WIKING Modellbau was founded by Friedrich Karl Peltzer in 1932. WIKING's beginnings were in producing ship models in 1:1,250 scale. Before and during World War II, these models, made of a lead-based alloy metal material called ZAMAC, were used by the German military for training purposes. The models were usually marked "WIKING MODELL" on their bases. Beginning in 1938, models of the planes and some of the ships were made of celluloid or Phenoplast (Bakelite). After World War II, before starting production of model cars, WIKING experimented with a variety of miniatures such as a Noah's Ark, some clay models, and plastic combs and buttons. There was also a small series of the Berlin Airlift (1948/49) models consisting of five planes and two car models in a very small scale of 1:400. Volkswagen's Wolfsburg plant commissioned WIKING for plastic vehicles in a 1:40 scale around 1948. In the same time, WIKING started to produce simple car models that usually consisted of a single part, with no windows or chassis and were made of plastic. The vehicle axles were made of wire with flat pinched ends, that when squeezed into the still warm vehicle body plastic, could not rotate. Thus, the wheels rolled on the stationary axles. Later models included a chassis with some detailing. Karl Peltzer died in 1981 at the age of 78. WIKING dominated the Model/Toy market with their popular H0 scaled toy cars in the 50's, 60's and 70's by developing and introducing highly detailed and accurate quality models. In 1984, WIKING Modellbau was sold to SEIPER GmbH (SIKU) located in Lüdenscheid, Germany, who were already known for their SIKU line of high-quality, small scale model cars as well. WIKING GmbH also had cooperation with the Danish PILOT plastic company in the late 1940s and the early 1950s and they interchanged many plastic injection molds for PILOT to produce toy cars. The PILOT small scale vehicles looked very similar to the WIKING model line.
WIKING Modellbau introduced in 1956 a 1/40 scale Lowlight Karmann Ghia model to their product line. Very detailed plastic body with cut out windows and a clear plastic window insert. Details included a VW emblem on the front hood, headlights, turn signals, and the two louver front air grille. Rear details included the engine air louvers, taillights and license plate. The interior was fitted with seats, dashboard and steering wheel. The plastic chassis had details of a real chassis and included the wheels, front and rear bumpers as well. A Ghia Convertible model was also added to the WIKING product line as well.
