Another rare find abroad

 

A long time ago, in April 1960, the first Austin Taxi was issued. Model #418 would prove to have a very long life indeed, still going strong with Whizzwheels in the 1970s until eventually being abandoned for the 1:36 scale in February 1978. In all that time the casting seems never to have changed, only the base and wheels. And it is those wheels that have fascinated my friend Andi in Germany and myself for some considerable time.

At some point the taxi gets shaped wheels - probably quite late in its production as they seem a lot less common than the smooth type - but they remain fixed to the axles. However, with production not being ceased until 1965 it would seem pretty likely that there would be some models from the later period with free spinning shaped wheels. These were, indeed, fitted to the Gift Set 35 models, which had one of two drivers behind the wheel - either a serious looking small chap in uniform looking very much like the driver of the Green Hornet or the portly and cheerful remake of Simon Templar as Fred Housego in a nice jacket and bow-tie.

Despite this edition being produced, we have singularly failed to find a normal #418 issue with free-spinning wheels and no driver. Until a little while ago when my friend found this is France and it has finally arrived here on my desk.

Assuming that we simply haven't just not spotted the free-spinning wheel versions, this has to be either an extremely scarce model or a Gift Set 35 edition which managed to get away from the factory without having a driver installed. 

Whilst the 'factory error' is a possible explanation, I am inclined to the view that there simply must have been some free-spinning wheels editions made at the end of its production run and they would have been made for both the #418 box issue or sent down another channel at the factory to have a driver popped into place and then onward to join a bus and the policeman in Gift Set 35.

The Gift Set 35 first appeared in July 1964 and every model we've found with a driver has free-spinning wheels so it seems reasonable that sometime in 1964 all the last #418 taxis were being fitted with them prior to their getting Whizzwheels in June 1971. 

Another strange thing is that the #418 is supposed to have been discontinued as a boxed issue in 1965 and the Gift Set 35 edition ceases to be available in 1968. So there is a three year gap before the Whizzwheels editions appear in a box in June 1971 and the revised London Gift Set 11 in August 1971.

The 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1969 Corgi Catalogues show the Gift Set 35 edition only. There is no taxi in the 1970 catalogue and in the 1972 Catalogue it is the Whizzwheels #418 that is shown, as well as being available in the revised Gift Set.

I can't think of another model where production ceased and was then resumed several years later without any change to the casting. All the other switches to Whizzwheels occurred with the new edition replacing the old more or less immediately and usually with some changes to the colour schemes and some features. The taxi, however, stayed black (initially at least!) and, although the interior for most seems to have been changed to red, there are plenty around with the same lemon flavour inside.

So it seems perfectly reasonable for the Austin Taxi to have continued in production, getting free-spinning wheels fitted and placed in #418 boxes between 1965, when it was supposedly discontinued as a boxed model, and 1971 when the Whizzwheels took over. If that were so, however, why have we not seen any?

So putting a value on this model is not easy. As a factory error it would be worth around £250.  As a scarce late production model then, purely because I have not seen another in over 15 years of looking, I value it as highly as those I have seen several of, like the blue Mini Marcos GT850, Kingfisher blue Chrysler Imperial or PopArt Mini and several others which regularly fetch around £1000.

So, for now, until I know more about this mystery, that's what anyone will have to pay for this to leave my collection.

A rare find abroad

 

It was my birthday a few days ago and this arrived just in time! It is the very scarce export edition of the #464 Commer Police Van in really very good condition.

The first model was issued in June 1963 and had a device set in the chassis which could be moved so that it made and broke a circuit as the model was pushed along to light a lamp in the roof. This tended only to make the lamp flicker and was not that reliable so in February 1967 a new system was fitted which merely required to be switched on and had a flashing bulb fitted which turned itself on and off once it warmed up.

Somewhat strangely, the casting of the rear section was completely revised and this second edition of #464 has the word POLICE standing out with a border around the text, replacing the simple transfers.

It appears that it was only this second edition that was also available as an export edition in green. (I have not seen any first editions as export models and would be interested to know if any do actually exist. It would have been relatively easy to produce, requiring just a change of finish and a change of text on the transfers.) As it is, our friends abroad do seem to have had to put up with the immovable English word POLICE on the sides and they would have had no choice.

