The pickup truck has been a fixture of American roadways since the 1920's since the Model T Runabout was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Pickup trucks have been used by contractors and farmers to haul materials, by families to tow campers, souped up for track racing, and tricked out to catch attention. The pickup truck has become a symbol of strength in the United States for its versatility and power.
Pickup Truck Replica History
The earliest known pickup truck replicas were created by Tonka in the mid-1950s. However, these trucks were not technically die-cast. Tonka trucks were created from several pressed or stamped metal parts that were riveted together to form a complete assembly. While Tonka was most well known for their industrial and construction equipment replicas, they also had a line of pickup trucks. The early Tonka pickup truck models were based on the Ford F150 line of pickup trucks, and although the designs diverted from the exact Ford design in the 1960s, the design did still resemble the existing Ford pickup truck designs. In the late 1960s, the design changed to more closely resembled Dodge pickup trucks of the era. While many of the early Tonka replicas were not labeled with a scale, the majority of the replicas were 1/18.
Today's Die Cast Pickup Truck Replicas
Today a far wider range of die-cast pickup truck replicas are available, representing most if not all of the lines of full-size pickup trucks. One popular area for collectors is replicas of racing trucks. As collectors flock to replicas of NASCAR stock cars, similar interest has been generated in the NASCAR Craftsman truck series of racing, and collectors purchase replicas of the trucks of their favorite drivers.
Full-sized pickup trucks have also become attractive to drivers who like to trick out or customize their vehicles. Customization is no longer limited to street cars! This interest has also expanded to the die-cast pickup truck industry. Collectors enjoy modifying stock pickup truck replicas with new paint schemes, chrome parts, and even built in lighting to really grab attention.
But collectors are not limited to the 1/18 scale of vehicles. Matchbox and Hotwheels have been producing 1/64 scale pickup trucks for decades. While these smaller vehicles may not have the collector value as their larger cousins, these vehicles are easier to find and less expensive to purchase, allowing the collector to add a wider range of vehicle models to his collection.
Finally, collectors also have the option to purchase pickup truck replicas that have been branded with their favorite sports team, products, or companies. For collectors who focus on vehicles that sport a specific product brand, such as Coca-Cola, this option allows for a wide variety of die-cast vehicles with common branding.
Die-cast pickup truck replicas represent just one of the many niches of the die-cast vehicle spectrum.