I know many members don't have instant access to the Internet, but for those of you with a flair for Classic American road cars, Can Am cars, British sports cars, etc, I make a really strong suggestion here that you go to the bother of looking at the midlanticmodels.com site, an English manufacturer who, as the name suggests, base their catalogue around cars which are familiar in both the UK AND the States. They don't have a big listing of different models to choose from, but they do have a big selection of model variations within the base themes. All are beautifully photographed and the site is well worth the effort just for its visual display of their model alone.

As far as I can tell, I feel the company itself probably comprises a band of enthusiasts who have all joined together to produce on a part-time / labour of love basis. I don't see that their production totals could possibly support full-time employment or a full-time occupation. Many of the models are issued as Limited Editions, and a tiny limited edition total it sometimes is at that. Add to this the fact that they appear to produce models which appeal to their own personal preferences, rather than any necessarily mass-market demand plus the fact that their models seem to be a labour of love and they are unprepared to make any concessions at all to time or market pressures.

Quite frankly, I feel a lot of their catalogue would really only have limited appeal to us here in New Zealand, as they once confirmed themselves when I corresponded with them. They told me their biggest seller here was the Austin Healy. (Note: as with a lot of small companies, if you do get in touch with them by letter or email, you DO get a reply and, I must say, a very full one at that).

For members who favour American road cars, if you look up the web site, under the "All Other Marks" (sic) menu tab you will find they have displays of a 1947 Hudson Coupe, a 1958 Ford Edsel, a 1947 Hudson Commodore, a 1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk and a 1938 Hudson 112. All are shown in several colours. Also on this page are a number of British marques — a 1949 Healey Silverstone, a 1947 Mark IV Jaguar and a 1936 MGSA Tickford. All are available only as ready-built limited editions.

Under their other catalogue listings is their range of Packards and Cadillacs. On a previous visit I was taken by the 1969 Can Am Ferrari of Chris Amon which would have had a big appeal to New Zealanders.

All models are 1:43 scale, some with resin bodies, others white metal. As a sort of double check and to get an objective view of what toehr people thought of the models, I checked with a completely independent UK retailer who commented "Beautifully finished".

John MacGregor
July, 2006 (originally), updated May, 2011