(Pics) 1966 Pontiac GTO by Racing Champions

This one is exceptional for the era, Ed. My ERTL models from that period generally have problems with closing doors and engine covers.

Posted by: @david-green

My ERTL models from that period generally have problems with closing doors and engine covers.

David, you mean these?

Posted by: @ed-davis

Many of the recent posts in this section have shown models with amazing detail for these smaller scales.  However, going back to the late 1990's and early 2000's, many very good models were also available from companies such as Racing Champions and Ertl.  Here I have some photos of a 1966 Pontiac GTO from Racing Champions. The year on the chassis is 1998.  The Racing Champions models were usually 1/64 scale or close to it, and this model measures very close to 1/64 scale.  They also featured an opening hood with an engine.  The hood in the GTO closes nicely, but that was not always the case with other Racing Champions models.  Here are some photos.

Very nice color, it looks to be correct for a '66 GTO.

That 1966 Pontiac from RC looks really good, Ed ! Very nice color, too.

@chris 

Hi Chris. 

These ones are quite good. I'm thinking about the series that came out a few years before these ones. I'll dig out a few examples and post them. 

That's an excellent model, particularly given the time it was introduced. 

@chris 

Hi Chris,

Here are two examples of the earlier series.

1963 Corvette Stingray ( this one is a little distorted but not too bad,)

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1  (this one not so good)

@david-green Well, they tried. I'm not certain I've seen those before; they are not the Ertls  I thought you were going to show me.

@david-green 

Do you know when these models were made? If there is a year on the baseplate I could not read it.

@ed-davis @chris

Hi Guys,

These came out in the late 1970s and were produced in a variety of bubble packs into the late 1980s.

Here are a few packaged ones. You can see that they came under different titles. Cars of the World is likely the oldest package, released in November, 1979. As you can see, there are no dates on the cars or packages. All were made in Hong Kong for ERTL, likely by the same company that made Racing Champions later. ERTL and Racing Champions among many others, all belong to the same company.

From Wikipedia:

Ertl has been producing farm toy replicas since 1945. For over 60 years, the company has produced farm toys for industry brands such as: John Deere, Case IH, New Holland, and AGCO. Ertl has also, on different occasions, acquired the licenses to produce die-cast vehicles and figurines as well as model kits for Looney Tunes, Garfield, Thomas the Tank Engine, Tugs, Theodore Tugboat, Super Mario Bros. DC Comics, and Star Wars. In 1999, Ertl was purchased by Racing Champions. Ertl is currently a brand under the RC2 Corporation umbrella.

I have most of these in bubble packs but in storage. I can show other issues later if there is interest. 

Wow... I remember the red, white & blue packaging (but not those cars ) but those "Cars of the World"  blister packs... no way, never saw those.