Danhausen

Minichamps is a die-cast car producer founded as Paul's Model Art GmbH in 1990 in Aachen, (Germany), best known for its 1:43 scale models. The company grew out of the Danhausen trade catalog of miniature vehicles and specially made Danhausen diecast releases during the 1970s. Danhausen was a trade company established in 1921 which sold a variety of products like bicycles and motorscooters. As time passed it focused more on toys and by 1971 the company was owned by the Grandsons of Emma Danhausen, Hans Peter and Paul Gunter Lang. At this time the Langs moved into selling model cars both over-the-counter and by mail order. The brothers distributed many different marques of mainly 1:43 scale models and began to publish the famous Danhausen World Model Car Book annually from 1971 to 1993, which was the last word in available 1:43 scale models worldwide. The last edition of the catalog in 1993 was 350 pages and listed 15,000 models.