▁ 1 9 ▁and ▁even ▁a ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁FI AT ▁ 1 2 4 ▁Sed an . ▁Still , ▁there ▁is ▁a ▁' class ic ' ▁sense ▁to ▁the ▁R IO ▁line ▁– ▁the ▁unique ▁cars ▁of ▁an ▁earlier ▁era . ▁One ▁also ▁gets ▁a ▁sense ▁that ▁R IO ▁was ▁ahead ▁of ▁its ▁time ▁in ▁offering ▁models ▁to ▁collect ors , ▁and ▁not ▁children , ▁long ▁before ▁such ▁a ▁practice ▁became ▁more ▁common ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 s . ▁In ▁the ▁mid - 1 9 7 0 s , ▁R IO s ▁would ▁cost ▁between ▁$ 1 5 . 0 0 ▁and ▁$ 2 0 . 0 0 ▁when ▁most ▁other ▁die cast ▁ 1 : 4 3 ▁scale ▁cars ▁hover ed ▁in ▁the ▁$ 5 . 0 0 ▁to ▁$ 7 . 0 0 ▁range . ▁ ▁Not ▁To ys ▁R IO ▁models , ▁however , ▁can ▁be ▁very ▁brit t le ▁and ▁many ▁seemed ▁made ▁from ▁a ▁zam ac ▁al loy ▁that ▁perhaps ▁was ▁heav ier ▁on ▁the ▁lead ▁than ▁the ▁z inc ▁– ▁drop ▁a ▁R IO ▁and ▁it ▁will ▁sm ash ▁into ▁pieces ▁– ▁they ▁were ▁definitely ▁not ▁made ▁for ▁children ▁( drop ▁a ▁die cast ▁C org i ▁To ys ▁car ▁and ▁it ▁will ▁just ▁b ounce ▁off ▁of ▁the ▁floor ). ▁Rio ▁zam ac ▁was ▁also ▁pr one ▁to ▁z inc ▁rot ▁and ▁the ▁metal ▁often ▁t ended ▁to ▁crack ▁and ▁d eter ior ate . ▁ ▁The ▁mid -