Cursor Models

Cursor Modell 1923 Mercedes Diesel truck. This was Mercedes first diesel as proudly portrayed in the Mercedes Museum. Most of the model is plastic, but wheels are metal.

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 (Sinclair's 1974,4).

Museum Models

Cursor started making ultra detailed 1:40 scale plastic replicas of 1880-1920 era Mercedes-Benzes and Daimlers about 1969. The first models were started by model maker Wiking and then immediately taken over by Cursor (Force 1990, 122). Models produced (sometimes marked with the initials C.R.) were mostly of vehicles on exhibit at the Mercedes-Benz museum, like the 1886 'Drierad' three-wheeler and Daimler's gas powered 'horse buggy' of the same year. These were the first gas powered vehicles ever produced. Also made were an 1897 taxi, an 1896 firewagon, and the 1911 Blitzen Benz race car (Sinclair's 1977). David Sinclair, an influential dealer to the diecast collecting hobby, imported some of the first Cursor Models to the United States in the mid-1970s (Levine 2009).

Some collectors are critical of plastic for collector's automobiles, but those in-the-know realize that companies like Cursor, Minialuxe of France and Brumm and RIO Models of Italy, all have done their earlier 'bicycle' tire vehicles in plastic because the spidery detail necessary for realistic portrayal of wire wheels and roof ties is not possible with diecast zamac (Sinclair's 1976).

A Case Example

A good vehicle for analysis is the 1923 Benz Diesel Lastkraftwagen 5K3. The truck was notable for being Mercedes Benz's first diesel. The model is five and a half inches long, and made of a sturdy, rather heavy styrene type plastic that seems heavier than the styrene plastic used by AMT or Jo-Han, the American promotional model and kit makers. It is also much more solid than most French Minialuxe models or early Brumm carriages and steam vehicles which seemed much more 'spidery' and delicate in the use of their plastic.

This model is very tasteful and authentic in appearance and is molded in three different colors; green cab, brown lipped flat-bed, dark gray fenders and rail frame base. The fenders and frame are diecast metal which lends more weight to the model. It has a realistic gold radiator with black grille and headlights. The headlights are 'lit' with an authentic looking chrome for lenses and higher up, beside the cab on the driver's side, is another light - painted yellow.

Despite the plastic make-up of many pieces, axles and spoke wheels are also metal, with realistic rubber tires. On the base of the model is molded "Made in Germany", while "Made in W. Germany" is printed on the perforated box base. It is likely the model was made around 1980, perhaps earlier.

The package is a cut and folded shiny card stock base with perforations for the tires of the truck. Covering this is a softer clear plastic cover. Printing on the bottom of the package gives specifications of the real 4 cylinder in German, English, French, and Spanish.

Diecast Promotionals

About 1978, Cursor started to go in different directions. First, models of trucks, mostly Mercedes-Benzes, started to appear. Secondly, these were now often diecast in zamac. Then, similar to NZG Models and Conrad Models three or four Mercedes-Benz sedans (the 230, 200, and 190), began to appear in 1:35 scale (Force 1990, 124-127). This marked Cursor's production of miniatures for more purely promotional purposes. Apparently all three companies were taking similar marching orders from Mercedes-Benz on how the company wanted its promotional models standardized. A BMW 3 series coupe also was made by Cursor in the 1:35 scale.

The truck models were accompanied by tractors, bulldozers, Unimogs, at least four buses, a frontloader, a backhoe and some antique trucks and tractors - one of a 1903 Bussing flatbed truck and a 1930s Fendt tractor. Apart from these last two, the trucks and heavy construction equipment were very similar to NZG and Conrad, though Cursor never matched their dizzying productivity. In fact, after producing about 40 different models over 18 years, Cursor seems to have produced nothing more after about 1987.

References Cited

Edward Force. 1990. Classic Miniature Vehicles Made in Germany. Schiffer Publications.

R. F. Levine. 2009. David Sinclair in the Driver's Seat. Lake Erie LifeStyle, web published December 1. [1]

Sinclair's Auto Miniatures. 1974. Exact Scale Sales Magazine. Erie, Pennsylvania.

Sinclair's Auto Miniatures. 1976. Typewritten newsletter & sales brochure. Erie, Pennsylvania.

Sinclair's Auto Miniatures. 1977. Typewritten newsletter, flyer focusing on Cursor. January. Erie, Pennsylvania.