| Seat/Ritmo models
intended to be a toy, but shape
wise I would say it’s too
narrow. The delight of this
model, however, is in its tin-
plate decor. While artistically
it can’t compete with, say, that
seen on the old Wells-Brimtoy
buses (where passengers
included men smoking pipes,
mothers with children, etc),
its style does echo that era.
Rather charmingly, it features
a moustachioed driver and
his passenger, both wearing
cowboy-style hats, and a rather
strangely reproduced pattern
of light on the windows. One
incongruity is the rooflight,
which is just painted on, so
lacks three-dimensionality.
There are also other guises/
liveries to look out for. Another
police themed model comes
in light blue and white. There
are two versions of this; one,
again, with a painted roof-
light, similar to my American
police car, and another with
a ‘proper’three-dimensional
roof bar with working lights.
There’s a fire chief's car, too,
with choice of painted roof-
light or working roof bar. This
is red (of course!) and white
and the driver and passenger
are wearing their fire helmets.
Adding to the throng there’s a
rally car, in yellow with a blue
roof, carrying politically
incorrect Marlboro ads and
rally number 1. Of course, in
this version the driver and
co-driver are wearing crash
helmets, and as such don’t
look as nicely detailed.
Another version comes in the
form of a white Iberian AirlinesROMÁN – SEAT Ritmo
This is a product of the
last fling of tinplate as a
material for making toy cars,
although its base and wheels
are plastic. There’s no
indication on this model as to
which member of the Strada/
Ritmo family it’s intended
to represent but, as it’s of
Spanish origin, I think it’s
safe to assume it’s meant
to be a SEAT Ritmo.
Having said that, my
example is liveried as a green
and white American police car
with ‘PD; (Police Department)
and ‘SHERIFF’ markings. It’s
of similar size to the 1:24 scale
Fiat Ritmo Polistil model, but
slightly longer. It’s perhaps
rather unfair to discuss
accuracy, as it’s clearlyand metallic blue, gold and
silver for the 1982 version,
so some colours are non-
prototypical. Features include
opening front doors and, on
some versions, a tow hook.
The latter has enabled the
model to be sold in twin packs
with a trailer; ones I have been
able to identify are a caravan,
a trailer with a motorbike
and a trailer with a dinghy
sporting an outboard motor.
Like the Guiloy model,
Mira’s CLX suffers from
poor proportioning, its
body work looking too wide
for its the length.
As explained, I've been work-
ing my way up in scale, but the
Pilen, Guisval, Guiloy and Mira
models are all of similar size,
ranging from 1:55 to about 1:50.close inspection reveals they are
not quite straight, which I feel
bears out my theory.
MIRA – SEAT Ritmo CLX
The CLX designation appears
on the diecast baseplate of
this model. This was the
top-of-the-range SEAT Ritmo,
save, that is, for the sporting
Chrono. Mira’s model
represents a four-door car
and seems to have been made
available in a vast variety of
colours and liveries. Plain
colours I’ve been able to
identify are black, light blue,
metallic blue, metallic apple
green, red, metallic silver,
white and yellow. Interestingly,
the real car only came in
metallic brown and silver for
the 1981 version of the CLX
Mira’s CLX represents the top-of-the-range SEAT Ritmo
and comes a vast variety of colours and liveries.Roman’s charming, approx. 1:24
scale, tinplate toy, can be found in a
variety of different guises. The interior
houses a friction motor.64 http://www.modelcollector.com | august 2019