75 years of WIKING model vehicles - a fascinating passion bearing a very personal signature. The currency reform of 1948 made it possible as it allowed the young generation of children to discover a new playing field right after the war: WIKING cars! The large-format, richly illustrated book tells the long and exclusive history of people and models on 168 pages, gives accounts of collectors and presents magnificent dioramas from the vehicle world of WIKING. Authentic, largely unpublished photos from history shed light on the company's entire model-making work oeuvre in all its multi-faceted glory. 75 years of WIKING model vehicles - the anniversary is the perfect occasion for a large and vibrant book about WIKING cars. Over 300 illustrations included, of course!In fact, in the often adverse reality of the post-war years, motor vehicles turned out to be tremendous helpers in mastering the reconstruction in the occupation zones - paving the way for the car boom that ensued thereafter slowly, but steadily. And, Wiking-Modellbau created the wide world of small miniatures as the perfect complement. The first cars and trucks were initially designed on a scale of 1:100 with simple wire axles fitted using hot-wire insertion. When the currency reform and the Marshal Plan came to ensure the resurgence of the western occupation zones and helped fill shop shelves, WIKING boss Fritz Peltzer had already charted the course to success. The first moulds for plastic injection moulding - still a rarity at the time - were ready as early as 1948 to launch passenger cars, simple convertibles, and even US tractors with trailers as a considerable assortment of models. A bold step that was soon to make children's hearts beat even faster. Things only took off from there. Entire generations of children grew up with WIKING cars and enjoyed how the intricacy of the details in the miniatures continued to progress. In 1984, the company then changed into new hands because WIKING founder Fritz Peltzer never prepared a succession plan in his lifetime. In Lüdenscheid, the life's work of Wiking-Modellbau was kept alive thanks to the family business Sieper, known for the SIKU toy models, who adopted the WIKING philosophy with the same amount of passion.

168 pages, over 500 photos and illustrations, size 27.0 x 29.0 cm, hardcover, shrink-wrapped. ISBN 978-3-66712760-0