Corgi Toys @ 60: The Express Service Truck and another Land Rover

 

September 1965 brought us a model which has become something of a favourite amongst many collectors. This is the first appearance of the Ford 'H' series cab and it is a particularly attractive model with just enough features to make it interesting without getting too complicated.

The bits and pieces attached to the cab, though, are pretty vulnerable and few horns have survived without being bent down and you'll be lucky if the exhaust and mirrors are still well-attached. This is always finished in a rich metallic blue with silver plastic doors on a red chassis for the trailer. In the box there should be a mechanic who looks familiar from 1505, the Garage Mechanics set.

The original issue had the usual shaped wheels and large tyres, replaced at some point with the new standard Majors wheel, larger and more detailed in two styles for front and rear. The model has a long life, available through until 1971 when it was sold in a window box and can be seen with gold horns instead of bare metal.

The other model this month is a Chippefields Circus model, the Public Address Land Rover from September 1964 in Chipperfields colours - red Land Rover and blue fittings. In place of the politician is a clown (which always makes me smile!) and a monkey takes the place of the girl assistant.

You will find this model with or without a label on the bonnet and also with or without a hook at the back. Editions with a hook appear to be rarer.

The plastic elements may sometimes be seen in different shades of blue-green as several batches appear to have been issued with a quite different colour to either the blue or yellow. I thought that an example I have might have been due to fading in sunlight but the colour is consistent in areas here the sun wouldn't have reached and inside, visible where a corner had broken.

NO Corgi Whizzwheels Club!

 It appears that the recent promotion by Corgi to introduce us to the Corgi Whizzwheels Club and invite us to pay just £9.99 for a Ford Cortina MkIII GXL (and the Graham Hill character and an impressive-looking sign) was just a bit of test marketing to see what level of interest there might be for this. I guess the models advertised would have been nice mint originals.

From what I can read elsewhere, the test was intended to reach only people who were not already members of the Corgi Model Club but how on Earth they expected to restrict that in this day and age is beyond me. So a bit of a blunder, although I expect they will have learned that there is a strong appetite for this series amongst existing members, at least.

I know that many Corgi collectors dislike Whizzwheels and would not wish to have them. However, if they were to appear as a normal Club issue they would need to go to the trouble of contacting the Club and specifically asking to miss that one. That's a hassle and many would probably not bother and just sell the model or give it to some children to play with. I have several issues that I would prefer not to have had sitting in boxes here which I couldn't be bothered to cancel. So the concept of a separate Club does make some sense but they really should simply have come up with a less annoying way of assessing interest in the campaign.

One can't help feeling slightly 'played'. However, at least I am not well worn as well and my suspension appears to be holding up!

So if you did place an order then you will get an email to tell you 'sorry, there will be a delay' or words to that effect. Although this is probably technically correct, I think they could have been a little more honest and just admitted that they were simply testing the market and apologised.

We are being credited with £10 towards any purchase form the store so let's not moan too much and look on the bright side; we're a penny up on where we were a few weeks ago!

Just before learning about the non-existence of any Club Cortinas I did actually place a second order and used the £10 discount code to minimise the cost to £2.99. I couldn't use the delivery discount code twice but, as and when they do get this under way I'll have a couple of models. I think they'll be popular and I already have a customer for one.

Corgi Toy copies from Portugal

 

This lovely Renault Floride arrived today. I had been intrigued as it appeared pretty much identical to Corgi's 222 model

This is actually model #1 from Metosul, a Portuguese manufacturer. They appear to have copied Corgi and other models, rather like Auto-Pilen did, but didn't give the models extra features other than beacons or transfers and aerials. 

I can only see one difference in the casting and that's the addition of windscreen wipers. The base is almost identical.

Other Corgi copies are the Renault 16, Citroen DS, Mini-Cooper and Volvo P1800 which I shall try and obtain in the not too distant future.

Here is a list of all the models I have found so far which seem to have been available from the 1960s to the late 1980s. You'll see that they tended to make variations of existing models rather than create new castings and the others that Corgi did not produce will probably be Dinky or other copies. The VW Beetles have no windows yet still were included in a 1980s catalogue. Must be a Dinky copy, then!

