Ziss-Modell, originally also called R. W. Modell or Wittek Modell were 'brand' names of the German Mini-Auto firm which made diecast metal classic and contemporary vehicles from the 1960s through the late 1970s. Later, use of the Mini-Auto name largely disappeared and the models were mainly known as Ziss or R. W. Modell. The company was based in Lintorf.
Complex name history
The company began sometime in the 1960s as the "Mini-Auto Company" with models called R.W. Modell –possibly for the founder E. (probably Erich) Wittek or another relative of the same family –brand nomenclature in early pamphlets is unclear. The Mini-Auto name appeared occasionally on packaging and the bases of models, but it usually appeared only in brochures. Later, about the mid-1970s, use of the name Mini-Auto disappeared in favor of only R. W. Modell or Ziss. This may have been due to confusion with other names of miniature manufacturers like Italy's Dugu Miniautotoys, the Miniauto line produced by Kaden in Czechoslovakia, or Dave Sinclair's Mini-Auto import and sales shop in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Finally, R. W. Modell seems to have been changed to Ziss which may have also been a family name.[1] For a time, however, the two names were used simultaneously under the Mini-Auto or Wittek Modell appellation and some company brochures show both 'brands' on their covers. There appears to have been no specific model differentiation between the two lines. The influential U.S. importer David Sinclair, who scoured Europe for new models and got to know many of the individuals behind the companies, called the company a "comparatively small family operation".
The company, whichever name is used, was located in Lintorf, West Germany, a town near Ratingen, north of Düsseldorf and not far from the Rhine River.