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Plymouth Miniatures
Hunting the Plymouth taxi
Regular readers of my column
well know that I enjoy writing
about miniatures and other segments
of Plymouth memorabilia, especially
that which I think folks may not
have seen or have had an opportunity to
view up close. Hopefully, they will take
delight in just knowing that these
Plymouth items are out there, somewhere
in this vast world of ours. And
who knows? I may also inspire some
readers to get out and search for similar
Plymouth items. There is fun
to be had in the hunt, and the
trophy, to my way of thinking,
is every bit as exciting to
have, mount and brag about. I
guess bragging about what I
track down in the realm of
Plymouth “animals” is what I
like best in doing these articles.
Talking about our old car
hobby is, well, about as good
as gets.
Hunting down rare and
exotic species from nature can
get a person in a whole lot of
trouble in the real world – as
it certainly should – or it can
take up lot more time than it
is worth. Sometimes that is
even the case for inveterate
(and retired!) trackers like me.
Occasionally it is safer, easier
and just as pleasurable to go
out looking for a Plymouth
item, in this case a miniature
that is readily available in an
accessible location and will
not cost you much when you
are able to net it.
Our easily seen prey this
time is a 1967 Plymouth Fury taxi,
made by Johnny Lightning, a maker of
1/64-scale diecast vehicles familiar to
many of us. I am sure you have spotted
it by now in the pictures accompanying
this article. I wouldn’t say it’s as common
as the squirrels in your local park or
that sparrow insisting on building a nest
in the eaves of your garage, but if you
get out once in awhile for a little shopping
at the big box stores and stroll
through the die-cast toy aisles, you are
likely to catch a glimpse of this red and
white Plymouth taxi. It’s guaranteed to
bring a smile to any harried, weary bargain
hunter hoping to get back soon to
his or her garage to polish up the vintage
Plymouth for an upcoming cruise.
What’s more – and while we all ooh and
ahh over the Plymouth muscle cars,
sporty ragtops and racy hardtops – I, for
one, like to recall the days when our
favorite car earned its way in the world of
automobiles as a sturdy and reliable taxi
in big cities and small towns. Can you
remember your last ride in a Plymouth
taxi? I can.
The heyday of Johnny Lightning
production was about five or so years
ago when the Johnny Lightnings (along
with Hot Wheels, of course) practically
dominated the die-cast section of the toy
and big department stores. Like me, you
may recall going into the toy shop in the
-44-
mall and coming out with three JL vehicles
for only $5.00 plus tax. The asking
price was so low, and the cars so downright
nice, that the purchase became irresistible
– and more than likely you were
able to pick up a Plymouth or two in
your batch of three. Not bad, especially
if you hadn’t wanted to be in the mall in
the first place. From that five-year
“moment” of Johnny Lightning joy, the
road has been downhill for
the brand. Johnny Lightning
vehicles became fewer and
fewer to the point, which I
recall in the summer of 2009
at my local Wal-Mart, when I
did not see a single one on
the shelves. I was able to
locate a few at flea markets
during this period but the discussion
among toy collectors
and car folks was on the mystery
of what happened to JL?
The company did change
hands at some point, and
maybe the brain trust ran out
of ideas for new vehicle production.
Raw materials needed
to make die-cast cars
jumped in price about this
time, and the collector market
for toy vehicles changed. All
of these factors may have
contributed to the demise of
JL in one way or another.
Johnny Lightning did
attempt a weak comeback in
late ‘09/early ‘10, and it was
possible to find a few them,
plus some factory leftovers,
on store shelves. However, as
serious die-cast hunters now know, the
company is only a shadow of its former
self. The variety of new models is currently
very limited and the packaging is
smaller (that’s fine from an ecological
and storage point of view), and it looks a
bit on the “el cheapo” side when compared
to previous JL offerings from the
golden days. This last gasp from JL
continued on page 46…