Auto Replicas

The article below was written by Christian Restier and has been published in 'HO véhicule International' n°8 of 1988. 'HOVI' no longer exists and we do not know who owns the copyright at the moment. If the copyright holder does not agree with publication, the copyright holder is hereby requested to contact the webmaster of this site.

Auto-replicas came into existence in 1971. This name now means production of miniature automobiles exclusively, as since 1975, BKL - as its known - has been operating in other fields, such as model trains, wargames, etc.

Mr Barry Lester makes his own moulds, fabricates his own models, has them packed and shipped all over the world. 90% of his production is sold abroad. In addition, GKL works occasionally for other companies, such as Pirate or Bellini, to name but two. The HO-scale range was initiated in 1980 and within two years comprises the present 17 models. All these models are still available.

For several years, these models were shipped in bulk to Walldorf, who marketed them under their own tradename. This scale, which at the time was rather neglected, to the benefit of the 1:43 and the 1:24 scales, is intended to be increased shortly. The range covers a broad field, and is, due to its origin, very British. The models are made of white metal and the design of the models is not always of top quality; there is for example a world of difference between the dismal GS Citroën station wagon and the very attractive Jaguar SS100.

The pictures of ref# 8703, 8704, 8706, 8707, 8711, 8712, 8713, 8714 and 8717 were scanned from the above mentioned issue of HOVI.