Today I received a bunch of Impy's. As I didn't have all Impy's as kid, there were a few nice surprises in this lot. As kid I was always fascinated by all the opening features these cars had.
An ucle had this 'Heckflosse' Mercedes and I once saw it with the hood open. I remember that the grille was attached to the opening hood. When I got the Impy version of this Mercedes, I was thrilled to see that 'my' MB also had this very cool opening hood!

Please allow me to show you a couple of these Impy gems to you. Please keep your hankies within reach, to not drool on your keyboard...

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/hoods.jpg

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/impmb1.jpg
the beloved model from my childhood. Notice the grille attached to the hood, way cool!!!

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/impmb2.jpg
Mercedes 'Heckflosse'

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/impeur1.jpg

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/impeur2.jpg
Another childhood memory, the beloved Lotus Europa

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/imprr1.jpg
surprise 1: figuring out how this hood would open, I noticed it was... sideways... Ahhh.... :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/imprr2.jpg
It is the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud Mk III

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/impjag1.jpg
Surprise 2: I almost demolished this Jaguar in an attempt to open the hood at the wrong side... :confused:

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/impjag2.jpg

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/fam-kroeze/Pics/164/impy/imphema.jpg
And this is the blister I got all of these in when I was a kid. A Hema Littl Tois blister! Although all traces of the Hema are creatively removed... Now I only need a complete, undamaged Hema blister...

That red Rolls is incredible :eek:

I love all those opening parts, especially on the Rolls and Jag. They are all very unique.

Thanks for posting those pics. The Mercedes and the two Rolls Royces are woth collecting for those hoods alone.

Someone correct me if I am mistaken, but aren't there some old 1:1 cars with hoods that hinge at the centerline and also have a second hinge on each side? I would love to see something like that in 1:64. Heck, while I am at it, how about a working Ford Skyliner?

I've never heard of this manufacturer...but the cars are incredible with all those working parts, but they still look very solid. And those blisters are cool too with all those flashy colors. I can only imagine, how much memories these bring back. :)

The cars displayed are from the time period 1965 - 1970.
Impy Lone Star is what they are referred to. Lone Star was the manufacturer who had also numerous other toys (rifles and guns for little Cowboys and Indians for example).
The Impy series was devoted to the toy cars.
These are absolutely the best from that time period and prices are high currenlty. But if you compare to for example Matchbox, which doesn't have all these cool features, and which are made in much greather numbers, the price is ok...
I paid USD 40,- for a boxed Ford Taunus 12M... By far the most expensive car in my collection, but it is a beauty!!!

An amazing collection of vintage diecast! :thumbsup:

Thanks for sharing!

It would be interesting to see some picts of the baseplates as well. I love the Mercedes and it's hood/grill.

I love the Europa. I don't know what it is, but I've been crazy about those cars since I was a kid. :)

That is one of the coolest collections I've seen in a while. Very nice indeed!