No.	Model	Colour	Interior
1	Renault Floride	blue	red
1	Renault Floride	red	green
1	Renault Floride	white	red
1	Renault Floride	white	green
2	Citroen DS	white
2	Citroen DS	silver
2	Citroen DS	red
3	Alfa Romeo Giulietta	olive
3	Alfa Romeo Giulietta	white
3	Alfa Romeo Giulietta	red
4	VW Beetle	pea green
4	VW Beetle	pink / grey
5	VW Beetle	dk green
5	VW Beetle	lt green
5	VW Beetle Police	black / white
5	VW Beetle Police	blue / grey
6	VW Beetle Police	dk blue / white doors
6	VW Beetle Brigada de Transito	white
7	VW Beetle GNR	dk green
8	Morris Mini-Cooper	black / white
8	Morris Mini-Cooper	red
8	Morris Mini-Cooper	red / white
9	Mercedes-Benz 200	white
10	Mercedes-Benz 200 Amsterdam Taxi	yellow / red
10	Mercedes-Benz 200 Taxi	black / white roof
10	Mercedes-Benz 200 Taxi	black / green roof
10	Mercedes-Benz 200 Fire Car	red
10	Mercedes-Benz 200 Police	blue / white doors
11	Volvo 1800 Police	black / white
11	Volvo 1800 GNR	all white
12	Rolls Royce Silver Ghost	silver
13	Mercedes-Benz 200 Alguer	black / green roof
14	Renault 16	grey
15	Renault 16 Taxi	black / green roof
17	Volvo P1800 Police	green
18	Volvo 1800	silver	red
18	Volvo 1800	black	white
18	Volvo 1800	white	brown
18	Volvo 1800 GNR Brigada de Transito	white
19	Rulote Caravan	grey / lt grey
19	Rulote Caravan	white / blue
20	Citroen DS Amsterdam Taxi	yellow / red
20	Citroen DS Taxi	black / green roof
21	Citroen DS Aluguer	black / green roof
22	Citroen DS Police	black
23	Leyland Atlantean Bus	red / white
24	Peugeot 204	white
24	Peugeot 204	silver
25	Mercedes-Benz 200 Saloon	black
26	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Canvas Truck	black or dk green grey or dk green canopy
26	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Canvas Truck	lt blue / red canopy
26	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Canvas Truck EGT	dk green / dk green canopy
26	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Canvas Truck EGT	dk green / white canopy
26	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Tanker Truck BSB	red
26	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Tanker Truck Fire	red
26	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Tanker Truck SONAP Fuel	red
26	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Tanker Truck	green / white
28	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Tanker Truck SACOR	green / white
30	Mercedes-Benz 200 Police	white / black panels
31	Peugeot 204 Taxi	black / green roof
32	Peugeot 204 Aluguer	black / green roof
33	Leyland Atlantean Bus STCP	green / brown
34	Leyland Atlantean Bus SMC	yellow / white
35	Leyland Atlantean Bus Transul	blue / red
36	Leyland Atlantean Bus GAZCIDLA	red / white / blue
37	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Truck EGT	dk green / dk green canopy
38	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Truck Military or EP	dk green / dk green canopy
40	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Truck Military r Police	dk green / white canopy
41	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Truck JAE	lt brown / grey canopy
42	VW Transporter (1:66 scale)	white / black
43	Citroen DS	white / black roof
44	Leyland Atlantean Bus STCP	brown / pale brown
45	Leyland Atlantean Bus Carris	orange / cream
46	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Tanker Truck GALP Fuel	orange / black / white
47	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Mabor Van	white
48	Citroen DS Fire Car	red
49	Peugeot 304 Break	white
49	Peugeot 304 Break	blue
49	Peugeot 304 Break	red
50	Peugeot 304 Break Fire Car	red
50	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Correios Post Van	red	(later)
51	Mercedes-Benz 200 Emergency 115	black / white doors
52	Mercedes-Benz 200 Bombeiros Commando	red
53	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Transport Truck	red / red canopy
53	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Transport Truck Bombeiros	red / red canopy
54	Mercedes-Benz 1113 Tanker Truck Bombeiros	red
55	Peugeot 304 Break Policia	black / white doors
56	VW Beetle Police Sweden	green / white
57	VW Beetle Bombeiros Commando	red
58	Peugeot 304 Break JAE Munipale	orange
59	Peugeot 304 Break Police	black
60	Peugeot 304 Break Police	blue
60	Peugeot 304 Break Bombeiros Commando	red
61	Citroen DS GNR Brigada de Transito	white
62	Alfa Romeo Giulietta GNR Brigada de Transito	white
117	Volvo P1800 Police Sweden	green / white

The Corgi Whizzwheels Club

 

Surprising most of us this week, Corgi announced the launch of the Corgi Whizzwheels Club. I certainly had not seen any hints of this. We get plenty of advance notice of new models and even get asked what the Corgi Model Club should consider reproducing from time to time and sometimes I spot a model in a photograph of a selection that are in early stages of production but they managed to keep any Whizzwheels models well hidden.