This is a scarce model and not easy to find, although having a friend in Germany made the job a little easier for me. As if it is not scarce enough already, Corgi changed the finish for the frame and lettering at some point and these were produced in either silver or, as illustrated here, white on the model I have acquired. Silver seems to be the more common colour from the few that I have found over the years, this being the first white one.

(I didn't have the rear section properly closed for these photos which is why it seems a little high at the front)

My particular model needs a box and, from what I can gather, the second issue can have either a normal #464 box or an interim one with a sticker or stamp announcing an improved flashing unit. The second edition would have a different instruction leaflet inside and I understand that the export edition will be in several languages too. That's going to be even harder to find! I may have to sell this with just the box first.

Someone paid well over £2000 (including fees)  some years ago for one of these. Admittedly that had the ring and instruction leaflet but it is still a lot of money.

I am happy to have this in my own collection and it will require a good sum to encourage me to part with it. I'm advertising it on my own site for £875. It will be rather more on Ebay and in order to take account of their fees of around 13% that will be around £1000. I'll not advertise there until I get a box, though, so if you do happen to want it quickly and can afford a nice contribution to my birthday account then get in touch.

Corgi Model Club: Land Rover

The Corgi Model Club's version of #406, the Land Rover Series 1 in bright yellow with a black roof has finally arrived here in my village. 

It's a pretty good copy - I haven't much to say about this one so I'll let the pictures tell the story.

You'll spot that I have used a slightly different original as I don't have one with 'handles' and smooth wheels that I could quickly find for this review.

The base is obviously different, similar to the style used for their version of #417 but now with a matt finish.

I have heard reports of poorly attached tin hooks so I did not tug at mine too hard but it seems to be OK. As I said, the Club have elected to copy the first edition of the #406 model which had two handles at the rear.

The immaculate painting of silver on the front bumper is noticeably different to any original model, of course! The black paint doesn't extend as far forward.

In the box are two square pieces of stiff foam, one to protect the box from the hook and the other fills the space above the spare wheel and prevents movement to and fro within the box. The model is wrapped in thin paper, not the very thin foam type that has been use often before.

The rear window has a sort of 'frame' line in the perspex, like early series II models, and sits fairly flush with the rear of the cab, unlike the original, which has a sort of embossed outer frame around the window space.

Overall, a nice copy. One day we might get some fixed shaped wheels and, of course, you just know there'll be a blue edition with a white roof before long. With the manufacture of a tin canopy paid for with the 416 coming in due course, we can also expect a Gift Set 2 to complete the use of this casting, unless, that is, following the theme of the forthcoming Dutch export edition of #492, we might get a chance to put a brand new TS edition on our shelves?

Down on the farm with Massey Ferguson

In May 1959 we saw the first farming issues from Corgi. This was the Massey Ferguson 65 tractor in its 'Massey Ferguson' red finish. For the first edition, that included the seat too.

Later the seat gets painted in the cream or pinky-cream of the chassis and eventually they settle for not painting it at all.

The wheels start off as metal but get replaced by plastic at some stage.

The steering wheel also starts as black but is replaced by a silver metal one. I have no idea when all these changes are made. The vast majority of models have silver seat, steering wheel and plastic wheels as well as gold lettering in the transfers. I have seen silver / white lettering and also a brighter gold which looks more like yellow but I am unsure whether these are merely replacements as parts suppliers can provide these now and many are difficult to distinguish from the originals.

Corgi concentrated on just two brands - Massey Ferguson and Fordson. In this article I will show you the Massey Ferguson tractors. There was also a 'Massey Ferguson' trailer issued in May 1959 and in October a marvellous Massey Ferguson Combine Harvester which I will return to another day.

The #50  tractor was also issued in Gift Set 7 (with the #51 Trailer), Gift Set 8 (with the #51 trailer and #1111 Combine Harvester and Gift Set 29 (with the #51 Trailer with a driver added).

The next tractor was in April 1960 when a shovel gets attached to the tractor as #53.

