Models of Yesteryear Y-9/2; 1912 Simplex Tourabout

Box notes: "Built in New York, Simplex Cars were among the finest made in America in their day. This is the Model 50 fitted with a Holbrook toy tonneau body and a 5¾ inch bore and stroke engine which is on display at the Long Island Automotive Museum, Southampton, New York, U.S.A. Scale 1:48"

The versions below in their range of box styles tell the story of how long this model was in production. It was released in 1968 and remained in production up to 1988. A lot of cars were made in that period so you will find a lot of these. You will find them in lime green or mid green, gold with a maroon or bright red chassis; all over red or red on a black chassis, yellow on a black chassis. The roof can be black, white, yellow or tan as can the seats.

Most versions from this very long run are easy to find and of lowish value. However look out for gold with a bright red chassis, and red with yellow seats. I was lucky enough to find a pre-production prototype in white with a red chassis and yellow seats in a large mixed batch of played-with cars off eBay, shown below. This car has now been sold on to a specialist collector in Australia.