That might be because members who love the early era models can often be pretty dismissive of the Whizzwheels types that started to appear in 1969 and the Club might have been concerned about losing people. That, in turn, might explain why this is, in fact, a totally separate Club. And with the new Club comes the same sort of great offer as we had before. This time for just a penny short of £10 the Ford Cortina Mk III GXL in metallic blue will be delivered, with no charge for postage in the UK. 

The model comes with the Graham Hill character too and this display sign. All this seems a pretty good deal. Looking at the promotional stuff, it looks like the Bond 750 three-wheeler are on the menu for release soon, along with the Roger Clark edition of the Ford Capri (with pepperpot wheels) and, strangely, the Kojak Buick is illustrated. Now that's a 1:36 scale model so an odd choice and one I could certainly do wothout.

I am not likely to keep any of the models illustrated and hope one of my customers will be happy to take them from me at something like cost price once I have taken some photos and checked them out. However, there are a few Whizzwheels models that are particularly hard to find and I get the impression that there were not many produced. the 304 Chevrolet Camaro in blue with a white roof comes to mind, as does the 387 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray in pink. These I would like to have as it's so hard to find originals in good condition - one of the reasons being that Whizzwheels did tend to be 'whizzed' around and crashes would be more damaging!

Who knows, we might even see a Gift Set 20 with the blue Mini-Marcos GT850 (which makes the Pop Art Mini seem common)!

Corgi Toys @ 60 : Two Americans

 

August 1965 sees two lovely American cars on the shelves in your local Corgi Toys shop.

You need to be fairly quick to find one, though, as the plain version of the new split Impala was not around for long at all, less than a year on dealers' order lists. So this is a comparatively scarce model but one that also gets cast wheels later in each production and this version seems particularly hard to find.

It is always in what I call coffee and cream and I am not aware of any variations in the finish at all. These colours do suit the period well, although I guess they're not a combination you'll see on the streets today. This Chevrolet Impala is the last of the four reworkings of the old 220 model. There are two last gasps to come when it gets a sort of box shape added to the rear for two dog wagons, one in 1967 and the last in 1970 for a Chipperfields Circus edition. The 248 model, however, is the last Impala saloon.

The other American arrival was heavily advertised as having a 'surprise' in the boot. I was rather disappointed to take this one out of the box and find quite a dull-looking Chrysler Imperial inside and the surprise was a golfing trolley with a set of clubs!

The car was big, very rectangular and everything opened. I suppose that should have been quite impressive as it was an open convertible too but I remember finding it all a bit clunky, with very far doors, a screen that looked as if it had just fallen onto the car and a rather basic-looking dashboard. 

The 'chrome' elements were now a solid chunk of silvery metal, including two bars for the cills. There were two people included with the car too although they often got lost and are missing in all the photos I have taken of those in my possession.

Here they are.

You will find this model with two colours for the interior - chalky green or chalky blue, similar to the colours found in the Mustangs. In my experience the blue seems a lot more common than the green but I cannot say which came first or perhaps they were both produced over the years and the difference was merely down to the current supply of interior materials at the time.

I have always found the door panels to match the interior, however.

The early editions had shaped wheels, replaced pretty soon after issue with cast wheels. I bought my own model very soon after it was issued and that had cast wheels and the green interior. Shaped wheels are quite a scarce variation.

I show here too the very rare 'Kingfisher blue' edition which some people have found in 246 boxes, with the two people and the golf trolley, always with cast wheels. This was supposed to be a replacement for the Bermuda Taxi but never made it into production as such. Clearly a batch of models were prepared in that finish and I can only guess that it was decided to sell them off as normal 246 models instead when the Bermuda Taxi idea was dropped. This would, though, have been sometime later than August 1965.

The #246 model stayed in production for a couple of years and sold quite well, despite is heavy 9/3d price tag, only 8d less that the James Bond Aston Martin which would come out a couple of months later.