This is a typical example of Corgi's detailed production of operational pieces. With the two levers you could raise and lower the arms and hold or let the bucket swing down to empty it. With a pile of sand or bits and pieces you really could pick stuff up and transport it to be dropped somewhere else - well, as long as you didn't need to turn any sharp corners as all the Massey Ferguson tractors had fixed axles.

The first shovel attachment model #53 has cream arms and the transfers are fitted along them with none on the tractor bonnet. It has metal wheels.

At some point the arms section is revised, with an additional bar between them and now there is no space for the transfer so it returns to the tractor bonnet. I believe this version will always have plastic wheels but there is no definitive evidence that the wheels were changed at exactly the same time as the lift mechanism so there may be a further two variations: arms type 1 with plastic wheels, arms type 2 with metal wheels.

Near the end of production comes a known third variety. This one has bare metal arms but is otherwise in the same style as the previous one, with transfers on the bonnet. I am sure all of these will have plastic wheels.

This also appears in Gift Set 32 with a #62 Trailer with raves and has a driver.

In May 1963 the Massey Ferguson 65 tractor gets a fork attachment (available to buy as #57 in a box). This always seems to be in bare metal, very much along the lines of the final Shovel attachment.

This is also included in Gift Set 22 where, in fact, it first appeared in September 1962. There are some errors in some publications which list Gift Set 22 as having #53 not #57. I had unwittingly taken my data from these supposedly reputable sources too and have only just changed my site in that respect! Because the Shovel version was the one available at the time of the Set's issue it seemed logical to conclude that they set had #53 not #57. Now, of course, we may find that could, indeed be the case but all the new-looking sets I have seen have had the Fork attachment.

In July 1966 there is a new Massey Ferguson - the 165.

This looks similar in its traditional red but now has a grey chassis which makes the white grille surround stand out. There is an exhaust too and a driver from the start.

On the front axle is a device which makes an approximation to a chugging sound - perhaps not one of Corgi's brightest of ideas. Steering would have been a better idea, or some jewels for the headlamps like they gave to the later Ford tractor.

On its own, the Massey Ferguson 165 tractor as #66 doesn't get into any Gift Sets.

In March 1967 the 165 gets a shovel attachment, very similar to the last fork attachment but with red arms and a bare metal, more angular bucket for #69 than was fitted to #53.

This edition does find its way into two Gift Sets: the big Agricultural Gift Set 5 in October 1967 and Gift Set 9 in December 1968 with the #62 trailer.

Then we get a bit of a surprise in March 1970 when a most impressive #73 165 Tractor is issued with a working rotating saw attachment.

This is remarkable bit of engineering that uses a tightly coiled wire (essentially a spring) to translate the rotation of rear wheel teeth to turn the spring and hence the saw at the other end. As well as detailed controls and 'hydraulic' piping the attachment and arm can be positioned in many ways and there is even a safety guard in a heavy metal mesh design too.

This is not quite the end of the Massey Ferguson story as in 1973 there is a new #50 in the shape of a Massey Ferguson MF50B Tractor which gets a shovel in May 1974. These are appalling models, very basic and with such limited detailing that I don't care for them much at all. There are some interesting sets in which they appear, however, so I will write about them on another occasion. Better to end on the high note that was #73.

Accessory Packs

 A reader asked me what the strange-looking whitewall tyres were on some models that he had seen advertised.

This is a Ford Thunderbird Open Sports that happens to be for sale at the moment and, with its original box and packing piece I can see how models like this can be a bit confusing if you're not familiar with Corgi Toys Accessory Packs.

The 1960 Corgi Toy Catalogue was the first one to feature these and just 4 were initially available.

From 1961 through to 1966 inclusive the five packs were featured. Although still available at stores for several years afterwards, they seem to have ceased production in 1967.

Here I summarise the five main packs that were available (and another which I don't know much about, I'm sorry to admit).

