Metosul

Metosul was apparently Portugal's oldest diecast toy manufacturer. The original company was founded in the Atlantic coastal town of Espinho a few miles south of Oporto, in 1931.

Originally called Luso-Celluloide, the company made toy jewelry and other trinkets, focusing on celluloid (plastic) objects. Later, the name Osul was created for the production of the plastics and was an anagram of Luso. Zamac toys appeared in the 1960s, many apparently being tooling borrowed or purchased from British or French Dinky. Most of the cars were produced in 1/43 scale, while buses and trucks were smaller. Thus the name Metal Osul or MetOsul was coined. Among the best known are:

Renault Floride
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Caravana Notin
Citroën DS 19
Leyland Atlantean Bus
Mercedes-Benz 1113
Mercedes-Benz 190
Mercedes-Benz 200
Mini Morris Cooper
Peugeot 204
Peugeot 304
Renault R16
Rolls Royce 1907
Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Combi
Volvo P1800

Packaging in the 1960s was commonly yellow cardboard with an early use of thin plastic behind oval windows cut from the sides of the boxes. Overall, the packaging was reminiscent of Dinky or Corgi, but even these main stream companies did not dominantly feature plastic 'view' windows in their packaging until a few years later.