Hudson Miniatures 1/16 1911 Maxwell - Old Timers - First Issue

0 item(s) in your cart.

  «Go Back

Selling your kits?

Hudson Miniatures 1/16 1911 Maxwell - Old Timers - First Issue plastic model kit

1/16 Hudson Miniatures 1911 Maxwell - Old Timers - First Issue

Wood and Plastic Model Kit,   Box Condition: Good

Very rare first issue dated 1948 inside with the short-lived yellow box and with metal fittings. In one year this box was replaced with the common white version. Large scale and very well detailed for that time. Features die-cut and machined to shape wooden parts, beautiful die-cast metal wheels, steering wheel, side lanterns, carbide headlights and other accessories, metal stock and die-cut cardstock. The kit has never been started. It has been inventoried complete with all parts and includes instructions and full size plans. In 1911, Maxwell was one of the 'Big Four' in the automobile industry. The 1911 Maxwell was considered very stylish and dignified and was widely used by doctors, lawyers and businessmen. It featured a 2 cylinder engine, 12 horsepower and had a folding top. These cars were usually painted with a bright red body, red wheels, black top and fenders and with shiny brass fittings and lights. Hudson Miniatures created a very popular line of automobile kits in a constant 1/16 scale shortly after WWII. The kits sold very well...so well that you could argue that Gowland & Gowland borrowed Hudson's subject matter for their ground-breaking 'Highway Pioneers.' The Hudson Miniatures 'Old Timers' even spawned a line of imitators, with Fador's 'Smallster' being one of the better in quality. Sales did drop on the appearance and popularity of the much smaller (and less accurate) Gowland/Revell 'Highway Pioneers' in 1951. When the all-injection molded Gowland kits proved not to be a passing fad, Hudson quickly planned and released his own all-plastic, small-scale competition called 'Lil' Old Timers Quickie Kits.' The kits were of excellent quality, but it was too little too late. Additionally, sales of the excellent wooden kits faltered further in the next few years with the introduction of accurate, 1/24 and 1/32 all-plastic cars in the mid 1950s. This forced Hudson to discontinue the wood kits and the plastic line was sold to Revell and subsequently re-released. Today, these excellent, big 1/16 kits are often the only model available of these early automobiles. In the mid 1960s Aurora thought so highly of Hudson Miniatures that they purchased the wood kit assets and released a very small number of these in all-plastic models.

This item has been sold.
Click here to return to the main page.