Yatming 1:64 1990 Chevy Lumina 2-door coupe, 1950 Lagonda Roadster, and Zylmex 1984 Ford LTD sedan

We all know the most common diecast manufacturers out there that range from Hot Wheels to Tomica and we know all of their models thanks to list compiled by various collectors.  However, there are others out there that are not accounted for and tend to vanish off in the distance.  Some are great and some are not so great and these three examples represent not only rarely-seen diecast models but replica's of vehicles not often done by others.

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Yatming 1990 Chevy Lumina 2-door coupe

Let's get the cat out of the bag on this one: as mentioned before this was not the best of Yatming's 1:64 scale vehicles and nearly wiped out the line that was once a decent competitor in the diecast marketplace in the 1970's.  Cost-cutting resulted in vehicles that lacked opening features, a plastic base over metal, and no interior's.  If it wasn't for the silhouette or lighting styling cues these cars could be mistaken for generic cars.  This one is the 1990 Chevy Lumina 2-door sedan.  Now the Lumina replaced the Monte Carlo in 1988 as the new W-body front-wheel drive line of cars that was span across all GM model lines.  As usual the Lumina two-door coupe was the prime choice for NASCAR's Winston Cup series and many famed drivers, though the relation between the race car and the street car was vastly different.  While there are many diecast NASCAR replica Lumina's, not many are two-door based.  Heck there was not many Lumina diecast at all.

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The orange paint shows the coupe's styling with a slight dip in the side windows a characteristic of the W-body cars.  The front has the headlights that span across with the help of the grille, while the rear has a trunklid rear spoiler and a tri-taillight bar that spans across the trunklid.  Then the issues began with a plastic base that integrates the front and rear bumpers, the seats are part of the base and the only interior detail, and the rear suspension really squats down on this one.  Yatming also released a Pontiac Grand Prix 2-door to go along with the Lumina.  On the real car the interior has a dashboard that spans across with gauges and controls mounted along the span.  Four door and APV minivan was also offered for the Lumina line.  The powertrains range from the Iron Duke I-4 to the 3.2L V6 with a 5-speed manual or four-speed automatic.  While the Lumina continued as a sedan in the second-generation, the coupe was not well-recieved (nor was the APV van) and in 1995 the Monte Carlo name was revived on the second-generation Lumina platform.

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Yatming 1950 Lagonda

Every once in a while an interesting classic car comes along that you'd never seen before, and in this case was this Yatming car.  At first I thought it was an early 1950's Bentley roadster as it has the look of the Bentley with its two-tone silver and black fenders and louvered hood, but in fact it is not.  It is a Lagonda, precursor to the Aston Martin line.  The brand was owned by Aston Martin in 1947 and shared the same engine's with Aston Martin models.  The one shown here is called the 2.6 Litre for the 2.6L DOHC I-6 that produced an estimated 120 horsepower through a 3-speed manual transmission.  The engine would bring the Aston Martin to fame when used in the DB line of cars.  The Lagonda has all-independent suspension with coil springs up front and torsion bars at rear, along with inboard brakes.  This is a big, heavy, expensive car that was a bit slow, yet sold well during its short period.

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This is a much finer Yatming model before the horrid models that came after it.  The two-tone look really pops out on this car and you can tell the size of this car just by the length and width alone.  The fenders nicely bulge out of the body, while the wheels with working suspension may or may not fit this car properly.  The front hood narrows down to a chrome grille with round headlights, signal lights, and foglights placed between the grille and fenders.  The hood has the ribbed vents to expel engine heat, a split windshield, and side vents just ahead of the front doors to expel engine heat from the cabin.  At the rear the trunk slopes down to the taillights below the trunk, chrome bumpers with nicely done details, and a very nice brown tonneau cover for the top.  Despite the size the interior only offers seating for two with a right-hand drive layout and a nice butterscotch color.  The base underneath is plastic, yet has just enough details of the suspension and the engine.  This is one nicely done model of a car that is rarely seen in real life or done in small scale.

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Zylmex 1984 Ford LTD sedan

Zylmex is also another player that was briefly seen in the diecast competition in the 1970's and 1980's.  While cheap with plastic base, the vehicles have excellent details and some are based on models no one else has done.  This LTD sedan is one of them and while most that i've seen are police cars, this is a stock street version in a beige color.  The LTD sedan is the smaller sedan slotted below the larger Crown Vic LTD sedan's.  Now the LTD name has been in use since the 1960's, this was the first time the name was split into two and a new smaller model based on the same Fox platform that the Ford Mustang used to replace the ill-rated Granada sedan.  The car has a wedge-shaped profile for better aerodynamics, a flat dashboard with logically-placed controls, and rear-wheel drive powered by either a 2.3L I-4 to a 3.8L V6, and even the 5.0L V8 managed to fit in this space.  Despite its success it was dated compared to newer front-wheel drive counterparts from GM and Chrylser, so the lifespan was short from 1983 to 1986 when the Ford Taurus replaced it.

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The look of the car is there and goes well with the beige color and 8-dot wheels.  The front has quad headlights recessed behind the grille and side signal lights that are angled.  The rest of the car is very generic so adding some proper lighting and trim details helps improve the look of the car.  The rear details seem a bit sloppy with taillights and license plate area, also angled, are part of the base and stick out farther from the metal body.  There's even an interior though the seats are rather thick and on my tester the window piece was starting to sag.  Everything else is typical for a low-buck diecast model, but otherwise its very nicely done for a unique model.