RIO Models was an Italian manufacturer of diecast and plastic 1:43 scale model cars, based in
Cernobbio
Cernobbio (Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Como, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is located about north of Milan and about northwest of Como, on the border with Switzerland and near the Lake Como. The highest peak is t ...
, Italy.
History
All started in 1952 when three brothers, Reno, Nilo and Diego, founded the ''Fratelli Tattarletti'' (Tattarletti brothers) company. The small and young company, which in 1961 changed its name to ''ttttt Stampoplastica'', limited itself to diecast works for other companies, e.g.
Dell'Orto
Dell'Orto is an Italian company, headquartered in Cabiate, specialized in the construction of carburetors and electronic injection systems. The company was founded in 1933 as "Società anonima Gaetano Dell'Orto e figli" (Gaetano Dell’Orto and ...
,
Vespa
Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooter (motorcycle), scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of ...
,
Rivarossi
Rivarossi is an Italian manufacturers of model railways. In 2004 it was acquired by Hornby Railways.
History
Rivarossi was founded in 1945 by Alessandro Rossi and Antonio Riva.
In the 1990s Rivarossi acquired Lima (1992), Jouef and Arnold (1997 ...
and Dugu.
The three Tattarletti brothers started Rio Models as an independent company about 1961, or in 1962. Besides customary etymologies for the name 'Rio' (the Italian word for creek), the origin as a company name is unclear, although two of the three founders' names are also those of rivers,
Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
and Nilo.
Later, in 19t72, Nilo, one of the three founders, leave the company to found, along with a couple of business partners, ''
Brumm
Brumm is a collectible model company that makes diecast metal automobiles and horse-drawn carriages. It is based in Oltrona di San Mamette, southwest of Lake Como, Italy - about 25 miles northwest of Milan. Models are almost exclusively produ ...
'' another company producing diecast metal model cars and horse-drawn carriages. According to Sinclair it was a brother-in-law who started Brumm.
RIO models first appear to have been imported into the United States by David Sinclair, a model enthusiast who brought many previously unknown European model brands to the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. RIO Models, along with R.A.M.I., Safir,
Brumm
Brumm is a collectible model company that makes diecast metal automobiles and horse-drawn carriages. It is based in Oltrona di San Mamette, southwest of Lake Como, Italy - about 25 miles northwest of Milan. Models are almost exclusively produ ...
,
Dugu Miniautotoys
Dugu Miniautotoys was a brand of diecast metal models, mostly in 1:43 scale, made in Varallo Sesia, Vercelli Province, Piedmont, Italy, north of Turin and west of Lake Orto. The company made models for the Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia Automobile Mu ...
,
Lledo
Lledo was a British manufacturing company founded in 1982 by Matchbox co-founder Jack Odell, and Burt Russell, and based in Enfield. The factory produced mainly die-cast scale model commercial vehicles, and also cars, from 1983 to 1999, when t ...
,
Minialuxe
Minialuxe is a French manufacturing company that produces and commercialises plastic scale model cars and trucks. The original Établissements Minialuxe was based in Oyonnax, producing models usually made in 1:43 scale, but some larger 1:32 scale ...
and
Cursor Models
Cursor Modell was a German company making models of antique and modern German vehicles. It is best known for its plastic replicas of vehicles mainly of the era 1880 to about 1920, produced for, and sold in, the Daimler-Benz museum in Stuttgart.
...
took off on the original
Matchbox
Phillumeny (also known as phillumenism) is the hobby of collecting different match-related items: matchboxes, matchbox labels, matchbooks, matchcovers, matchsafes, etc.
Matchbox
A matchbox is a box made of cardboard or thin wood and designe ...
'Models of Yesteryear' theme producing replicas of veteran and classic cars that appealed to older collectors. Of these companies, only R.A.M.I. appears earlier than RIO Models. According to Edward Force, the first four RIO Models were made in 1961 – two 1906 Italas and two 1919 FIATs. These toys also may have been made under the earlier ''Stampoplastica'' name and manufactured for
Dugu Miniautotoys
Dugu Miniautotoys was a brand of diecast metal models, mostly in 1:43 scale, made in Varallo Sesia, Vercelli Province, Piedmont, Italy, north of Turin and west of Lake Orto. The company made models for the Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia Automobile Mu ...
. Soon however, the company was producing its own vehicles, and not contract works for other companies.
A few new models a year were sporadically produced until the company had a line of over 30 cars by 1972 and over 60 by 1978. Traditionally, models were supplied in 'top-up' and 'top-down' versions each being painted in just one color.
