In 1992 things really got going with manufactures starting to show interest in these models, this big orders from all over the world made Minichamps a big company. It was also in 1992 that Minichamps produced the first formula one car, the Benetton B 192 which was the one that Michael Schumacher won with during the Belgian GP.
The success from Michael Schumacher really helped Minichamps get established among racing fans. Minichamps started producing formula one cars in the scales 1:18 and 1:43.

In 1995 Minichamps saw the demand on accessories around the cars so they started producing key rings, figures, helmets and much more. In 1996 BMW asked Minichamps to start producing BMW motorcycles, which Minichamps agreed on an all of a sudden motorcycle fans started showing interest in the little models from Minichamps.
And ever since then Minichamps has just grown and grown, which has made them into one of the largest diecast manufactures in the world.

1:12 Lambos

I few years ago, there weren’t any real good Lamborghini’s in the size 1:12, then both Kyosho and AUTOart started making some wonderful Lambo’s in this great big 1:12 size.

If you are after 1:12 Lamborghini Murcielago’s this colors are available:
AUTOart Lamborghini Murcielago orange 1:12
AUTOart Lamborghini Murcielago yellow 1:12
AUTOart Lamborghini Murcielago black 1:12
AUTOart Lamborghini Murcielago blue/green 1:12

AUTOart has promised that they will release a Murcielago Roadster version too, when these will come is still uncertain.

If you are after 1:12 Lamborghini Gallardo’s this colors are available:
AUTOart Lamborghini Gallardo silver 1:12
AUTOart Lamborghini Gallardo yellow 1:12
AUTOart Lamborghini Gallardo orange 1:12

There are rumours going around saying AUTOart will release a Gallardo Spider version.

If you are after the classic Lamborghini Countach, you can find it in 1:12 as well! Kyosho has made it in these colors:
Kyosho Lamborghini Countach white 1:12
Kyosho Lamborghini Countach black 1:12
Kyosho Lamborghini Countach yellow 1:12

1 18 Autoart Lamborghini Gallardo Polizia Police CAR

US $159.99

New 1 18 Remote Control Lamborghini Reventon Car RC RTR

US $19.79

KYOSHO 118 LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH LP400 BLUE MET SEALED

US $109.99

KYOSHO 118 LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH LP500S RED SEALED

US $119.99

LAMBORGHINI MIURA P400 RED 118 KYOSHO DIECAST MODEL

US $79.99

LAMBORGHINI MIURA SV RED 118 AUTOART DIECAST MODEL

US $94.99

LAMBORGHINI DIABLO SV YELLOW 118 SCALE DIECAST MODEL

US $25.99

NEW 2007 LAMBORGHINI REVENTON 118 DIECAST MODEL CAR

US $26.98

Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera Orange 118 Maisto

US $22.95

1 18 Mondo Motors Lamborghini Reventon Mint in box

US $29.99

1 18 Mondo Motors Lamborghini Concept S Mint in box

US $29.99

Autoart Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera 1 18 Diecast

US $99.95

LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO ROADSTER BY MAISTO 118 NIB

US $19.16

Mondo Motors Lamborghini Reventon 118 Diecast Grey

US $29.99

Lamborghini Estoque Dark Gray 118 Diecast Model Car

US $29.95

Lamborghini Gallardo Yellow 118 AutoArt Diecast Model

US $94.95

MAISTO LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO SPYDER 1 18 LIGHT BLUE

US $22.99

MAISTO LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO ROADSTER 1 18 PURPLE

US $22.99

MAISTO 2007 07 LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO LP640 1 18 ORANGE

US $22.99

Maisto 1 18 Special Edition Lamborghini Murcielago New

US $24.99

Maisto 1 18 Special Edition Lamborghini Murcielago New

US $24.99

Maisto 1 18 Special Edition Lamborghini Diablo SV New

US $24.99

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 118 Diecast Car

US $25.99

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 White 118 Diecast Norev

US $51.95

LAMBORGHINI 2007 GALLARDO SUPERLEGGERA MAISTO 118 GREY

US $24.99

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NASCAR all began in the early 20th century at Daytona Beach. Racing aficionados would come from all over the globe to watch and participate in races. In 1936, the Bonneville Salt Flats also cropped up as a popular racing spot, and ascended to the throne of the premiere place to set land speed records. Stock car racing got its start during this time period, when bootleggers needed to deliver their illegal products fast and escape the police if the occasion called for it. Smaller, faster cars evolved from their needs. NASCAR was officially founded on February 21, 1948 by William France, Sr.

