Brass Era cars are not for everybody. Some folks love them and will have to own this one and others will simply turn up their noses at it. I suppose I’m old enough to appreciate the simplistic elegance of design in one of these motor carriages while being young enough to not actually recall ever seeing one in the automotive flesh.
I have several brass era mint cars. Call it an attraction to the nostalgia of my parents’ day and age. I’ll rank this limited edition right up there with the best of them. No need to worry about tech, you couldn’t build much more into this early horseless buggy if you wanted to. Before I get into the highlights of this particular edition, a word about its antecedents. FM first issued the 1904 Mercedes in 1994 in a luxurious ivory, accented in brown. It was the same year they made a 1905 Rolls Royce. Lots of nice little brass featurettes on that wagon as well. Ninety four was a good year; FM also issued the 1911 Rolls Royce Tourer in ‘94. The year before that, they issued a 1910 Caddy brass era replica. My favorite of the period, a 1912 Packard Victoria, was issued back in 1990. FM was sensitive to brass era auto fans and in 1998 they released a popular 1911 Mercedes Woodbody Skiff. All still viable images today.
This Simplex is eye-controlling in bright, deep yellow. Get up close to appreciate the dark brown thin pinstriping that runs the length of the body sides and tops of the fenders. We get good contrasting qualities of color shading on the overall image by the use of saddle brown for the seats with chestnut brown paint on the frame, twin spare wheels and passenger step-up. The firewall is wood veneer and the rear occupants get opulent step-ups trimmed in brass. And brass is everywhere on this model. You will see it in the engine, inner firewall, radiator surround, lamps, steering wheel componentry, dashboard, down-top trim accents and wheel hubs. The wheels are simulated wooden spokes and look nice and the chassis view is pretty cool too. It isn’t functional but the trans is fabricated to show how the car powered its rear wheels; via dual-chain drive. There was no wind screen so goggles were indicated and unless you liked bugs in your teeth you didn’t smile while motoring in this buggy. But I just cannot help imagine how much fun this would be to drive today or what it must have been like back then.
FM put together a very pleasing color combo for this re-issue. Price is $135.
-Tony F. Perrone
