Majorette Renault Alpine Police and Siku Volkswagen Tiguan

Here's a few finds last year of some nice classic Majorette and Siku castings.

Majorette Renault Alpine Police

When it comes to Renault the Alpine cars are legendary in the rally racing world.  The first Alpine was the A110 with its rear-mounted I-4 motor and sleek styling with well-integrated front driving lamps.  The Alpine company was a French automaker known for making road and rally cars, eventually bought out by Renault in the 1970's.  This lead to the new Alpine to come out, called the A310 and introduced in 1971.  The design was a successor to the famed A110 model with modern wedge-shape styling and more power.  The A310 uses a tubular frame with fiberglass body molded into one component.  Parts on the vehicle were mostly shared with Peugeot 501 models, while the R8 Gordini I-4 was still used and mounted at the rear.  To counter the added weight that slowed the car the V6 was introduced later on; it is a 2.6L that produced 150 horsepower to a 5-speed manual transmission.  After its production run the Alpine name disappeared, only to resurface as a sporty Renault model that recaptures the A110 and goes on sale in 2017.

I was looking for a decent model, and while there were many out there I went for the basic Majorette version, which sadly only comes in police uniform with roof-mounted light and spot lights located on the A-pillars (a separte plastic piece that was fragile and would come off with excessive play).  Still it looks good and my tester looks better in blue without any stickers on the sides or hood.  The fading white plastic is another story.  The front has concealed headlights in a clear cover, Alpine badge in the center, and a lower bumper/grille with signal and foglights.  The sides show a more angular roofline with vents behind the rear quarter windows, flared fenders, and 3-spoke Majorette wheels that look really good on this car.  I was disappointed to find out that the louvered rear engine cover with Alpine and Renault on the leading edge does not open to view the engine.  Bummer.  The lower bumper is part of the metal base and has the detailed taillights.  The interior has seating for two with a typical dashboard layout of gauges and controls mounted toward the driver, as are the steering wheel and shifter.

Siku Volkswagen Tiguan

Despite the ongoing popularity with SUV's in the U.S. Volkswagen has tried to stay away and rely on their Variant wagon models, but eventually they would give in and create their first SUV, the Touareg, in 2004.  Since then one must wonder why Volkswagen, known for their small cars and Golf hatchback, has not made a small SUV based on the Golf?  Well that was answered in 2006 when the Tiguan concept debut and in 2007 the production Tiguan was released.  Based on the Golf platform the Tiguan has the right size and shape to compete with the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV-4.  The front-end has a more swept-back look that was sleeker, while the rear has a more familiar Golf look.  The interior offers seating for five and familiar Volkswagen switchgear and layout.  The engine is a 2.0L DOHC turbodiesel I-4 that produces 170 horsepower through a 6-speed manual transmission.  Despite its potential the Tiguan never caught on in sales compared to competitors, so a new second-generation 2017 Tiguan hopes to reverse that trend.

Siku has made some impressive SUV's in the 2000's, and this Tiguan is a home run.  The stock red color looks good and flows well with the impressive details of the casting.  The front has swept-back headlights with clear lenses, black grille with chrome trim surround, lower bumper with side foglights, and an European license plate.  The sides show a typical SUV profile that is tall with lower black trim and double 5-spoke wheels on rubber tires that look accurate.  At the rear are round taillights with inner round signal and reverse lamps, Tiguan badges, VW logo that is also the gate release handle, and exhaust just below the rear bumper.  The base shows off impressive details that include the exhaust system and the all-wheel drivetrain, as well as the important Siku specs.  The doors open up to a well-detailed interior that features seating for five under a large moonroof.  The dashboard has a 3-spoke steering wheel, dual pod gauges, four round air vents that adorn the radio and HVAC controls, and a center console with shifter.  This is one of the finest Siku SUV, or any, castings that i've ever seen and finding a stock version like this one is charming.

Update 1/18/20: here's another color to the Volkswagen Tiguan, black with red interior: