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1/32 was never a very popular scale for static car models, due to the presence of 1/25 and 1/24 models, which could pack more detail, and seemed more impressive due to size. However, some of the earliest kits were in 1/32, including some very accurate collaborations between Revell and AMT around 1955 (Buick, Ford, Mercury, etc). Today, the majority of the few car models are in the larger scales, and many are re-releases of the old cars we built back then.

My first 1/32 model car was a '56 Buick by Revell, with AMT on the box top. It was a nearly perfect model; the lines were accurate, and the detail was fine. It had a V 8 engine that later went into a series of oval track modified slot cars. I still have the box, but only saved pieces of the car. Later I got a '56 Ford convertible by Revell (no longer credited to AMT) with cheesy glue-on fins and louvers and spinner hub caps. I was a kid and I loved that cr*p. Those low-rider late model lead sleds were the tuners of the day. No real excuse but excess and bling. The original Customs.

Revell also had its earlier, pre'55 kits in near 1/32, including a '32 Ford oval tracker, a rod, a Ferrari Mille Miglia barchetta, Jag XK-120, and an MG-TD.

By the late 1950's Monogram had brought out a series of simple 1/32 kits: T-bucket pickup, Austin Healey Sprite (at about 1/28), MGA, and others. These were called "Forty Niners" because of the price. They were a little simplified, not up to the Revell detail standard.

These little cars were overshadowed by the more common, bigger models. My first AMT kit was a 1/25 '58 Chevy convertible. I sanded literally all the detail off the body in my custom fever. Then I got a '59 Ford two door hard top, which I still have, in original ivory plastic. That got every stock car-NASCAR racing decal I could find. From then on, it was AMT in 1/25, all the way.