Fador 1/16 1908 Baker Electric

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Fador 1/16 1908 Baker Electric plastic model kit

1/16 Fador 1908 Baker Electric

Wood Model Kit,   Box Condition: Good-

Rare kit dated August of 1950. Very well detailed for that time. Features mainly die-cut, machined and saw-cut wooden parts and excellent plastic wheels and lanterns. Also includes metal parts, metal stock and die-cut cardstock. Has excellent, large full-size fold-out plans with numerous elevations, a great many detail drawings and extensive instructions. The kit has never been started. The small parts are still in the internal factory sealed bag and the parts that were never sealed have been inventoried complete. We think of electric cars of new; nothing could be further from the truth. From 1900 to 1915 at least 25 well-known electric car manufacturers advertised vehicles which '...were clean, quite, stylish and easy to operate - the only car for a lady.' And how true this was! Early automobiles were notoriously noisy with dirty exhaust and the constant requirement to handle smelly gasoline by hand. The Baker Electric was one of the longer ranged models - when all six batteries were fully charge it could travel about 75 miles - acceptable even today for a commute. The wheelbase was 80 inches and it had a convertible top that could be lowered or raised. Fador was another maker of big 1/16 classic cars and competed with the bigger Hudson Miniatures. Fador called the line 'Smallersters' and the design & parts breakdown of the kits are very similar. The full name was Fador Mfg. Company and the address was 501E. Clinton St., Elmira, NY. Hudson Miniatures, launched in 1948, apparently beat Fador to the market by at least a year or more. Hudson's national success probably lead Fador to choose the same subject (antique cars) and in the same scale, 1/16. Hudson snatched up the most obvious classic automobiles for kit subjects, forcing Fador to select very carefully. Fortunately, they chose well and they are still the only models ever made of these subjects. There is no record of Fador making any plastic kits; the introduction and overwhelming popularity of the Revell/Gowland Highway Pioneers and the models that quickly followed probably drove them out of the market. This was the fate of most wooden kit manufacturers who did not make the transition. In 1949 the Fador line consisted of a 1909 Hupmobile Roadster, 1904 Cadillac Runabout, 1905 REO 4 Passenger Runabout and one kit that was "3 In 1' - it made one of the following: 1909 EMF Single Rear Seater, 1909 EMF Touring or EMF Roadster. The Baker Electric kit was introduced in 1950 and possibly others as well.

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