Danbury Mint discontinues diecast car line after its factories shut down

Danbury Mint’s 1935 Ford coupe. Image courtesy Danbury Mint.

Up against an industry-wide trend of rising costs and difficulties dealing with overseas factories, Danbury Mint – the company best known among gearheads for its high-quality, 1:24 scale, shelf-topping classic cars – has exited the diecast car business.

“Like Packard, Duesenberg and Pontiac, so too has our journey come to an end,” wrote the Danbury Mint’s Diecast Product Manager, Art McKenna. “For more than 20 years, the Danbury Mint has been proud to offer what many deem to be the finest 1:24 scale replicas in the world. Unfortunately, our last 1:24 scale replica has rolled off the assembly line.”

McKenna said the decision to discontinue the diecast car line came after the factory in China that produced the models for the company closed. Two years ago, the Danbury Mint’s main factory in China closed, leaving it with only its secondary factory to produce a limited lineup of diecast cars. No reason was given for either factory’s closing. “We didn’t own the factory, so we couldn’t control much of what happened,” McKenna said.

Pricing of the models also appeared to play a role in the decision. In a letter that McKenna sent to members of the Danbury Mint’s Classic Car Preview Society late last year, he noted that the company was no longer able to cost-effectively produce enough models for that program. Retail prices for the company’s diecast cars had also sharply risen over the last couple years from about $150 to about $250.

While the Danbury Mint was founded in 1969, it didn’t begin producing collectible diecast vehicles until the late 1980s, starting out with a range of sporty Full Classics like the Duesenberg SSJ and Packard V-12 LeBaron Speedster. McKenna said that over the next quarter century the company produced hundreds of different vehicles, but that they wanted to make their last diecast car release – a 1935 Ford DeLuxe three-window coupe – an all-new design and not merely a re-paint of a previous design. Limited to 2,500 pieces, the coupe has already sold out.

Diecast cars were only a part of Danbury Mint’s overall offerings, however, so the company will remain in business selling sports collectibles, coins, and figurines.

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