It's May 1966 and there are two new models on the local toy shop shelves. The first is Corgi's second issue of what will prove to be a very, very long list of Volkswagen 1200s. Indeed, I shall have to survive until 2037 in order to remind you about the very last, which appeared in October 1977! This one is the East Africa Safari Rally car in a new paint finish, a beacon on the roof and some stickers to convert it into what is described as a 'European Police Car'.
Just like the earlier model, this is fun to play with, with its excellent steering. The bonnet and rear engine cover open as before, not that we tended to bother with that a great deal as there was no room in the front to put anything. The clever use of a bright metal base to provide shiny bumpers remains, as do the two jewelled headlamps. Whereas I believe some late editions of the #256 had the jewels replaced with chrome inserts (although I have never seen one) all the #492 models seem to have jewels.
They all seem to be left hand drive too, unlike the #256 which can be found with either left or right hand drive interiors.
There are two quite hard to find export editions of the #492 model. One is the Dutch edition in all white and with POLITE on the bonnet and an emblem on each door. The other is a Swiss version with POLIZEI stickers on the doors and on the bonnet.
The other release in May was the last individual Corgi Classics model, the #9041 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud.
I found these models totally at odds with Corgi's range at the time. They couldn't really be played with, lacked suspension which made them awkward to move around a layout and this one, with its nasty plastic main body section, felt cheap - and that is despite the massive jewels in the headlamps, lots of chrome and pretty wheels.
This was actually Corgi's first Rolls Royce too. As a teenager in the 1960s, a Rolls Royce was simply something that you have to have in your collection, to park outside the big Bayko House. It was 'the best car in the world' and we all wanted one, having to put up with the Dinky model at the time. This was not what we wanted, though, and whoever bought them probably just put them on a shelf or in a cabinet, older people, not children. The Classics series was not pursued after this and now you can buy a mint example in a bubble pack for £20 or less. I have several and can't even give them away.
I have spotted a few oddities on these models - few seem to have wheels all the same colour, with combinations of gold and steel colour. The rear wheels have a different deign to the front and sometimes they're mixed up at the factory. There are different colour exhausts too. None seem to have any significant value.
You will see the model get reused for the Hardy Boys issue in June 1970 in a ghastly multicoloured finish and accompanied by the characters in a TV group that no-one in the UK had a clue about at the time, and is probably not a great deal wiser now. Because that one had very paltry sales it does have a high price tag now but this silver original release will cost you a lot less than the equivalent of its price then. 14/11d, (or nearly 15 shillings, three quarters of £1). Remarkably, you could have bought a Monte Carlo Gift Set 38 for less!!
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