon has long been my favorite Auto World casting. There was no question about it. Cracking open the 1976 Cadillac Coupe DeVille Ultra Red has me seriously re-thinking things, though. Yeah, yeah ties are cop-outs, but until something sways me one way or another, the '69 Kingswood and '76 Caddy are in a dead heat as my Auto World winners.
This Cadillac isn't just an Auto World favorite, though. It's destined to become a 1/64 scale icon and is one of the prettiest pieces in my collection. Sure, it's an Ultra Red so it's a little extra special. The red paint alone is enough to set collectors abuzz, but let's forget about the whole chase thing for a second. This casting is true 1/64 scale. That means it's massive. Really massive. It would never fit in a Hot Wheels blister. It's bigger than the massive Kingswood Estate wagon and it's a 2-door?!
The size of the Caddy leaves the biggest impression. I doubt any other diecast company out there would do this thing in true 1/64 scale. Sure, there are probably some customized 4th gen. DeVilles in the Hot Wheels lineup somewhere, but they're probably massively off scale. Something nowhere near 1/64 scale, but something that fits a 3" blister. While the massive size of this boat (they don't call it a land yacht for nothing) is the obvious feature, there's more to this casting than its size.
The other important thing about this casting is that 1970's cars are underrepresented in 1/64 scale. We seem to have a never ending supply of cars from the 1960's in 1/64 scale, but suddenly things seem to peeter off after 1972 or so. Yet here's one car that screams mid-'70's more than most others do and Auto World has recreated it in all of its bone-stock glory. In terms of sheer size and screaming 1970's icon, the Auto World DeVille is important. The opening hood and attention detail are just bonuses. Same goes for the Ultra Red paint.
If you're looking to start an Auto World collection, there's no better place to start than with the 1976 Coupe DeVille. Already a 1/64-scale icon, it might be a little tough to find, so go grab one while it's still flying under the radar. Enjoy, I'm off to watch Goodfellas now...
Happy Collecting!!
From : thewesterndiecastreview.blogspot.com
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