As part of a collaboration between the Franz Mayer Museum and the Model Car Museum (MAE), an exhibit about the history and culture surrounding model cars will open in the Franz Mayer Museum on July 15.
“Autos a escala. Arte, diseño, pasión” (“Model Cars: Art, Design, Passion”) brings 450 model cars out of hiding in the MAE and onto display in the Franz Mayer Museum. The MAE, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, has more than 40,000 model cars. However, MAE has no permanent location, and its collections can only be viewed by appointment.
“We’ve been passionate about model cars since we were little kids,” said MAE collector Carlos García Cota. “It’s truly fabulous that more people are going to be able to see the models.”
Curated by Marina del Campo, the exhibit offers an introduction to the vibrant world of model cars.
“Model cars offer important insights into both design and collecting, two issues that the Franz Mayer Museum is very interested in,” said Franz Mayer Museum general director Héctor Rivero Borrell Miranda. “The world of cars is one of the fields where the creativity of design is most evident.”
The smallest model on display is of a 1:87 scale model of a 1950 Alfa Romero 158, measuring 55 mm.
The models are arranged to present a narrative about the history of cars and modeling. The earliest car with a model on display is a steam trolley designed and built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot around 1760. The exhibit shows how the crisis of vehicle production during and between the world wars contributed to the rise of model cars, as factories were forced to forgo car production to contribute to the war effort, and as plastic production increased.
Parallel to the model car exhibit, around 20 full-sized classic cars will also be on display in the museum’s parking lot, including a 1960 Volkswagen combi, a 1930 Ford Model A, a 1964 Mini Mk1 and a 1980 Maserati Quatroporte.
Between July and September, the Franz Mayer Museum will host a series of events promoting the practice of car modeling and the culture surrounding it. From July 20 to 29, collector Carlos García Cota will hold a car modeling workshop, during which participants 15 years of age and older will be able to build and paint their own model cars.
On Sundays in August and September, the museum will screen a series of classic films in which cars feature prominently, including the 1963 Mexican film “Dile que yo la quiero” (“Tell Her That I Love Her”) and the 2006 U.S. animated film “Cars.”
The exhibit costs 45 pesos for the general public and 25 pesos for adults over 60 and students and teachers with credentials. There is no charge for children under 12. The exhibit will be open from July 15 to Oct. 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The display of classic cars will be open during the same hours from July 15 to Aug. 28.
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