The year was 1930. Ferdinand de Vazeilles of Nanterre, France, had been asked by the makers of Gergovia spark plugs to produce a promotional item to advertise their product. His design of a spark plug on wheels, complete with fenders and running boards, was manufactured by a local foundry. It sparked several series of miniature vehicles in the 1930s, produced by de Vazeilles under the name of Solido, the firm he founded in 1932. This truly classic brand of die cast miniature vehicles attracts new admirers today, while it continues to fascinate those who discovered it many years ago._x000D_One of the early collectors, Ed Force has 1200 Solido models, nearly all of which are illustrated here in full color. with the company history and a detailed accounting of models and variations listed in an easy-to-use format, this book is a must for collectors of Solido and other die cast vehicles. To help the collector assess a model's value, a price guide is included, with a high price (what a collector who must have a mint boxed model might be willing to pay) and a lower price (what a collector might be willing to pay for a pleasant mint boxed model)._x000D__x000D_ AUTHOR: Ed Force lives in central Connecticut and is a professor of German. he is an expert in miniature vehicles and has written seven previous books on Matchbox, Laude, Dinky, Corgi, French, German, Italian, and miniature emergency vehicles.