Norev: From Toy Watches to a Place in the Collector's Cabinet

Norev's own history begins with the Veron brothers selling toy watches in September 1946. Cars followed in 1953, when Simca president H. T. Pigozzi approved a miniature of the Aronde. A child could soon build a small version of the French street: Citroen Traction, Renault 4CV and Peugeot 203 models followed.

That is an appealing place for a model-car company to begin. These were recognizable vehicles from everyday life, reduced to a size that could be held, arranged and collected. The interest did not depend on a racing victory or a dramatic shape.

The range broadened through Jet-car, Mini-jet and Plastigam in the 1970s. Norev also became visible in real motorsport, including on Henri Pescarolo's Surtees in 1976. In 1986, Marc Fischer took over and steered the company toward collector models. Those milestones, recorded in Norev's history, help explain the breadth of the name today.

The two Norev subjects in this gallery make that breadth tangible. The metallic brown Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 is all long horizontal lines, small badges and restrained trim. The gray Porsche 992 GT3 RS is almost its opposite: deep openings, black graphics and a rear wing that commands attention from every angle.

On the Mercedes, start with the side view. The straight beltline and the spacing between the wheels do much of the work. Brown paint suits a model that asks you to notice proportion before decoration. The car looks complete with its doors shut; there is no need to stage it dramatically.

The Porsche invites a closer circuit. Look at the wing supports, then the open cockpit, then the shape of the front luggage compartment. Those photographs show what this particular release does. They also make a useful reminder that one Norev model's opening features should not be assumed for every other release.

Together, the pair offers a satisfying start to a collection about road-car design. They share a maker and a scale, while leaving room for very different tastes in cars. Browse the photographs below, or continue through the Norev collection at JPC.