Miniature Car of the Year 2023 has been announced

What could be more fun than sharing your hobby with others? Collectors of miniature cars have been united in the Dutch General Miniature Automobile Club(NAMAC) for decades. That, with some 5,000 members, is the largest miniature car club in the Netherlands.

Here’s how the Miniature Car of the Year election works

Every year, NAMAC holds its own Car of the Year election. In doing so, members choose their favorite miniature car of the past year. Because so many miniature cars are released in one year, the editorial team of the
Car In Miniature
, the club magazine of the NAMAC, does make a preselection. In nine categories, the five most interesting new releases of the past year are determined for each category. NAMAC members can then vote for their favorite.

And the winner is…

This year’s winner has an emphatic Dutch touch. In the first place, the vehicle itself is heartily Dutch: the DAF/Leyland Standard Streekbus, as it ran in public transport from roughly the late 1960s until well after the turn of the century and thus defined the streets. With such long service, young and old alike have memories of the bus, which may have contributed to its victory in the Miniature Car of the Year election.

The second Dutch touch is that the miniature is made in the small 1:87 scale by Artitec, a Dutch manufacturer. Artitec makes the bus in as many as 36 versions, so there is bound to be one that used to drive around your neighborhood. In addition, the miniature has wonderful detailing, despite its very small size. A deserved winner!

These are the other winners

The DAF/Leyland bus is overall winner and thus automatically winner of the 1:87 Commercial Vehicles category. This year is truly a miniature election, as we also find a miniature on a small scale in second and third place. Coming in second place, for example, is the similarly highly detailed Fiat 642 RN2 Carrozzeria Bartoletti of the Scuderia Ferrari racing team, made by Asian Stance Hunters. This model won the 3-inch category, or models in (approximately) 1:64. That is also the scale of this racing transporter. Third place went to PCX87‘s Volvo 343, winner of the 1:87 Passenger Car category. Another car with a Dutch touch.

The other winners by category are:

Category 1:43 Passenger Cars: DAF 30 Coupe 1962, Rialto

Category 1:43 Race & Rally: Red Bull RB16B, Turkey GP, Bburago Signature series

Commercial Vehicles category 1:43/1:50: Morris Commercial BMC Competition Department, Matrix Scale Models

Large Scale Passenger Cars Category: Volvo PV444, Cult Scale Models

Large Scale Race & Rally Category: Jaguar D-Type Longnose LM 1955, CMR

Large Scale Commercial Vehicles Category: Peugeot 404 Pickup, OttOmobile