RIO models were always 1:43 scale and models were ultra detailed with between 45 and 75 individual parts. Models seem chosen for a combination of popularity, rarity, and unique design, traits consistently making Rio selections appealing. At first, most models were vehicles chosen from the European Brass era and from the 1920s. This favoritism toward earlier cars is seen in the standard RIO logo of two different automobile horns from the brass era; a fancy snake and more mundane trumpet.
Later, models of vehicles all the way up to the 1960s and 1970s were produced, such as the Citroen DS 19 and even a 1970s FIAT 124 Sedan. Still, there is a 'classic' sense to the RIO line – the unique cars of an earlier era. One also gets a sense that RIO was ahead of its time in offering models to collectors, and not children, long before such a practice became more common in the 1980s. In the mid-1970s, RIOs would cost between $15.00 and $20.00 when most other diecast 1:43 scale cars hovered in the $5.00 to $7.00 range.
Not Toys
RIO models, however, can be very brittle and many seemed made from a zamac alloy that perhaps was heavier on the lead than the zinc – drop a RIO and it will smash into pieces – they were definitely not made for children (drop a diecast
Cursor Models
Cursor Modell was a German company making models of antique and modern German vehicles. It is best known for its plastic replicas of vehicles mainly of the era 1880 to about 1920, produced for, and sold in, the Daimler-Benz museum in Stuttgart.
...
Minialuxe
Minialuxe is a French manufacturing company that produces and commercialises plastic scale model cars and trucks. The original Établissements Minialuxe was based in Oyonnax, producing models usually made in 1:43 scale, but some larger 1:32 scale ...
, though often plastic, were similar to RIO in style and classic models selected. The kicker, though, was
Brumm
Brumm is a collectible model company that makes diecast metal automobiles and horse-drawn carriages. It is based in Oltrona di San Mamette, southwest of Lake Como, Italy - about 25 miles northwest of Milan. Models are almost exclusively produ ...
Models, which was a much closer competitor. Though likely unrelated to RIO,
Eligor Models
Eligor is a brand of collector's diecast model cars and trucks mostly made in 1:43 scale (though a few early models were offered in 1:20 scale). Models have always been made in France, but the company has gone through several ownership changes. To ...
was another high production diecast company, started about 1980 in France, and focusing on cars from the 1930s to the 1960s.
RIO today
Though RIO models had more parts and more detail, Brumm seems to have outdone RIO in many ways, producing more models that are sturdier and better marketed. Quality of Brumm Models was excellent, packaging well-executed even in the 1970s, and models were cheaper, which ostensibly pushed RIO to up standards and promotional know-how.
Since this time, RIO has greatly improved presentation, often producing cars in unique dioramas and in unique historical situations. Commonly, RIO will insert into the box a small brochure giving specifications and historical information about the car (
Vitesse Models
Vitesse was founded in 1982 as a Portuguese company making diecast cars mostly in 1:43 scale. It was founded in the city of Oporto and is a brand name of Cinerius, Ltd.
The Fit of Vitesse
Because of detail and realism of the models, Vitesse gai ...
of Portugal has a similar practice). Even today, there is a feeling of uniqueness and irresistibility to RIO's models that other classic car model producers have difficulty emulating. Models today usually cost $50.00 to $60.00.
In 2011 RIO Models was acquired by M4 models of Pesaro, Italy, makers of the Best Model and Art Model lines.
References
*
*
* Rampini Paolo, Modelcars made in Italy, Giorgio Nada Editore Vimodrone 2003,
* Sweetman, Chris. 2008 Dugu Bernardi 10 Hobby Talk forum. See important references on this webpage.
Footnotes
{{reflist, refs=
{{cite web , title=Brumm, la storia , website=automodellando.it , language=it , url=http://www.automodellando.it/frames/speciali/arrivano_i_nostri/brumm_story.htmSinclair's Auto Miniatures (June 1, 1978). Typewritten sales newsletter. Erie, Pennsylvania.Sinclair's Auto Miniatures. 1974. ''Exact Scale'', magazine of information and sales from Sinclair's. pp. 2-3. Erie, Pennsylvania.Sinclair's Auto Miniatures (1977). Typewritten newsletter, flyer focusing on Cursor. August. Erie, Pennsylvania.Sinclair's Auto Miniatures (December 1980). Typewritten newsletter. Erie, Pennsylvania.{{cite book , last=Rixon , first=Peter , date=2005 , title=Miller's Collecting Diecast Vehicles , location=London , publisher=Mitchell Beazley (
Octopus Publishing Group
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefis ...
) , page=11 , isbn=9781845330309{{cite magazine , last=Levine , first=R. F. , date=1 December 2009 , title=David Sinclair in the Driver's Seat , magazine=Lake Erie LifeStyle