There’s much cause for celebration this weekend around the world, so as is our holiday tradition at the Model Car Hall of Fame, we choose to honor the occasion in miniature. Sunday is Easter, of course, but we covered that last year. This year, there is another event on the calendar on Sunday.
In 2025, Easter happens to fall on April 20, aka 4/20. For those not familiar with weird American cultural phenomena (especially parts of the world that write out this date as 20/4), 420 has long been associated with marijuana use in the United States. The origins are naturally hazy, but that numericlature (?) started in the 1960s and has grown in scale and acceptance as more of the country has legalized pot in various guises.
Regardless of the actual connection to the reason for the season, there have been several cars with 420 in the name. And many of them are available in diecast. So let’s fire up our investigative skills and find some. Dude, where’s my diecast?
Mercedes-Benz is no stranger to alphanumeric car names, and they used the number 420 for a few years. NZG Modelle makes a nice 1/35 scale model of the MB 420 coupe. The base of the model also identifies it with a few other numbers, since at this size, they are indistinguishable from one another.
Jaguar also used the 420 moniker for a brief time. There are a lot of models available, including a 1/18 sedan from Best Of Show, a 1/32 plastic kit from Airfix, and a 1967 Harold Radford Convertible in 1/43 from Matrix Scale Models.
For 1985-86, Maserati used the 420 number/name for one of its Biturbo variants, but it’s not available in miniature as far as we can tell. It looks basically the same as any other Biturbo model of the era, so you could get this one from Replicars/SMTS Models and just tell everyone it’s real.
BMW also borrowed the 420i moniker from 2014-19 for their entry-level 4-series cars, although there don’t appear to be any models of it, either. Instead, let’s look at this nifty Corgi BMW M1 ProCar series racer. What does that have to do with today? Well, it’s Corgi model number 420, so that sort of counts.
Speaking of Corgi, the Corgi Model Club has a wonderful reissue of a classic camper van, number 420 in their modern series. Originally introduced by Corgi in 1962, the Thames 400E Airborne comes with a pop-top option, ready to head to any week-long music festival. It’s not a Volkswagen bus, which would have been so, so perfect, but with some flowers and groovy slogans painted on the sides, it could be close enough.
Corgi also had a decidedly American model 420, a Fox Body Ford Mustang from the Juniors line. It looks blazing fast in its sporty New York Mets livery.
Speaking of Mustangs, Hot Wheels made a model of a 1999 Stang with “Lesser 420” graphics on the sides. Details are like, kind of lost in the weeds, but it would seem to be a reference to an actual racing team. If you know any more about it, tell us about it in the comments!
For decades, Nissan made a series of compact pickups called 120, 220, 320, 520, and 620. Hey, they missed one! For cultural reasons, 420 was not deemed appropriate for their truck name. It has nothing to do with pot, but another odd circumstance. It seems the Japanese word “420” sounds a lot like their word for “rudeness” or “impoliteness.” So not to harsh anyone’s mellow, they just skipped it. Which is kind of a bummer if you really think about it, like really think about it.
If you can think of any other 420-related diecast models, be kind and tell us in the comments, okay man?
Ron Ruelle is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator who also writes about model cars. You can see his work at www.ronruelle.com
