Define what a toy is, and then look at these two collectors’ pieces. Mattel has teamed up with MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art, to produce must-have versions of two classics. If you don’t already have a Citroën DS 23 and a series one Jaguar E-Type in your road car garage, then one of each for your artwork shelf is a very acceptable alternative.
These are the first two releases in Mattel’s multi-year collaboration with MoMA. These 1:64 scale versions of key French and British classics are somewhat less likely to be abused on makeshift tracks in the schoolyard than your childhood toys.
MoMA was the first museum to include key car designs in its permanent collection. That naturally includes full-size versions of both the E-Type and the DS 23, alongside Pinin Farina’s 1946 Cisitalia 202 GT, a Willy’s Jeep and a Ferrari 641/2 Formula One car. Just so we're clear, MoMA lists car designers such as Jaguar’s Malcolm Sayer and Sir William Lyons as “artists”. Just like Pablo Picasso.
Mattel x MoMA: Landmark design objects
The original 1963 E-Type was just the third car to be admitted to MoMA’s collection. As MoMA put it at the time: "the sleek, bullet-like shape of the Jaguar E-type continues to be one of the most influential and imitated styling forms in sports car design". To which MoMA’s Terence Riley added, "because of the E-type’s beauty and sculptural quality, its functionality, and its seminal impact on overall car design, it perfectly suits the criteria of a landmark design object." Quite fast too, though possibly not on New York’s congested streets and avenues.
As for the DS 23, another faithful boxed recreation of a MoMA exhibit, the full roster of designers, sorry artists, is listed by the museum for their 1973 example, donated by three generous benefactors. For the record these artists, of the first DS from 1954, are Flaminio Bertoni, André Lefèbvre, Paul Magès and Robert Opron. It’s a true great, but we can’t say if Magès's legendary hydropneumatic suspension is recreated for the Mattel version.
"An automobile is a familiar 20th-century artefact,” said MoMA as it first added cars to its art collections, "and is no less worthy of being judged for its visual appeal than a building or a chair. Automobiles are hollow, rolling sculptures." No news yet on what these small artworks will cost you. We’ll take one bet. That both the Citroën DS 23 and the Jaguar E-Type will retail at rather less than the £30,000 or £100,000 respectively you’d need for the real thing. Also, less servicing and fettling needed. Display next to your favourite Picasso originals.
Next up: Take a look at this Jaguar E-Type concept by Callum Design.
