Found in the Letterbox
The following are responses to 'Tales of Toy Cars'. Your letters are welcome and may be submitted via e-mail




1976 Porsche 936 - Tomica


1977 Porsche 936 - Guisval


1979 Porsche 935 - Corgi
"Dear Doug,
Excellent reading, as always! If I'm allowed a little bit of nit-picking on the Le Mans cars...?

The Guisval Porsche 936 gives a pretty good impression of the 1976 and 1977 winners. The casting is really of the 77 model and carries the winning number "4", but they looked fairly similar.

The Tomica Porsche you show for 1981 is really not a 936, but a 935 of 1978 vintage. The 81 936 also looked a lot like the 77 one, but was a bit lower and had a more fragile looking rear spoiler.

The Tomica Porsche you show for 1976 is a 936 Turbo, which is lacking the high air-intake of the normal 936 as raced at Le Mans. In it's place was a fan-type air-intake. Here's the Tomica in the period Martini racing livery:

And for the 1979 winner, Corgi Jr made a model of that one in the correct "Phillipe Salvet" racing colours with the winning number "41".

Phew, I hope that wasn't too boring..."

Patrick Scherf - Sydney, Australia

Editor's Response: Thanks for sharing the great images. I know there are many variations like this these I do not have in my collection (but wish I did). Now I can start looking for them. I will use your comments in next issue's 'Letters' section.



"Doug,I just wanted to say that it's insane how eagerly I await each issue!

Of all,my very favorite articles are your detailed critiques of various models,as when you looked at various Porsches,where the cars were graphed in a table. I really enjoy comments about the castings,rather than just mentioning that various ones do exist.

you also seem to share my appreciation of French cars-the Pug 504 and Renault Dauphine are my favorites. Has the Dauphine ever been done?

With Regards,

Randy Giordano - Virginia Beach, VA

Editor's Response: Randy, Thanks, that's great to hear. I love doing the critiques like the Porsche piece. I plan to do some more like this. I do have a soft spot for French cars and I do not have a Dauphine in my collection. It was a bit too early for most of the diecast manufacturers.



"Great articles, once again.

However, I think that the McLarens made by Majorette and High Speed looks more like the MP4/2 (McLaren-Porsche/TAG) rather than the MP4/5 (McLaren-Honda), despite what the tampo says. I think it is just another case of recycling an old casting. Here is a picture of the 1986 MP4/2C (Car #1) and the 1989 MP4/5 (car#2)"

Jerome Antaran - Manila, Philippines

Editor's Response: I wondered about this too. The Guisval appears to be the MP4/5 while the Majorette and High Speed copy are as you noted, more like the MP4/2. Most diecast manufacturers use their F1 castings for many years and re-paint them to look like different cars. They also swop F1 and Indy cars with little regard for accuracy. Most kids don't care as long as the color is close.



"I always enjoy the new additions section. It remains my most eagerly awaited articles of any new monthly editions. I was down in California for a 2 week vacation there in late May and could not find the Ford Station Wagon you got. IT was such a beauty. I like these regular street cars rather than muscle cars or race cars.

I also cannot believe the prices you got for those Johnny Lightning James Bond series. They are just the regular prices as other JL offerings. How come in Canada here, the James Bond cars are always sold at a premium prices than the other JL cars? Also I believe the James Bond cars in California are also more expensive the 'regular' ones. Also, it seems to me you still did not get the AMC Hornet yet, or was it just my mistake?

Since the June addition is so much delayed, I was disappointed that many articles are devoted to race cars. I think perhaps we are running out of ideas for worthy articles, although I am sure for completist and race car enthusiasts, these articles are still enjoyable."

Ken Tsoi  - Toronto, Ontario

Editor's Response: Let me try and respond to all the questions. We did have a lot of racing in the last issue but that was due to the special Le Mans feature. Usually I try to just have one racing story per issue, most often from David Cook. I don't like being late with issues but sometimes my real world of work, four kids, summer car events and all the other stuff that intrudes on the time for toy cars, just gets too busy. I hope to have the July issue out before the 10th. The JL Bond cars I bought last month were 3 for the price of 2 at TRU. I did not yet find the AMC Hornet.

Response from Kimmo Sahakangas: Ken, I don't read about actual racecars but when they are discussed in small scale...and to see how some of these toy cars are actually based on the real thing...makes each model much more special...and I also learn something new from these articles.



"INSANE. That about sums it up for me, also... as in it drives me INSANE from the first day of the month till that month's new articles are posted. My only complaint is your making me wait SOOOOOOOOOOOOO LoooooooNNNNNNNNNNNNGGG.... But, then again, I'm reminded of the Gene Wilder line from Willie Wonka, "The anticipation is killing me... isn't it delicious?". Keep up the good work Doug and your crack staff of writers.

Question for you Doug- does the new finds article show everything you have found for the previous month? Because if it does, I'm out buying you about 2 to 1. Of course, your collection is probably 5 times the size as mine, so alot of what I find is probably "old hat" to you. Just curious...

Virgil Fulton

Editor's Response: My 'additions to the collection' each month represent all the models I have bought or received in trade for that month, except for the occasional color duplicate (car I have but see in a different color I can't resist).