Editing Model car (section)

=== Early European diecast ===

Northern Europe and the British Isles were the homes of the most successful European producers in the 1950s and 1960s in the post-war revitalized economies across the continent (Rixon 2005, p.&nbsp;9). Quite popular were models produced in the altered railroad modeling scale of 1:43.

Examples of well known companies are (or were) [[Corgi Toys]], [[Dinky Toys]], [[Matchbox (brand)|Matchbox]], and [[Spot-On]] Models of the United Kingdom; [[Solido]], [[Norev]], and [[Majorette (toy manufacturer)|Majorette]] of France; [[Schuco Modell]], [[Gama Toys|Gama]], and [[Siku Toys|Siku]] of (West) Germany; [[Tekno (toy manufacturer)|Tekno]] of Denmark, and [[Mercury (models)|Mercury]], [[Polistil]] and [[Mebetoys]] of Italy. Immediately post-war, Belgium made Septoy and Gasquy. Even Israel got into the act quite successfully with [[Gamda Koor Sabra]] which made its own tooling for several unique models. Non-market system communist countries also had some successful factories, like [[Kaden models]] and Igra of Czechoslovakia, Espewe of East Germany, and Estetyka of Poland. State factories of the [[Soviet Union]] (commonly known as Novoexport, Saratov, or Tantal) produced many carefully crafted diecast models mostly in 1:43 scale. These were known for their intricate detail, numerous parts, and delicate construction. 
[[File:Moko Box Low Loader.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Moko Lesney flat bed truck box. Reproduction boxes can sometimes be difficult to spot.]]
Larger sizes in die-cast grew out of offerings of European companies like Polistil, Schuco Modell, and [[Martoys]], which was later to become [[Bburago]]. 1:24 and 1:18 scales did not become really popular until the late 1980s when other brands like [[Yatming]] and [[Maisto]] were produced in [[Hong Kong]] or China by either American or Asian companies. 1:87 scale plastic vehicles, related to railroad modeling or not, also continue to be popular in Europe. Despite continued European companies, today, China is now the center of diecast production.
Post-war European diecast models were produced in fairly simple form, such as [[Dinky Toys]] (often in the train related 1:64 or 1:43). Dinky production began in 1934, while [[Matchbox (toy company)|Matchbox]] cars (often approx. 1:64) were introduced in the mid-1950s. These early die-cast toys featured no opening parts whatsoever. Affected by market forces and by improvements in production technology, companies began to improve the quality of the toys over time. The "best" improvements were often copied by the competition within 1–2 years of their appearance on the market. Examples of these would be plastic windows, interiors, separate wheel/tire assemblies, working suspensions, opening/moving parts, jeweled headlights, mask-spraying or tampo-printing, and low-friction 'fast' wheels.
[[File:Liontoysdaf66coupe.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lion Toys [[DAF 66|DAF 66 Coupe]] model.]]
Into the 1970s, model makers began to feel the squeeze of rising costs. Often press tooling for a new model might cost more than 30,000 pounds (more than US$50,000). Companies began to offer fewer new issues and the models became simpler with fewer opening parts.{{sfn|Harvey|1974|p=1998}}