Phil Alderman

Phil Alderman has been in this business since 1975, and model cars had been a hobby for him for over 10 years prior to this. Based in Brooklyn, New York, he was the first man behind this range of models of exceptional American concept cars through American history, and in addition he was responsible for the ranges Dust & Glory, QuarterMile and One43.

During his short tenure of the range, Phil introduced, in 1989, a 1:43 scale Buick Le Sabre, the showcar of 1951, finished in silver / blue metallic with plenty of plated parts and whitewall tyres. Given with this model was a reprint of the rare 1952 factory brochure describing the one of a kind classic.

Subject ID: 82876

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Phil Alderman has been in this business since 1975, and model cars had been a hobby for him for over 10 years prior to this. Based in Brooklyn, New York, he was the first man behind this range of models of exceptional American concept cars through American history, and in addition he was responsible for the ranges Dust & Glory, QuarterMile and One43.

During his short tenure of the range, Phil introduced, in 1989, a 1:43 scale Buick Le Sabre, the showcar of 1951, finished in silver / blue metallic with plenty of plated parts and whitewall tyres. Given with this model was a reprint of the rare 1952 factory brochure describing the one of a kind classic.

Other models included a 1954 Corvette Nomad, a Buick ‘Y’ Job, and the Lincoln Futura. To these were added the Cadillac La Espada, Buick Centurion, Mako Shark, Chrysler C200 and the 1954 Cadillac El Camino Showcar. We believe that a total of 12 models were made before, at some stage, Phil retired.

However, Paul J Burt, a classic car enthusiast living in Lake Forest, Illinois, spotted a GADM Buick Centurion whilst exploring a local model hobby shop in 1995, and was besotted! He did not have sufficient funds, nor had he encountered model cars of that value before, so he walked away. However, the memory nagged him, and eventually he returned and bought the model. He asked the shop owner if there were others in the series, and he was shown a Lincoln Futura, already reserved for another collector.

Without the assistance of eBay, which had not yet appeared, but through other collector friends Paul located the remaining models in the range, and then learnt that Phil Alderman still had the original patterns. He called Phil on a number of occasions to persuade him to sell, and finally Phil agreed. Paul bought the company, the patterns and the rights to build, and has set about rebuilding the brand. About 4 years ago he launched a white metal Batmobile, and has developed a new website to promote his range, www.GADM.com, now defunct. He regarded this as a non profit making hobby, making between 25 – 50 models of each car.  

Paul had established a close working relationship with Keith Williams at SMTS, and through him, has used Ian Pickering for his new patterns. The result has been that casting, vac form and decal technology has shown much improved quality over the 1980s issues.

Paul is keen to make the Cadillac Cyclone, and declared on the website that he used to have hopes of making over 100 dream cars of the 1950s and 1960s. He has resisted the idea of diecasting in China or Japan, as he personally loves the feeling of quality achieved in white metal, by the old world craftsmanship of SMTS.

On September 1st, 2010 Paul launched his Burt Collection of classic American cars, and offers restoration and servicing facilities to fellow enthusiasts. He sees GADM as the perfect complementary hobby, and is optimistic about the place of white metal models in the hands of dedicated collectors.

 

Henk van Asten   Conquest/Madison Models

 

Not many producers have emerged from the Netherlands, but one name that is well known is Henk van Asten.  Henk was born in 1946, and received his first Dinky Toys at the age of 10. Eventually, he had about 20 to play with, and a few of these have survived, albeit in a poor state of repair.

After he left school he became a teacher, at a high school in economic science and trade science, including book keeping.  However, his love of Dinky Toys was to be re-kindled when, one day in 1972, on his way home from school, he discovered a shop in a village which still had many old Dinky Toys from the 1960s. He bought about 25 of these, and this started his collection. Serious collecting came about 4 years later. The Dinky Toy range was limited, so he began to collect Corgi Toys, Spot-On, and other makes in 1:43 scale, and also visited swapmeets. This led to trading in these toys.

To enlarge his collection, he also started collecting handbuilt models. He soon realised that many real cars were not yet modelled, and concluded that he would make them himself. He began preparing to launch his own range in 1983, and as he was drawn by the detailing on American cars, it was these that he chose to release.

He made contact with SMTS, who were able to supply him with the models in the quantity he wanted, and his first Madison release appeared in 1987. This was followed 4 months later by the first Conquest model.  Henk founded his company Fa. Daimler House in order to have a trading name, and he found that sales soon increased to a point when he was able to stop teaching. His range continued to grow until 2002, when he restricted his production from SMTS to re-runs of existing models. Henk was always a keen classic car owner, all of which were British. Not surprisingly, one of his favourites was the Daimler Conquest that he owned from 1974 to 1992, which gave its names to the company and one range.

In 2005 Henk decided to retire and made arrangements to sell both the Conquest / Madison ranges to Buz Kirkel.  SMTS continue to make the two ranges for him.

Subject ID: 82876

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