Cursor Models: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:53, 19 February 2014

Revision as of 23:29, 30 March 2014

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[[Image:Cursor1923MercedesDiesel.jpg|250px|thumb|Cursor Modell 1923 Mercedes Diesel truck. This was Mercedes' first diesel as proudly portrayed in the Mercedes Museum. Most of the model is plastic, but wheels are metal.]]

'''Cursor Modell''' was a German company making models of antique and modern German vehicles. It is best known for its plastic replicas of vehicles mainly of the era 1880 to about 1920, produced for, and sold in, the Daimler-Benz museum in Stuttgart (Sinclair's 1974,4).

==Museum Modelsmodels==

Cursor started making ultra detailed 1:40 scale plastic replicas of 1880-1920 era Mercedes-Benzes and Daimlers about 1969. The first models were produced by model maker [[Wiking Modellbau|Wiking]] and then immediately taken over by Cursor (Force 1990, 122). Models produced (sometimes marked with the initials C.R.) were mostly of vehicles on exhibit at the Mercedes-Benz museum, like the 1886 'Drierad'"Dreirad" three-wheeler and Daimler's gas powered horse-buggy style '"Motorwagen'" of the same year. These were the first gas powered vehicles ever produced. Also made were an 1895 taxi, an and an 1896 firewagon (Sinclair's 1977). David Sinclair, an influential dealer to the diecast collecting hobby, imported some of the first Cursor Models to the United States in the mid-1970s (Levine 2009).

Cursor also featured several racing models for the museum as well, including the 1903 Mercedes Rennwagen, 1911 Blitzen Benz race car and the Mercedes SSK Kompressor driven by Christian Werner, the winner of the 1924 Targa Florio race in Italy.

Some collectors are critical of plastic for collector's automobiles, but those in-the-know realize that companies like Cursor, [[Minialuxe]] of France and [[Brumm]] and [[RIO Models]] of Italy, all have done their earlier '"bicycle'" tire vehicles in plastic because the spidery detail necessary for realistic portrayal of wire wheels and roof ties is not possible with diecast [[zamac]] (Sinclair's 1976).

==A Case Exampleexample==

A good vehicle for analysis is the 1923 Benz Diesel Lastkraftwagen 5K3. The truck was notable for being Mercedes Benz's first diesel. The model is five and a half inches long, and made of a sturdy, rather heavy styrene type plastic that seems heavier than the styrene plastic used by American companies [[Aluminum Model Toys|AMT]] or [[Jo-Han]], the American promotional model and kit makers. It is also much more solid than most French [[Minialuxe]] models or early [[Brumm]] carriages and steam vehicles which seemed much more 'spidery' and delicate in the use of their plastic.

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The package is a cut and folded shiny card stock base with perforations for the tires of the truck. Covering this is a softer clear plastic cover. Printing on the bottom of the package gives specifications of the real 4 cylinder in German, English, French, and Spanish.

==Plastic Promotionalspromotionals==

Some of the company's first promotional vehicles appeared about the same time as the museum pieces, and though they were not brass era, they were yet molded in plastic. One model, was the Audi 100 sedan, the real car being one of the first Audis to be exported to the United States around 1969. This model was slightly larger than 1:43 scale, in a silver box with black lettering. The car was well detailed in styrene plastic, especially the front grille and also the floorpan and engine features on the plastic chassis. This model may have been one of the first promotionals offered by Cursor, and perhaps somewhat rare, because it is not mentioned in Force's (1990) book.

At this same time, around 1970, Cursor made other VW models in a similar style as the Audi. These were also made in plastic. One was the oval-eyed 411 sedan in light blue and also red (#868). It came in a promo looking white box with the car neatly shadowed in black on the sides. How much Wiking was involved in these models is uncertain, but it appears Wiking only produced a few of the older cars for the museum at the earlier time.

==Diecast Promotionalspromotionals==

[[File:CursorUnimog.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Cursor Modell Mercedes-Benz Unimog truck. This model is diecast zamac where earlier models were plastic. Note also the box design is exactly the same as boxes for Mercedes-Benz promotional products made by other model firms, like NZG.]]

About 1978, Cursor went in a different direction. First, models of contemporary trucks, mostly Mercedes-Benzes, started to appear. Secondly, these were now often diecast in zamac. Then, similar to [[NZG Models]] and [[Conrad Models]] three or four Mercedes-Benz sedans (the 230, 200, and 190), were introduced ''in 1:35 scale'' (Force 1990, 124-127). This marked Cursor's main production of miniatures mainly for promotional purposes. Apparently all three companies were taking similar marching orders from Mercedes-Benz on how the company wanted its promotional models standardized. A BMW 3 series coupe also was made by Cursor in the 1:35 scale.

The truck models were accompanied by tractors, bulldozers, Unimogs, at least four buses, a frontloader, a backhoe and some antique trucks and tractors - one of a 1903 Bussing flatbed truck and a 1930s Fendt tractor. Apart from these last two, the trucks and heavy construction equipment were very similar to NZG and Conrad, though Cursor never matched their dizzying productivity. In fact, after producing about 40 different models over 18 years, Cursor seems to have produced nothing more after about 1987.