History
Miniature models of automobiles first appeared as slush cast plaster or iron toys made in the early decades of the 1900s. Tin and pressed steel cars, trucks, and military vehicles followed in the 1930s and 1940s. Casting vehicles in various alloys, usually zinc (called zamac or mazac), also started during these decades and came on strong particularly after World War II.
Post war, the zinc alloy vehicles became ever more popular in Europe in particular. While diecast metal cars were seen in America they were often simple, while plastics also surged and became prominent, even by the mid-1950s. Tin and pressed steel came to Japan, rather late, during the 1950s and 1960s, and that country quickly moved into diecast by the 1970s. Today, China, and other countries of Southeast Asia are the main producers of diecast metal miniature vehicles from European, American, and Japanese companies.
Read more about this topic: Model Car
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