About Gary & GarysCars - In Memoriam of Gary Hirst

A collector since the age 12, Gary was passionate about documenting the model cars that he loved. In 2001, Gary taught himself HTML and created one of the first diecast resource sites, GarysCars which over the years helped more than 250,000 diecast collectors. A diecast historian, Gary documented about 2,000 model cars including otherwise much less known brands such as Corgi KIKO, Playart and Tri-ang Minix.

In fact, many diecast collectors will have an intimate knowledge of Gary’s Kitchen table as his photos have a very distinctive background. This Memorial Site is a tribute to the legacy that Gary built. He was a dear friend to a lot of collectors, many which he never met but had grown close to after years of communicating per email.

Gary succumbed to a long-term illness in October 2017.

Preserving the Data

Gary was one of the first contributors to hobbyDB and has added 4,540 database entries to hobbyDB, corrected many others and helped with suggestions on the database structure and ontology. He even documented some of his other favorite subjects such as his hometown Preston or the local bus company Ribble Motor Services.

After the team at hobbyDB received the sad news about Gary, they knew, with all of the help that he had given them, that they had a responsibility to help keep all of Gary’s Cars accessible to collectors worldwide. In partnership with the Hirst family, hobbyDB has memorialized Gary’s legacy in the diecast community by offering a permanent place for his data to live.

A series of Hot Wheels made for the Italian market and sold under the acquired Mebetoys brand

Lego made a series of European models in plastic as part of its early System-i-Leg series.

Hot Wheels is issuing models in Europe on shorter cards in the US.

Playart were 3-inch models sold all over the world under different brand names and were generally copies of other brands models.

Minix was Tri-ang’s model car series for model trains.

Hong Kong based Fleetwood Toys made plastic copies of British diecast models, mostly Corgi Toys.

Leyland Atlantean AN68 Park Royal Model Bu

All data that was originally on this site is can now be found on these hobbyDB pages:

Just type in what you search for,
say “Corgi Kiko Volvo” or “Playart VW Station Wagon”

In Loving Memory

I am so happy that Gary had so many friends in his hobby and am proud about this site and to have been his mother.

Sheila (Gary’s Mom)

Gary’s site was his life’s work and his hobby helped him through some difficult times. I am so pleased that,
thanks to the guys at hobbyDB, Gary’s information will be preserved for other diecast collectors to use and enjoy.

Jacqueline (Gary’s Partner)

Here is a link to Gary’s Obituary, if you knew him please leave a comment and if you have one, a photo.