Retro Vintage Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste 1800

I've been on the hunt for this cool diecast for 2 years now and I finally bagged it.  This casting is special to me because my father drove a yellow one in the early 80's.  I remember how h took good care of that car and he never let any of my brothers to drive it.  This was his personal car and the Toyota Crown was the family sedan.


Diapet Yonezawa was one of the very few diecast makers who made a casting of this rare gem.  I believe Hachete Fujinghano is gonna release a 1:43 model soon in Japan.  What I like about this casting is that it came from the same era as the car, the late 70's.


Enough talk and my dear friends, meet my Mitsubishi Celeste 1800.

Comments are always welcome!  Thank you friends from around the world!

My Massive Vintage Diecast Binge

I am now poor but I am sure this blog will have a lot of subjects to talk about.  These vintage items will fly with me tomorrow night to Manila.  I may have to walk home from the airport.

I still have to open the boxes and still check what I have, lots of surprises in this magical box that i got in Japan.

Vintage Volkswagen Karmann Ghia 1300 by Century/AMR/Danhausen

I love collecting Volkswagens but the casting of the VW Beetle is dime a dozen, all diecast manufacturers are sure to have their own rendition of the very lovable VW.  I have a good collection of vintage and classic VW Beetles but I have always wanted to get a Karmann Ghia casting.  I always try to get the rare items and I try to build my collection little by little by getting only the diecast that I really like.  The things I like are the rare, vintage and a bit hard to find.   I told myself before that if I concentrate on the vintage ones, i will only buy something like one or two diecast a month because of the rarity and the premium price these diecast commands.   I was wrong.  Here I am concentrating on vintage items and still buying something like 6 to 8 pieces a month.  I do not do ebay and I buy all my toys in Japan.  Sometimes the toys in EBAY are cheaper but I still prefer to hold, caress and bring home the item right away.  I cannot stand the wait of a package to arrive from another part of the world, the suspense would kill me!


Now, back to my recent treasure find, a very desirable, hard to find CENTURY VOLKSWAGEN KARMANN GHIA 1300.    I saw this box in one of my favorite hobby shop in Japan and I was curious on what was inside.  I asked the salesperson and he told me that the item is a very heavy 1:43 diecast, the same league as KAWABATAKIKAKU  models that I also love.  The Century model I got was quite unique, The casting was made in France by AMR Paris and then was shipped to Germany for assembly and detailing.   Hand made and hand assembled diecast is very special to me.  Most toys are made by machines but this beautifully crafted Karmann Ghia started as a block of metal in Paris and ended up as a beautiful handmade item finished in Germany.    This beautiful piece of work ended in Japan and probably stayed in a Japanese home for a while and now, this car is in Manila, where it will stay  with me for a long time( or with a very serious VW collector).


Enough with my story, here is the real deal.  My CENTURY VOLKSWAGEN KARMANN GHIA 1300 in 43 scale.  (PS:  the wipers are not yet attached to the model)

Andre-Marie Ruf (AMR)  in action

Coming soon in Diecast Japan!

Comments are always welcome!   Thank you to all my friends all over the world!

Brian Vespa