The Forward Look

 

Above: Finished model of the Chrysler Dealership on "King Street" on the Wardell layout. 

Modelling our Obsessions 

Apart from trains, my other obsessions are classic cars, buses and trams. My favourite era of cars are the 1950s and 1960s as a result beside my collection of HO Scale locomotives and rolling stock, I also have a large collection of 260 HO Scale vehicles. I am also fulfilled a life long dream of owning a classic 1950s car, despite the fact that is is original and requires a lot of TLC and time. 

Any chance to model a diorama or building that can display my vehicles is a bonus. 

Background and Research

I wanted to model a dealership in the 1950s and me being a Chrysler fan I wanted to model a Chrysler Dealership. Dealerships in the early to mid century were positioned in the cities and inner city suburbs, where they were a lot smaller in land size before the highways and open sprawl of suburbia My model of the dealership had to represent that. 

The other notable observations of dealerships in the 1950s is that they sold a number of different brands. Dealers that sold Holdens also sold Chevrolet and  Vauxhall. Chrysler  dealerships also sold the French Brand cars, Simca, Plymouth, Desoto and Dodge,

Below are examples of photos of Chrysler Dealerships, I have found on the internet. 

https://www.facebook.com/lostwarrnambool/photos/a.162330021138879/1126092941429244/

http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=14389&start=11101

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1445251256283256&set=gm.6007512982674359&idorvanity=842236972535345

Modelling the Dealership

I was looking for model building that represented a early to mid century car showroom. After searching the internet, I found a card kit made a supplier in the United Kingdom, Kingsway Models

https://www.kingswaymodels.com/. This is a OO 1/76 scale kit and I requested the supplier if they could shrink the kit to 1/87 scale. 

Above: Opened kit before construction

The kit is a low relief kit that comes with various signs. However, the signs represent British names and had to be replaced with white card and new signage made. 

Above: the original built kit before customising

Signage

In order to Australianise the building and also represent a Chrysler Dealership, I needed to have the correct signage. I had some left over model letters from a Heljan shopping centre kit and and cut out the letters and painted each of the Chrysler brands in alternative red and blue colours. 

I also wanted 1950s neon signage and found a sign that would of hung outside the dealerships in the 1950s and made the sign using a couple of layers of 0.75mm styrene sheets. 

https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/Magnificent-1940s-50s-Chrysler-Plymouth-single-sided-porcelain-dealership-sign-220451

In the mid 1950s, Chrysler Australia was finding it tough to compete against Holden and Ford. In an endeavour to make the cars more model looking, the Forward Look program was released in the USA but also across the globe. The cars were more sleeker and sharper styling such as tailfins and more appointments in interior and accessories. Australia reduced the number of models and released the South Australian built Chrysler Royal AP1 in 1957 which differed to the Dodge Royal. 

Although the Chrysler Royal was well appointed and had plenty of power with the V8 option in didn't sell as well as expected. It wasn't until the introduction of the Valiant that Chrysler Australia sold well. 

For my dealership, I used the following models:

Inside the Showroom:

Manufacturer            Brand                    Model                            Year

Norev                         Simca                   Aronde  P60                 1958

SAI                            Simca                   Vedette Beaulieu           1959

EKO                          Desoto                   Diplomat                      1957

MadaboutCars           Dodge                   Royal                            1957

Outside the Showroom:

Manufacturer                    Brand                    Model                            Year

Classic Metal Works          Dodge                  Meadowbrook              1950

Oxford Diecast                  Chrysler                 300  Convertible         1961

Classic Metal Works          Desoto                   Sedan                          1950

Oxford Diecast                  Desoto                   Suburban                      1946

No HO scale vehicle is available for my vehicle so I will need to get someone to do a 3D print in lieu of that I have made a billboard on top of the dealership to spruce the "latest" Australian Chrysler model.