NASCAR diecasts are some of the most highly sought-after NASCAR paraphernalia; the limited number of cars produced can sometimes create a great demand, depending on the popularity of the driver. Only a few companies produce NASCAR diecasts, including Checkered Flag Sports, Motorsports-Authentics, and THS. Several different models may be available for each driver; the THS website features an average of three cars for each prominent NASCAR racer, each car with a different look. Drivers like both Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart and many more all have their own diecasts. The cars feature the different sponsors that the drivers have.

For any collector or motorsports fan, NASCAR diecasts are certainly the best way to go about bringing a piece of that speed and action into the home; it’s like having the driver and the car right there beside you ‐ without destroying anything too costly, of course!

Lately Autoart has started releasing closed diecast cars, which means they offer no openable parts. This has been a major disappointment for collectors around the world as the prices on these models aren't much cheaper then the other diecast cars. There is a rumor going around saying that these close models are because of some racing companies doesn't want their models to be openable, whether this is true or not remains unsaid.

Back to the prices of these diecast cars made by Autoart, as I said before I really think they are worth $80 or even $100. As we want to help you visitors of Diecast.nu , here below are links to the cheapest and best places to buy your autoart models from. Just click on any car and you will get to the seller, and from there you can watch all his other models as well!

Founded in Germany in 1990 under the name Paul’s Model Art GmbH, Minichamps GmbH produces the highest quality of diecast model cars; many car manufacturers have granted Minichamps the official right to reproducing their product, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porche. A model car collector can chose from a wide variety of models in any of 8 categories of Minichamps diecast models: racing cars, street cars, Formula 1, trucks and buses, military vehicles and motorcycles. Minichamps features several scale sizes of vehicles; their 1:43 scale cars are some of the most highly-sought after models in the world, like the McLaren F1 GTR model.

Autoart also produces high quality diecast car models, the most famous of which would be their 1:18 scale serious. Created by Gateway Global, the Autoart brand name is distributed in over 25 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Brazil. Autoart’s selection of models include both foreign manufacturers like Lamborghini, Bugatti and Aston Martin, and domestic producers, like GM, Ford and Dodge. Autoart produces both 1:24 and 1:32 scale diecast cars designed for slot racing, and a line of radio-controlled cars in 1:24 and 1:32 scales. For the collector serious about keeping their models in top-of-the-line condition, Autoart offers a variety of storage and display accessories; want to showcase a particular car? Try a rotary stand or a clear plastic display box. Need a place to keep all those models? Clear plastic and aluminum shelves are available. Want to bring your hobby into the house? Autoart’s “Lifestyle” products, from racing wheel dumb bells to brake disc bookshelves let you enjoy Autoart anywhere in the home. Autoart, along with Minichamps, is a surefire way to satisfy any model car collector.

Proportions:
Before some models from Kyosho used to be a bit off proportions on some small areas, but those days are gone and today Kyosho's diecast cars are a perfect 10/10.
AUTOart has ever since they started making diecast cars always done perfect on this area, so they get 10/10 as well.

Engine details:
Kyosho diecast cars engine details are sometimes a bit of a disappointment, as there is lots of plastic parts which really feel like plastic as well. And you get the feeling that Kyosho doesn't value the engine department as much as some other areas of the model cars. They get 7/10 for engine details. AUTOart diecast cars engine department is usually top notch. (not counting the closed models, which has no openable parts). Yes there are lots of plastic parts, but you don't really notice it until you really get close and toch the different parts. AUTOart diecast gets 9/10, to get a perfect 10 they would need to start using metal in the engine department.

Interior:
Kyoshos diecast cars has always been extremely detailed with real carpet and amazing attention to all the details that the real cars have. I give the 10/10.
This is an area I feel AUTOart could improve on. There is carpet and there is great details, but lots of times the parts looks a bit off and you can spot some glue here and there. I'll give AUTOart diecast 7/10.

The final score is Kyosho getting 27/30 while AUTOart gets 26/30. Does this mean Kyosho is better than AUTOart? I wouldn't say so, as its all up to what you prefer, is the interior more important than the engine department, is so then go for Kyosho diecast cars, otherwise go for AUTOarts diecast cars!

