Tomica first released their Tomicarama Vintage line in 2010. They started with the police station diorama set, then released the Shell gas station a year after. The details are just amazing. Pictured with the set is a Mazda Familia van, a Shell Subaru Sambar service truck, a Honda S600 sports car and a Honda T360.
The Honda 1300 77s is a small compact car which was designed in the mid sixties. Soichiro Honda was so obsessed with air-cooling, that he wanted to incorporate this on the cars that he built. The engineering team of Mr. Honda did not approve of what his vision was. They were worried that once the cars were exported to the United States, they might not meet their emissions standards.
Mr. Honda still had it his way. The 1300 arrived in April 1969. It was the most powerful 1300 car during that time, reaching 110 mph in a straight line but had horrible handling. If Ford Motors have the "Edsel", Honda in turn have the 1300 77s. Delays from production and it's high price against the competition made Honda Motors lose a lot of money.
There is another Tomica Limited Vintage version of this car, the Honda 1300 99s that comes with round headlights and different grills.
The Colt Galant was made by Mitsubishi to compete with the Ford Pinto, Chevrolet Vega and the AMC Gremlin. Mitsubishi merged with the Chrysler Corporation to import the Mitsubishi Colt Galant to the United States in 1971. The car was rebadged and sold as the Dodge Colt.
It was released in 1969 in Japan as a cutting-edge car with an outstanding capability. The car became a huge success during the 70's. The Colt Galant was powered by a 1300cc or a 1500cc Saturn series SOHC engine. It had an aerodynamically designed shape (dynawedge), which was revolutionary during that time.
A lot of collectors, including me, were excited when Tomica decided to release this in their Limited Vintage line. I get nostalgic whenever I see this car on the road. It brings back a lot of memories from the seventies.
