RIO Models

RIO Models was an Italian manufacturer of diecast and plastic 1:43 scale model cars, based in Cernobbio, Italy.

History

All started in 1952 when three brothers, Reno, Nilo and Diego, founded the ''Fratelli Tattarletti'' (Tattarletti brothers) company. The small and young company, which in 1961 changed its name to ''ttttt Stampoplastica'', limited itself to diecast works for other companies, e.g. Dell'Orto, Vespa, Rivarossi and Dugu.
The three Tattarletti brothers started Rio Models as an independent company about 1961, or in 1962. Besides customary etymologies for the name 'Rio' (the Italian word for creek), the origin as a company name is unclear, although two of the three founders' names are also those of rivers, Reno and Nilo.

Later, in 19t72, Nilo, one of the three founders, leave the company to found, along with a couple of business partners, '' Brumm'' another company producing diecast metal model cars and horse-drawn carriages. According to Sinclair it was a brother-in-law who started Brumm.

RIO models first appear to have been imported into the United States by David Sinclair, a model enthusiast who brought many previously unknown European model brands to the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. RIO Models, along with R.A.M.I., Safir, Brumm, Dugu Miniautotoys, Lledo, Minialuxe and Cursor Models took off on the original Matchbox 'Models of Yesteryear' theme producing replicas of veteran and classic cars that appealed to older collectors. Of these companies, only R.A.M.I. appears earlier than RIO Models. According to Edward Force, the first four RIO Models were made in 1961 – two 1906 Italas and two 1919 FIATs. These toys also may have been made under the earlier ''Stampoplastica'' name and manufactured for Dugu Miniautotoys. Soon however, the company was producing its own vehicles, and not contract works for other companies.

A few new models a year were sporadically produced until the company had a line of over 30 cars by 1972 and over 60 by 1978. Traditionally, models were supplied in 'top-up' and 'top-down' versions each being painted in just one color.

RIO models were always 1:43 scale and models were ultra detailed with between 45 and 75 individual parts. Models seem chosen for a combination of popularity, rarity, and unique design, traits consistently making Rio selections appealing. At first, most models were vehicles chosen from the European Brass era and from the 1920s. This favoritism toward earlier cars is seen in the standard RIO logo of two different automobile horns from the brass era; a fancy snake and more mundane trumpet.

Later, models of vehicles all the way up to the 1960s and 1970s were produced, such as the Citroen DS 19 and even a 1970s FIAT 124 Sedan. Still, there is a 'classic' sense to the RIO line – the unique cars of an earlier era. One also gets a sense that RIO was ahead of its time in offering models to collectors, and not children, long before such a practice became more common in the 1980s. In the mid-1970s, RIOs would cost between $15.00 and $20.00 when most other diecast 1:43 scale cars hovered in the $5.00 to $7.00 range.

Not Toys

RIO models, however, can be very brittle and many seemed made from a zamac alloy that perhaps was heavier on the lead than the zinc – drop a RIO and it will smash into pieces – they were definitely not made for children (drop a diecast Corgi Toys

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