Why are the majority of the most beautiful cars trans kits?

I have been searching for and have found nine race cars from the late 50's and 60's and noticed that they are all made as trans kits . None of the large model kit manufacturers have produced these cars from what I could find. What is it that brings these larger companies to the decision to not manufacture these beautiful cars as a kit? This will be my first try at building a trans kit but with the cost I don't even know if I should take these on. I will be furious if I turn out to be unhappy with the final result of the builds, lol.

Which car?

Beauty is in the eye of the market research department of the kit manufacturer...

Which car?

Aston Martin DP214 lemans 1963
Maserati 450 S coupe Zagato lemans 1957
Lotus Elite Lemans 1959/64
Ferrari 250P lemans
Ford P68 Alan Mann 1968
Jaguar Type E 1964
Maserati Tipo 151/3
Matra MS630 1968
Ferrari 500TRC

I agree, I would like big companies like Tamiya to make modern race cars (They have several classic race cars). But to speculate:

Most likely licensing.

But it could be of financial efficiency. It makes them more money making the street version and have other companies do the trans kit. I think more people would be familiar with street version (easier to build and collect references), so they would likely to buy them instead of race cars.

Or it could be that they partner with these companies who make these trans kit?

EDIT: Noticed you said race cars from 50's/60's (and I said modern race cars). Another possibility is it's pretty hard to collect references/costs too much for research?

It's about weak demand.
When Tamiya made a lot of money with the Tyrrell six wheeler kits, other F1 teams asked Tamiya to produce model kits, so they could collect licensing money.
Apparently, Enzo Ferrari was satisfied when Tamiya sent a few dozen model kits every time they made a new Ferrari kit.

But the plastic model market has shrunk, and new licensing business emerged, so the manufacturers can't afford the amount the licensors are asking, except for a few strong subjects, like modern Lambos and Ferraris.

Another thing is about human resources, or the lack of it. It takes a lot of energy to produce a model kit, and companies must have the right people who can convince the boss.

Hasegawa made the TR and Fujimi made a decent GTO kit fairly recently. It's not much but it's a start!

I think a lot of it has to do with exposure. I lived near Monterey, CA in the '90s. Every August some of the nicest cars on the planet would gravitate toward that little town and stay for 2-3 weeks. In 1992 Ferrari was the featured marque and I recall counting 8 different genuine factory Ferrari GTO's parked at restaurants, owners pumping gas, or parked at the paddock. I used to hang out at Fantasy Junction in Emeryville on Saturdays so I could help rotate the "stock". I love the crazy rare cars because of that exposure.

Most folks want to build what they like. If they've never heard of a Lotus Elite or '64 E Type (FHC of course!) why would they buy a model of it? I thought the internet would disseminate the great cars but it's been 20 years and other than MFH and Tameo there isn't much.

Hasegawa made the TR and Fujimi made a descent GTO kit fairly recently. It's not much but it's a start!

I thought the internet would disseminate the great cars but it's been 20 years and other than MFH and Tameo there isn't much.

Fortunately I have found every car on my want list, unfortunately it will cost over $1,000 to accumulate them all.:mad:

Sohchx,

Some of the models on your list are some of my favorites as well but you have to admit some of them are rather obscure. Obscure and steel tool injection molding are not a happy mix. You have to have a lot of cycles on the tools to amortize their investment. Obscure subjects with limited sales have to be made using less expensive tools and you still have the problem of licensing fees and amortizing the cost of designing them. This is why the obscure stuff tends to be only available in $100-350 multimedia kits.

I have attempted to make the case for a new injection-molded Jaguar E-type tool on this site and others in the hope of attracting some interest from Aoshima. The basic tool could be modified into coupe, roadster, lightweight, SII, SIII V12, etc. Crickets.

By the way, a trans-kit usually refers to a limited production partial kit to modify or trans-form a commonly available injected kit into an obscure variant. A complete, limited production kit is typically referred to as a multimedia kit or "mm kits". A lot of mm kits cost upwards of $350 each so $1,000 for your dream collection is peanuts for a LOT of the folks that lurk on this website.

A lot of mm kits cost upwards of $350 each so $1,000 for your dream collection is peanuts for a LOT of the folks that lurk on this website.

From the quality and time I have seen in most builds here I agree 100% on the peanuts. It's not so much an affordability issue for me, it's justifying the cost for something such as this. For me it would be more justifiable if the kits were 100% complete needing absolutely nothing else. If I didn't have the choice between building these kits or putting the cash towards my 1:1 racecar and track time I would be all in. I'm sure I'll eventually bite the bullet and pick them all up anyway. Ordered my first one from Profil 24 this morning :grinyes: