A Set of 3 Hubley Terraplanes

Friday, January 12, 2018
Overcast and Raining
6 C  42.8 F 

A Set of 3 Hubley Terraplanes

Please click here to visit this fine ebay seller

I was perusing ebay, when I came across some very nice toys. The store on ebay, is Stripe4107, qnd the owner is Mr. Hardy Littleton. Mr Littleton has an excellent collection of merchandise for sale, and his photography is superb. Hardy also happens to have an excellent reputation as a seller on ebay. I found a trio of nice Terraplane cast iron toys in his store, and decided to present them for today's post.

The Terraplane was a car brand and model built by the Hudson Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan, between 1932 and 1938. In its maiden year, the car was branded as the Essex-Terraplane; in 1934 the car became simply the Terraplane. They were inexpensive, yet powerful vehicles that were used in both town and country, as both cars and trucks bore the Terraplane name.

HUBLEY 1933 TERRAPLANE YELLOW BLACK ROADSTER  with NICKEL GRILLE

1930'S TERRAPLANE CHROME GRILL ROADSTER 3 7/8" ( 98 mm)  LONG. THIS ROADSTER HAS IT'S ORIGINAL BLACK FENDERS AND A YELLOW BODY .

Rubber tires mounted on wooden rims.

Vintage 1930's Hubley Cast Iron Terraplane Phaeton Car Red & Black

Nice example of a 1930's coupe with a baggage box on the back of the car. I

t features a nickel plated grill.  Rubber tires mounted on wooden rims.

Length:  4 1/2"  115 mm

1930's Patent Pending Hubley Terraplane  Blue & Black Coupe Car

From the 1930's, the patent on the underside of this car saying "patent pending", 

puts this model as one of the earliest of this model .

Rubber tires mounted  on wooden rims

Length:  4"   102 mm

 Thanks for Dropping by,

and as always, have a great day.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Complete Presentation of Hubley Terraplanes

Thursday, February 20, 2014
                      (Sunny and mild)

A Complete Presentation of

Hubley Terraplanes

   I added a post on one Hubley cast Iron Terraplane a while ago, but never more than that. Yesterday, I decided to do a bit of research and found that I could present all of the Hubley Terraplanes (with 99% certainty) thanks to Bertoia Auctions. If you don't know already, I like to give each post exclusivity to just one collector or auctioneer or seller, so I it was great to see all of the Terraplanes on 1 website and one fine auctioneer.

   It turned out that a company by the name of Hudson started to produce these beautiful cars (the real ones) in 1932, and stopped production in 1938. Hudson had originally produced a car called the Essex, but dwindling sales required the Hudson Motor Company to come up with a newer model. The Terraplane was well-priced and well-designed, and became a success with large sales of the car.

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auctions excellent website

That's a great photo of the Terraplane.

Notice how the hubcaps are aligned so the name "Terraplane" is  oriented

parallel to the ground on both the front and back hubcaps 

(a requirement when photographing cars).

A beautiful grille

The names Hudson and Essex, both British, were very popular in Great Britain, and thee Terraplane was produced around the world, and led to sales outside of the USA.

What's interesting with the above roadsters is their size. They're 4 1/2" (114 mm) long, compared with all of the other models that are 6" (152 mm) long. 

I wonder why Hubley chose to make them smaller?

I always like the way some cast iron manufacturers would use nickel-plated grilles.

In the Phaeton above, not only is the grille nickel-plated, but the frame (chassis) as well!

Thanks for dropping by, 

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Please write to me anytime at

toysearcher@gmail.com