Hubley History

The Hubley Company of Pennsylvania made accurate metal replicas of Model A Fords and other cars for many years.

In the 1950s and 1960, they began making 1:20 scale Model A Fords. There are seven Model "A" Ford body styles available: Four Door Sedan, Station Wagon, Coupe, Roadster, Roadster Pickup, Victoria, and Phaeton.

The kits contain several metal body castings and an assortment of plastic parts. It does take some time to clean up all the pieces and paint them, but the results are well worth the effort. This is a great family participation project for the younger members, as everyone who races a car must be involved in some part of the building of it.

The original Hubley and Gabriel models can still be located in swap meets, antique stores, eBay, and many times sitting on a shelf if you have been a Model "A'er" for some time. The Scale Model version can be purchased in the larger hobby stores. All the parts are interchangeable between Hubley, Gabriel and Scale Model.

 [1961 ad]

[1961 ad]

One day many years ago, someone got the idea that it might be fun to "race" these model cars down a track similar to the "Pinewood Derby" that the Boy and Girl Scouts use. The Hubley Derby is a gravity race using the die cast 1/24 scale metal models made by Hubley, Gabriel, and Scale Model. Many of our meets now have an event for "the kids" - racing their toy Model A cars. Usually only appearing in local and regional MAFCA events, the "Hubley Derby" came into the national spotlight when it was an official event in at the 1994 Tacoma MAFCA/MARC National Meet.

The race is a great participant and spectator sport. The crowds really get involved in the runoffs and cheer for their favorites. The format is side by side racing on a three-lane track with elimination races until the age group champion is finally crowned. Some of the fiercest competition is in the 18 and over age group.

 

Last Updated: 11/25/2009
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