Solido

Solido was established in 1930 by Ferdinand de Vazeilles in Nanterre, France. The first Solido lines, Major (1932), Junior (1933) and Baby (1935) were simpler toys, fragile and subject to metal fatigue. After World War II, the company relocated to Anet. In 1952, a smaller, rather crude 1:60 scale 'Mosquito' series was introduced and in 1957 the first 1:43 scale '100' series was started. In 1961, the military vehicles, for which Solido became well known, finally appeared.

Through the '60s, models continually improved in detail and realism, often based on actual blueprints and by 1970, the company was making a superior line of classic cars (L'Age d'Or), Les Militaires, commercial vehicles (Toner Gam), and 'Poids Lords', a series of larger heavier die-cast trucks. Other sizes, besides 1:43 were also introduced, such as the 1:18 scale Prestige line that was popular in the '90s.

Over the last couple of decades, Solido 1:43 scale die-casts have more recently moved into a slightly more premium and detailed model - more for the collector and less for children - though still offering the lines of 'Yesterday', 'Today', 'L'Age d'Or', '1960s', and a variety of competition models.