[REVIEW] Tomica Nissan President

Tomica time, Land of the Rising Sun-day is here again, and today’s entry couldn’t be more of a JDM product. Today we examine Tomica 81-1, the Nissan President. This casting entered the range in May 1974, and is something seldom seen in small scale:

The Nissan President, a range topping car to compete with the Toyota Century, and also manages to be even more discreet than the Century. I see some mid 60s Ford and Mopar elements in the design, which may add to this. Tomica captures this car in fine form, with good proportion, ample fine line casting detail, and cast-in model badges on the front fenders which appear to be something found on the prior generation style of this car. Scale is claimed to be 1:67, likely accurate as this is a large real world car. This casting features all we know and love about vintage Tomica - springy suspension, crisp glazing, and snappy door action. From all angles, this is a quality item:

Doors open to reveal a detailed interior and accurate steering wheel:

Front and rear feature similar quality detail, with the name cast-in to the license plate being a nice touch:

The base is metal, the style of the time, and contains ample technical and identifying detail:

This example is lucky enough to live in its nice original black box. I’ve only seen it in blue, but black is shown in my reference book:

I am definitely glad to have this model in my collection. It is something not seen every day, and has a pleasing aesthetic:

And 1:1s from curbsideclassic.com and wheelsage.org: