What's Your Most Prized Toy or Model Car?

Image: Adam Ismail / Jalopnik

While I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a bona fide collector, when I see a miniaturized facsimile of one of my favorite cars, I buy it — simple as that. Typically that means stopping at the diecast car aisle every Target run, but when I was younger and didn’t have bills to pay, it would mean spending what little money I’d earned as a teenager on 1/43-scale models from Autoart, Ixo, HPI and the like. For today’s Question of the Day, I’m asking you fine folks to post your favorite tiny car.

Personally, it’s hard for me to choose one. I have two of the Sega Rally trio in my collection — the Lancia Stratos you see above, and a Delta Integrale, both by HPI. I’d love an ST205 Celica GT-Four WRC, but I haven’t seen one yet. I’ve had both models for ages though, and these days I’m a little more prudent with my finances, so my expenses tend to be on whatever latest Car Culture creation Hot Wheels has whipped up — when the big-box store pegs aren’t picked clean by scalpers, anyway.

The Merc posse in full effect. From left to right: 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II and W202 C-Class DTM.Image: Adam Ismail / Jalopnik

I recently got a pair of Mercedes I like a lot — a 1995 C-Class DTM and 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, two cars it’s hard for me to believe actually received the Hot Wheels treatment. I say it all the time, but kids today have it so damn good and they don’t even know it.

Maybe you have only one, and it’s a Matchbox of your daily driver; or maybe you’re an avid hobbyist with hundreds of rare finds. Whatever it is, snap a photo and throw it in the comments, and we’ll compile a bunch in an Answer of the Day later this week.