I started designing websites as part of my diecast hobby back in 1996. In those days everything had to be hand coded and the sites were primitive to say the least. My first site was set up with Angelfire. Eventually I designed a portal type site called Alldiecast. However, I eventually moved my site and started under a new name Louswheels.netfirms.com. The Alldiecast domain is now owned by someone else.

Back in my early days of designing sites, message boards were fairly primitive. It was the early stages of the social networking that everyone enjoys so much today. After many failed attempts, I finally found forum software that had the “Social networking” feel.  The software was then called Yabb forums in a CGI format. However, Yabb eventually grew into a fully developed database driven forum called Yabbse. Later it was revamped and called SMF.

Although social networking sites are everywhere now, I credit those open source coders who created the first message boards (forums if you wish) for starting out the boom in online social networking. Now nearly every site has some type of blog, forum, message system, or some other form of information exchange. Web 2.0 is here and continues to grow.

My diecast collecting started during my childhood. I remember going to the local hobby store or five and dime every time I saved the money. If I thought a car was cool, I bought two; one for play and one for display. As a result, I compiled a fairly large collection. Some cars had the ill fated path of dirt cities and smash ups. However, a large portion of my original collection remains.

In 1995 Hotwheels introduced the Treasure Hunt. This casting caused a wave of people to start hunting for these treasured and rare pieces. Within five years the diecast adult collectibles industry grew by leaps and bounds. Not only were Hotwheels doing well, but several other brands became popular.

It was during those early boom days of diecast the the Internet had just started to become more mainstay. I thought it would be a good idea to chat about my hobby online. For a long time I was one of only a very few sites online dedicated to the hobby. Sites like the once famous David’s Hottest Hotwheels came along and the online diecast boom followed the diecast hobby boom.

Eventually I decided that I needed a theme that went well with diecast. Being a huge fan of the 50’s era, old cars, and Diners I decided the group was a perfect match for a diecast hobby site. The name stuck and since 1999 the Diner has been the online diecast home to thousands of members.  Though once a fully information dedicated site, which was posted by myself, the Diner now feeds off its forum membership. We would have over 500,000 posts by now if we were counting. Thousands of pictures and great posts by our members has created a great family hobby atmosphere here at the Diner. From kids to seniors, nearly everyone enjoys collecting diecast. Thanks to a great group of dedicated members the Diner has become a regular stop for diecast collectors around the globe.

So if you are looking for a family atmosphere and a great bunch of guys and gals to chat with, then the Diner is your place. We also have plenty of open topic areas available if someone likes to talk about a variety of topics. So sign up today and enjoy the hobby!

Thanks for reading,

Louis Kemler

Diner Owner