Maker record
Pocher
Pocher is an Italian model maker whose products include railway models, large-scale car kits and, under its current Hornby ownership, motorcycle kits. The company began with railway signals, platforms and track components, followed by detailed rolling stock. In 1966 it introduced a 1:8 Fiat 130 HP F2 car kit, assembled from plastic, brass, steel, copper, leather, rubber and aluminium parts. Its later car kits reproduced marques including Alfa Romeo, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz and Bugatti. Pocher kits are known for extensive mechanical and interior detail, with working features such as steering and suspension on some models.
- Founded
- 1951
- Countries
- Italy
- Locations
- Turin, Italy
- Founders
- Arnaldo Pocher · Corrado Muratore
The story of Pocher
Arnaldo Pocher and Corrado Muratore formed Pocher Micromeccanica S.n.c. in 1951. The Turin business first made railway signals, platforms and points, then expanded into finely detailed freight and passenger carriages, locomotives and powered cars. In 1961 Fiat commissioned the company to make 1:13 scale Fiat 1300 models for the Turin Automobile Show. Rivarossi invested in Pocher in 1963, providing capital for further model production.
At the Milan International Toy Fair in 1966, the company presented its first 1:8 kit, the Fiat 130 HP F2, a model of the car that won the 1907 French Grand Prix. The kit combined 144 plastic parts, 173 brass parts and 506 parts in other materials. Later releases included the Alfa Romeo 2300 8C Monza, Rolls-Royce Phantom II and Mercedes-Benz 500 K/AK. Arnaldo Pocher left the company in 1968. An industrial fire interrupted production in 1972, but the factory reopened and new kits followed. Production continued under Rivarossi from 1981. After ownership passed through the Lima Group, Hornby relaunched the Pocher brand in 2012 with a 1:8 Lamborghini Aventador kit. Later ranges added a 1:4 Ducati Panigale and further car kits.
