Editing Model car (section)

=== Fabricating the 'real' thing ===
[[File:Signature Models - 1962 BMW LS Luxus (7477512310).jpg|thumb|250px|A model of a 1962 [[BMW 700|BMW 700 LS Luxus]].]]
Many early model cars were not intended either as toys or for collecting. By the 1920s, the manufacturers of real automobiles would design and construct [[Scale model|scale]] as well as full-sized models for design or promotion. [[Citroën]] of France, for example, made its own models for promotional purposes as early as 1923.{{sfn|Force|1991|p=105}}{{sfn|King|1986|pp=176, 258&ndash;259}} Sometimes styling or [[Concept car|concept models]] were made out of wood or clay, often in 3/8 scale.{{sfn|Stambler|1966|pp=2&ndash;7}}{{sfn|''Ford at Fifty''|1953}}{{page needed|date=April 2021}} From 1930 until 1968, [[General Motors]] sponsored the [[Fisher Body]] Craftsman's Guild Competition where hundreds of modelers competed for scholarship money.{{sfn|Purdy|2004}}{{page needed|date=April 2021}}{{sfn|Fisher Body|1956}}{{page needed|date=April 2021}}. The emphasis was to earn recognition for creativity which would lead to possible employment as an industry stylist.

In-house models could also be precise replicas made of similar materials to the real vehicles. For example, [[Hudson Motor Car Company]] made twelve precisely crafted 1/4 scale replicas of its 1932 vehicles for promotion at the 1932 [[New York Auto Show]] (see Hudson display models). About the same time, but in a different vein, Studebaker made a wooden model of a [[cabriolet]] over ''twice'' the size of the real car. The vehicle was stationary on the company grounds and large enough to hold a whole band that played mostly for photo shoots (Quinn 2004). As time went by, companies in the United States, Europe and Asia made, provided, or sold toys or precision promotional models to attract succeeding generations to their products. More models also displayed advertising on their bodies for non-automotive promotions.
[[File:Austin Toy Cars (Factory), Pengam, Bargoed (19363299009).jpg|thumb|left|[[Austin Motor Company|Austin]] toy pedal cars being manufactured at the [[Longbridge plant]].]]