Editing Model car (section)

{{Short description|Scale model of car}}
{{About|miniature car replicas or toys|remotely controllable miniature cars with functioning motors or engines|Radio-controlled car|the types of life-size automobiles from various manufacturers|Car model}}
{{Overly detailed|section=|details=|date=September 2020|article}}
{{Infobox toy
| name = Model car
| image = ToyCars.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| image_upright = 
| alt = 
| caption = Various Hot Wheels toy vehicles
| othernames = 
| type = toy car
| inventor = 
| company = various
| country = various
| from = 
| to = 
| materials = plastic, metal 
| features = 
| slogan = 
| website = 
}}

A '''model car''', or '''toy car''', is a [[Physical model|miniature representation]] of an [[automobile]]. Other miniature [[motor vehicle]]s, such as [[truck]]s, [[bus]]es, or even [[All-terrain vehicle|ATVs]], etc. are often included in this general category. Because many miniature vehicles were originally aimed at children as [[Toy|playthings]], there is no precise difference between a model car and a toy car, yet the word 'model' implies either assembly required or the accurate rendering of an actual vehicle at smaller scale. The kit building hobby became popular through the 1950s, while the collecting of miniatures by adults started to gain momentum around 1970. Precision-detailed miniatures made specifically for adults are a significant part of the market since the mid-1980s.{{sfn|Gibson|1970|p=9}}{{sfn|Harvey|1974}}{{sfn|Johnson|1998|p=5}}

The scope of the vehicles involved in the hobby, according to Louis Heilbroner Hertz author of ''The Complete Book of Building and Collecting Model Automobiles'', encompasses "ordinary or stock automobiles, racing cars ([...]), buses, trucks, specialized service vehicles (especially fire engines), military vehicles, including such equipment as self-propelled gun carriers and mobile rocket launchers; construction equipment, including bulldozers and road rollers, tractors and related farm equipment; mobile showmen's engines, customized automobiles, hot rods, dragsters, the recently popular so-called 'funny cars', early self-propelled road carriages, and so on."{{sfn|Hertz|1970|p=11}}