Maker?

[Idris]

Stretching my memory now, I seem to think I had similar models and they were given away with washing powder or the like. You bought a box of washing powder and somewhere in the box was a little plastic car.

Now that's very interesting.
I had always assumed that they were purchased by my grandmother on one of her trips to Germany with my grandfather. However, the problem was that he died before my brothers were born, meaning that i) when she was visiting Germany, there was no one in the family to buy the models for and ii) once there was someone to buy the models for, she was no longer visiting Germany.
However, if they were promotional free gifts, that little problem would be solved. Not only that, it also solves the mystery of why there are not only duplicate models, but also duplicate models in the same colour.
My mother was always very loyal to the brands she bought so, if we are looking at soap powder, it was probably Tide.

[Diecastmolester]

The only correct answer is: It's impossible to tell.

Hitherto every attempt to link the countless unbranded German early post war H0 plastic jobbies to a manufacturer has failed. There are some exceptions, though.
They were never 'sold' in their respective maker's packaging. Apart from Wiking and Märklin, they were either promotional items, or included in "Wundertüten" (miracle bags), or in capsules from vending machines, or as load on model railway carriages. They were commissioned by whoever and made by whatever injection moulding company got the contract, more often than not companies that had no further involvement whatsoever in making toys and/or weren't even located in Germany. Even Tekno and the predecessor of Lego made some of them, others came from as far afield as Hong Kong and Japan. The completely pointless phrase Ges. gesch. in lieu of MiG hints to foreign production, most likely Austria. Firstly intellectual property was always protected by law in Germany by default, secondly German manufacturers were required to mention MiG on their products, thirdly who would you like to sue when there is no ID of the infringing party?

I give you the DKW as an example:



The photo does not even include a Wiking! The red one at the bottom row left is a Märklin, though.
And there might be many other variations of the theme out there. Who knows?

All you can really do is enjoy them for what they are - witnesses of a time when corporations handed out freebies to children, made by companies that probably made buttons and ashtrays alongside them.

[Idris]

Food for thought there. Thank you.
(When I started this thread, I thought it was a simple question with a simple answer.)

[Diecastmolester]

It's a science many people tried and have failed at.
There are books written on what is commonly called "Margarineautos", or "Groschenautos" (a Groschen was 10 Pfennigs) and other related toys in Germany, but even they provide more questions than answers.
This was an era in Germany where little was regulated and documented and there was no time for nostalgia. These were cheap toys or even freebies for children and the attrition rate is corresponding.
Few people bothered to collect anything back then and if they did, it was usually more valuable things. Imagine the odds that your lot survived at all and revel just in that thought.

[Diecastmolester]

Or be proper 50s nostalgia and blow them up with firecrackers.