The super beetle from Fürth
08/29/2025
GAMA, a toy manufacturer from Fürth, offered a colorful bouquet of different toys until the 1980s. There were large plastic radio-controlled models such as the Mercedes C111 or the Lotus 33, from which the GAMA developers had even derived a version of the Indy racing car, but also rather old-fashioned-looking sheet metal tanks and trucks as well as - wonderful die-cast models! Most of them were in 1/41 to 1/43 scale, including some historical models such as a Fiat 1911 or the Mercedes-Simplex, and models of contemporary German automobiles.
GAMA is the abbreviation for "Georg Adam Mangold", who founded the company in Fürth (Germany) in 1881: Catalog excerpt from 1978 with the 1/24 models
Under GAMA Super, however, there were also a few model cars - or should we say toy cars? - Some of these miniatures came into my hands a while ago as new-old stock - i.e. unsold stock from a dealer. And, as is so often the case, completely unplanned and without much background knowledge. However, I was fascinated by the mixture of what was, by the standards of the time, an elaborate production process with chrome-edged windows on the one hand and some rather crude details such as the interior seats on the other.
The GAMA Mercedes 450 SEL with steering is a stately, heavy old-school toy car
I particularly like the Mercedes W116 with its steering function, which uses a real rack and pinion on the steering column (which the prototype never had, however, but a recirculating ball steering system). It was actually a pity that GAMA was no longer available in too many places in the early 1980s, and when it was, it was usually a rather patchy range, at least in Switzerland. Incidentally, the later die-cast models were taken over by Schuco, at least according to one source, while another claims that they went to Siku. Perhaps someone in this group knows more about this? Well, at the moment I'm enjoying my latest model from GAMA, the VW 1302, which also has steering and seems to have never been played with.
Fill it up once, please! Pressing the lever moves the counter. By the way, the boot lid of the Beetle closes better than in the picture!
At the big VW meeting in Château d'Oex, a dealer had this VW 1302 on display, a car that I had had on my radar for a long time but had never found a model in good condition. The temptation was now too great to simply leave this probably most elaborately realized contemporary model of the first "Superbeetle". None of the competitors in 1/24 at that time could offer all doors and hoods that could be opened and a properly functioning steering system.
Now the metallic green Beetle has been added to my collection. Although the front hood seems a little fragile, the steering function is flawless and the model has a nice weight and rolls well, just the way I like it. It will now take its place next to its brother from Italy, the 1303 Cabriolet from Polistil (picture above).
Incidentally, the fuel pump, also from GAMA, refuels models in many different scales. The best thing about it - apart from the clockwork function for the display - is that fuel prices have been consistently low for decades!
