Mercury (toy manufacturer) Marklin, the company was started in 1932, by Attilio Clemente and Antonio Cravero, but its first toy was a gun produced about 1939 (Batazzi et al 1974; Force 1992, 5; History of Mercury 2013; Ralston 2009, 62). The company first began making toy cars just after World War II, so is one of the earliest diecast model makers preceding Corgi and many others and it was the earliest producer in Italy (Richardson 1999, 134). In Italy there was little competition for Mercury through most of the 1950s (Force 1992, 5). Early cars were more Tootsietoy-like with simple cast bodies, wheels
Aston Martin V12 Zagato Aston Martin V12 Zagato The Aston Martin V12 Zagato is a British sports car/endurace racer made by Aston Martin in collaboration with Zagato to celebrate a fifty-year partnership since the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato. Introduced in Lake Como, Italy at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on 21 May 2011, the Zagato was awarded with the competition's "Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes" which has also been won by the One-77 in 2009. Like the Aston Martin V12 Vantage on which it is based, the V12 Zagato is powered by a 5.9-litre "AM11" V12 engine first used in the