A pack, catalogue no. 1460 had number plates, round tax discs, GB plates that those going abroad from Great Britain needed to apply on real cars and 'Running In' stickers which owners would place in the rear window of a motor that was either very new or had had a new engine fitted a short while previously. Nowadays we don't have any tax discs at all and we have to put a quite unsightly UK sticker on our vehicles when abroad. (For me the design of most UK labels is ugly but that's neither here nor there.) I wonder whether there were ever 'Export' packs for those buying their Corgis in other countries? I suspect not produced by Corgi but no doubt each country will have had some similar stickers appropriate to their signs and practices.

B pack was catalogue no. 1461 and is the one with the 'Styla Sportsdiscs Tyre Trims' and some more number plates. The discs are what you will often see still today on models. They were intended to fit on the smooth fixed wheels but can be found on the shaped and even the free spinning variety although the centre would need to be punctured to fit properly on the latter.

C pack was catalogue no. 1462 and contained items mostly for Commercial vehicles, like the different type of tax discs they had and maximum speed warning signs required on many trucks and trailers in those days. There would also be more number plates.

D pack was catalogue no. 1463 and, as well as number plates, contained CD plates (which designated a car used by officially recognised diplomatic services, usually another nation's embassy staff), L plates for learner drivers and quite a few odd things like the tiny flags or pennants that people used to collect from different places they visited.

E pack was catalogue no. 1464 and was available a little later it seems as it didn't appear until the 1961 Catalogue. This had quite different content too, with AA and RAC badges and other more specialist labels like 'Press' and 'Taxi' plates as well as garage trade plates. This pack appears not to have normal number plates.

Those normal number plates were always black with silver letters and numbers, as would have been the style in those times. The combination often hinted at a particular model, I recall, with letter combinations like PLY which must have been intended for a Plymouth and I do think it was PLY 219 as well! There is 215 FTB visible in one of the packs above, nice for the Ford Thunderbird. You'll also see MC 202, RP 205 which I am sure you can guess where they should go.

This last pack seems to have just number plates, tax discs, GB plates and 'Running In' labels. Perhaps it was issued with a Gift Set or as an extra item people could order separately. The pack design looks very similar so I doubt if it is particularly earlier or later.

There is, of course, another type of 'wheel' that I often get asked about. With a small range of models, Corgi supplied a pack of six (I think it was 6) stick on wheel covers which made them look a little bit like wire wheels. You'll find these on Aston Martin DB4s in the main although I believe there would be some other models that had them too. I see many on the old BRM and Vanwall Racing cars too. Interestingly both these and the 218 Aston Martin were issued with a cast wheel that had a 'criss-cross' pattern to resemble wire wheels too.

Like the 'Styla' trims, these had a strong adhesive and many have survived to this day quite intact. This example illustrated is particularly fine.

Sometimes you get a pleasant surprise

 Whilst I am only too fully aware of the number of models sold on Ebay which are far from what they seem and have descriptions which, even those written by AI, veer markedly from the truth, I do sometimes strike lucky. I bought those illustrated below plus a couple of other Corgis for £30. They did look a bit dirty and the photos provided weren't very well-focussed but I was happy to pay a lot more for just one of them - what looked like a lovely example of a #322 Rover 2000 Monte Carlo, one of my favourite models.

It has two or three small marks to the paintwork but none in obvious places and is totally original. No one has attempted to repaint the roof and it has the correct original decals with that slightly unusual font which most dealers supplying replacements get wrong. And the rear window isn't cracked where the Trans-o-lite system joins. Amazing! Prior to starting the catalogue and my Corgi business I had always kept my own Rover model on a shelf or on my desk at an office for many many years. It was one of the first models that I searched for in 2013 because my own model had disappeared. I did need one now for a Gift Set 38 I am building to take advantage of a reasonable reproduction box that has come my way but I tend to buy these when they're at reasonable prices anyway. It must be something about the colour and I do love jewelled headlamps and, of course, the super Trans-o-lite double headlamps.

In the group was this little #328 Monte Carlo Hillman Imp. Now I did expect this to arrive with something wrong, most probably broken suspension which these Imps so often suffer from. However, apart from some flat spots on the tyres, which were rock hard and have now been replaced, and some wear to the decals on the sides, this is a super little example. It is also the version with a yellow interior whereas most I've had have been white.