Which manufactures should you choose then? If you are after a specific car model then chances are that you cannot choose among different 1:12 versions of that model as they are quite rare. But if you would just want to add 1:12 diecast car to your collection, I would recommend looking at diecast cars made by AUTOart. They are extremely well put together, no loose parts, not many plastic parts used etc.
One manufacture that I would stay away from when it comes to 1:12 diecast cars is Tamiya. I have heard many stories of broken parts on these cars, which is not acceptable when you are paying this much for diecast cars.

Are they worth +300USD then? That is really up to you, but I can tell you that you are really getting something special and will probably be the only one among your friends who have one of these rare 1:12 diecast cars.

Minichamps 1:43 diecast: Minichamps are really the biggest 1:43 diecast manufacture in the world. Here you will find thousands of models. Minichamps makes wonderful diecast 1:43 diecast cars usually priced around 20-30 Euro. Most Minichamps 1:43 diecast cars are not openable, still they are very detailed and worth their price.

AUTOart 1:43 diecast: AUTOart hasn't been in the game as long as Minichamps but they are quickly adding new models and improving their diecast cars which really makes them very comparable to Minichamps diecast cars. AUTOart are priced simliar to Minichamps cars and their details are very well done as well.

EBBRO 1:43 diecast: EBBRO diecast cars are improving very fast, before their details certainly were not on par with Minichamps, but today's EBBRo diecast cars are very well made. EBBRO isn't close to producing as many diecast cars as Minichamps or AUTOart, still the ones they make are great. Their price are usually a bit lower than Minichamps and AUTOarts.

BBR-models diecast: These are handmade in Italy and their quality is very high. Their details are much better than Minichamps, AUTOart and EBBRO. Since BBR-models only makes very limited number of cars they are very expensive. It's not unusual to pay above 100 Euro for each model, lots of money for a diecast car in the scale of 1:43. Still you will get something very special and something that is very limited. Is it worth it? Each to their own I must say!

Diecast cars, made by pouring melted metal into steel molds, first came into being in the early 20th century, in both the United Kingdom and the United States. They were very simple models and many made before World War II suffer from metal fatigue.

A company named Lensey began making their “Matchbox” series in 1947; each car was small enough to fit in an actual matchbox, and from there, the diecast industry grew by leaps and bounds. Several different sizes, from the 1:12 collectible scale to the 1:64 Matchbox and Hot Wheels scale, appeared; all different kinds of vehicles, including motorcycles, military vehicles, trucks and buses and even airplanes. All sorts of accessories are also sold for diecast cars, like filling stations restaurants, display equipment and carrying cases.

Currently, over 50 companies have made forays into the diecast industry, but some have withstood the test of time better than the others. AUTOArt features highly detailed models, even including carpeting in their model cars. Kyosho is a company centered in Tokyo, Japan that features many RC cars with both electric and small engines in 1:8 scale; they also feature a popular Mini-Z series that can fit in the palm of the hand. Minichamps produces all kinds of diecast cars, both racing and commercial. Some Minichamps cars, like the McLaren FT 1, are some of the most highly-sought-after cars on the diecast market, selling for over 100 dollars a piece on eBay. Hot Wheels and Matchbox are still around as well, selling as sister brands under the same company, Mattel. It is popular for corporations to commission diecast companies to produce models bearing the corporation’s name or symbol. Thanks to diecast, a man can play with his toy cars forever!

Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt was famous in his tenure as a driver for his stunning success in the Winston Cup Series (now the Nextel Cup Series). He amassed a total of seven championships during his career, tied with Richard Petty for the most ever. He earned the nicknames “Ironhead” and “The Intimdator” for his signature driving style ‐ aggressive. Earnhardt died tragically in an accident in the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. His death was the last of a string of fatal accidents, and NASCAR launched a massive safety overhaul of both their tracks and their standards for cars after his untimely passing. Earnhardt’s racing legacy is continued on by his son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who is also a popular NASCAR driver. Earnhardt and Earnhardt Jr. often raced against one another at the close of Earnhardt’s career, including the race where he lost his life.

Several Dale Earnhardt diecast collectibles are available for the car enthusiast eager to own a piece of his legend. Everything from tiny diecasts for cereal boxes to large scale, high-end collectors pieces have been produced. For example, the 1:24 Dale Earnhardt 7 Time Champion Legacy Chevrolet Monte Carlo was commissioned to commemorate his record number of Winston Cup championships. Some Dale Earnhardt merchandise is so sought after that replicas of the replicas are produced and marketed! There are trailers and model cars produced both commemorative and from his factual decades-long career. NASCAR diecasts and Dale Earnhardt memorabilia are certainly feather in a diecast car collector’s cap.