Vintage Coca-Cola Vehicles

As early as 1910, Japan wanted the rights for the Coca-Cola syrup to be sold at selected soda fountains in Tokyo. Between 1910 until the outbreak of the second world war, nearly a million bottles of Coca-Cola were sold in Japan. In June 1962, Coca-Cola Japan was granted the rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola and Fanta in Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Saga Prefectures. Operations began on July of that year. Between 1960 and 1970, sales more than doubled every year. Trucks help distribute the beverage throughout Japan.

Tomica did a good job on these trucks. The tampo printing, no matter how small, was excellent. However, some Coca-Cola cases which came with the set, barely fit inside the cargo bay of the trucks. Some do not fit at all.

Nissan C80 Coca-Cola Truck
This truck was launched by Nissan in 1966 to fill the gap in their truck models. It should be bigger than the Nissan Caball but not as big as the 5 ton Nissan 680. This 3.5 ton truck sold well during the seventies.

Nissan Caball C141
The Nissan Caball was based on the chassis and mechanism of the Junior pickup. The Caball C141 was launched in 1962. The C141 had a better engine than the C140 but they practically look the same. The Caball was the last Nissan ever to have rear hinged "suicide" doors.

Mazda E2000 truck
Mazda's D1500 trucks are quite popular in Japan during the sixties. Then in January 1964, after Mazda did some extensive research on their trucks based on customer reviews, they released the Mazda E2000. This truck can have a maximum load capacity of two tons.

Nissan Skyline Van 1600 DX
The Skyline was originally made by the Prince Motor Company in 1955, then continued by Nissan when the two companies merged in 1966. The Skyline was designed by Shinichiro Sakurai and remained a chief influence on the succeeding Skylines until his death in 2011. This van is a fourth generation Nissan Skyline which was produced in 1972.

Mazda T2000 Work Vehicles

The Mazda T2000 is a versatile three-wheeled vehicle. It can be used as a small dump truck or a vacuum truck. The Mazda T2000 dump trucks are used to transport sand, gravel or other materials used for construction. They are equipped with hydraulics at the back to allow the cargo to be deposited on the construction site. The vacuum trucks however are often used for sewer and street cleanup. They are also sometimes used to remove mud and oil spills.

Tomica's attention to detail is amazing. The vacuum truck even comes with a miniature bucket. I think that they are the only model car company who made these obscure trucks in 1/64 scale.

Italian Designed Sedan

Created by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti (who also designed for Triumph, Leyland and BMW), the second generation Hino Contessa was launched in September 1964, followed by the coupe in 1965. The coupe in particular won a concours d'elegance award (competition of elegance). However, the car had major issues like overheating. This was addressed by putting a radiator at the back of the car to help dissipate the heat.

This was one of the early releases of Tomica in their Limited Vintage line. Though the detail is not at par with their recent releases, I still think that they did a decent job. The green taxi is part of the Toys Club three car set which was released in February 2005.

Dynawedge Patrol Car

The Japanese police force are among the most respected law enforcement agencies in the world. They have tremendous amounts of equipment at their disposal like buses, vans, bicycles, disaster response vehicles and of course, their iconic black and white patrol cars, each one having a specific role to fill.

During the seventies, Mitsubishi tried to export an estate version of the Colt Galant to Europe to be made into a patrol car. Though no Police force in Europe ordered it, the car did receive praises for it's performance, handling, comfort and economy.

The Sixth Generation Crown

This Toyota Crown was the last series to have a four cylinder gasoline powered engine and was the first Toyota Crown to be imported in Germany. In Japan, the Toyota Crown have big rectangular headlights while other Crown service vehicles and taxis have the round headlights. Also, this Sixth generation car was the last Crown to have a two door coupe. A turbo version of the Crown was launched in 1980 exclusively for the Japanese Domestic Market.

More Upcoming releases for 2013 (September to December)

My apologies for not posting in a long time. I will try to update this blog as often as I can. Anyway, the previous Tomica Limited Vintage upcoming list that I made last January has all been released. Here is a short list of what's to come in the next few months. The long awaited Mitsubishi Galant Sigma will be done by Tomica Limited Vintage very soon. I am also excited to see the Toyota Sports 800 and the Isuzu Bellett 1600 GT Type R done in miniature. There will also be another release which is the replica of the van that Japanese actor Yujiro Ishihara used. These cars would be great Christmas stocking stuffers! :

- LV-N84c Datsun Fairlady 280Z-T 2x2 (Maroon)
- LV-N84d Datsun Fairlady 280Z-T 2x2 (2 tone)
- LV-N86a Audi 80 Quattro (gray)
- LV-N86b Audi 80 Quattro (black)
- LV-N87a Mitsubishi Galant Sigma Super Saloon (maroon)
- LV-N87b Mitsubishi Galant Sigma Super Saloon (yellow)
- LV-N88a Mitsubishi Galant Sigma Eterna 1600 SL (red)
- LV-N88b Mitsubishi Galant Sigma Super Saloon (yellow)
- LV135a Toyota Sports 800 (red)
- LV135b Toyota Sports 800 (silver)
- LV136a Isuzu Bellett 1600GT (yellow)
- LV136b Isuzu Bellett 1600GT (green)
- LV137a Isuzu Bellett 1600GT type R (orange)
- LV137b Isuzu Bellett 1600GT type R (white)
- LV138a Nissan Bluebird 1800 SSS (brown)
- LV138b Nissan Bluebird 1800 SSS (green)

- LV-RA04 Isuzu Gemini TBS
- LV-RA05 Nissan Cedric (Nippon Cultural Broadcasting)
- LV-RA06 Nissan Bluebird (Nippon Cultural Broadcasting)
- LV-RA07 Toyota Land Cruiser (Radio Japan)
- Seibu Keisatsu Volume 5 Machine RS-1
- Seibu Keisatsu Volume 6 Machine RS-2
- Seibu Keisatsu Volume 7 Machine RS-3
- Seibu Keisatsu Volume 8 Hakata Minato Kessen (two car set)

- Nissan Civilian Van (Yujiro Ishihara)

All prototype images above were borrowed from the web.