The #314 that was in the group is not a model I like very much and they all do seem to be very cheap and plentiful so the £5 I effectively paid for this one isn't quite so much of a bargain and I probably won't sell it for ages and even then at only £10 if I'm lucky. It's clean, though, and just missing the Ferrari transfer and a RN4 on one side. Unlike the other two I have at the moment, this one does have both exhausts! They seem to break very easily, being thin pieces of chrome-plated plastic and a little vulnerable at the rear. I know of only two variations for this model and that is in the lines on the base. Early models have two simple parallel lines. Later models have an angled section at the rear end of each line. This was around for such a long time that there may well be other differences that emerged with time but I have yet to know about any. I do notice different RN transfers - colour and style of numeral but wonder that these may just be poor reproductions.

Another model I have managed to avoid having for many years is this #151A, the second outing for the rather bland-looking Lotus Mark 11. The first edition from 1958 was a little interesting in that there are some scarce colours like red and silver to discover but for this one it's just smooth or shaped wheels and RN3 or 7. This one does have a driver although I am not sure it's the correct character as he appears to be much too high above the screen. Having said that, the Simon Templar father-figure in the #215S Thunderbird would suffer at any speed as he sits several inches above the top of the screen in that car too.

I am quite happy to have this, though, as it is very clean, all original and a colleague in Australia sent me a sample reproduction box in return for my assistance with design and dimensions for it. His work is excellent, rather better than some we may be more familiar with and I can now sell this model with his box, which has been lying around for a couple of years at least. 

I am also most relieved that the tyres are OK on this one. I have no idea how anyone can change them!

I shall not bother to bore you with photos of the other two models, for which £5 was probably about the right price to pay if I am going to get any profit at all from them. One was a #309 Aston Martin Competition, a late model with the small, closed vent. The paintwork was not good, though, showing a lot of playwear so it could be something someone might wish to restore. The only other fault is a small scratch on the front screen so I really don't want to break it apart as the decals, suspension, wheels are all sound and, despite being well worn, it is still all original. So someone might like it for a few pounds.

The other was a #155 Lotus-Climax Racing Car. It looked great, with a driver and suspension is intact and the paintwork very good. Unfortunately, though, it has lost the twin chrome exhausts. It does look an easy repair and one that ought to be worth doing as the end product will be a lot better than some restoration repaint. There's no need to break it so perhaps that'll appeal for a few pounds too.

This article was just about some of the every day models we see come and go and to share how sometimes you can do well on Ebay. The site is much-criticised and some people seem to want to avoid Ebay like the plague but I don't have a lot of trouble there. The costs of selling are high but it is the only site which I feel reaches a large enough audience of people who are interested in what I have to sell. I would much rather everyone buys from my own store, where I do get to keep a lot more of the proceeds and, accordingly, list products at lower prices, but it's simply not anything like as well-publicised.

You do have to be careful - and I feel sorry for whoever bought a fawn-coloured 'Pre-production sample' of a #241 Ghia L6.4 this week for £166. I did write to the seller when I first saw it to say that he would be disappointing a buyer as there were several signs that this was most definitely not a pre-production sample but merely something someone had repainted and screwed back together. The seller maintained that the screw was the same type as another that had been illustrated, possibly in the Great Book of Corgi, of a factory sample of a Ghia Mangusta 5000 De Tomaso and even included that illustration in his listing. The two screws were quite obviously different and, whilst I doubt Corgi had any 'standard screws' for holding models together anyway, I am sure that a pre-production sample, which would be from 1962/3 would not be identical to a 1968/9 one for the later Ghia!

I have had many genuine colour trials and factory samples and they have rarely been screwed together. The base is either riveted as per a normal issue or where the model is very much something being worked on and a very early sample, the base is held on by elastic bands. Screws may have been used sometimes and I am sure some people will have genuine examples but that badly-painted brown Ghia was not good. Unfortunately, now that it has achieved that price once this will be used by someone to justify another high price next time it appears on the market and, much as we may criticise Ebay sellers, there are plenty of similarly inaccurate descriptions at all the major auction houses where I suspect this will finish up one day at £400.

But that is all another story. For now I just wished to share you some of the nice surprises that can be found on Ebay.