Corgi Toys @ 60: lots of valuable issues (if you had the early ones for Christmas!)

A huge number of new issues arrived in the shops in December 1965! I'll list them in catalogue number order, starting with the second appearance of the #242 Fiat 600 Jolly Ghia. It has lost the roof and comes only in a solid but cheerful yellow. Now with two people and a Corgi dog on the back seat too. 

This was not a particularly popular model and the attempt to make a few more sales from the casting was not very successful and it was quietly withdrawn from dealers' order forms after a few months. Really quite hard to find now.

Next is #256, the VW 1200 in East African Safari trim. This was a great model and something I was delighted to play with as it had really good steering operated by a spare wheel on the roof. So much more realistic-looking than the Austin A60 had been and with better ground clearance from the normal size wheels as well! The model came with a baby rhino about to attack the car on a pleasant scenic tray. The sticker on the bonnet was inclined to lift off but that didn't really bother me and I was more keen on things like the jewelled headlights and opening engine compartment at the rear and bonnet at the front. There was no space to carry anything so they seldom did get opened. I was also impressed by the use of a lovely bright silver base-plate to incorporate attractive bumpers and, remarkably, rear mudguards too!

The first issue was left hand drive but you will also find this in right hand drive form. There is also a very later edition where the jewelled lights have been replaced by rather tedious silver blobs. That's not an easy find either.

You may be beginning to see a trend here in these December 1965 issues.

Next is another casting re-use in the form of #325 Ford Mustang 2+2 Fastback Competition Model. Corgi have added bright red stripes and a coat of white paint to the lovely #320 model and it gets a fresh lease of life. There was a set of peel off numbers in the box but the RN2 shown here is not at all common. Nor are the very early models with shaped wheels as illustrated here.

This model can be found with the fullest range of wheels of any Corgi. First it had shaped wheels but only for a very limited time before wire wheels were fitted. Then detailed cast wheels appeared, the ones with fine spokes, before a chunkier style of 8-spoke cast wheel started to be fitted and, just to add more for a complete collection, these came in a gold finish as well as the plain cast silver-grey colour. Finally some wire wheel models had a red sill added! (The Corgi Model Club made a mistake in adding the red sill to their chunky 8-spoke wheel version.)

You will also have fun seeking out the different interiors. Whilst there was no Corgi dog in this issue, the interior was initially the same as was being fitted to the #320. Later the interior is redesigned and you'll find both chalky blue and chalky green versions.

Next on the list for December 1965 is the #468 London Bus, identical to the original issue other than its advertising which now features Outspan Oranges and this will be the most common version of the #468 model.

Later this will get cast wheels, lose its jewelled headlights and then Whizzwheels as well as a wide range of other advertising banners, some of which are hard to find now. Look out for transition models which have cast wheels but no jewels.

Another re-use of a casting is the Citroen Safari model which is basically the same as the January 1964 issue, also #475, but now Corgi Ski Club stickers replace the 1964 Winter Olympics ones.

The skiing character is the same, as are the skis and ski poles. You will find red and yellow with both #475 models. For a change, that's the only variation!

Now for another 'new' model that isn't really new at all. The #477 is identical to the later issues of the  #417S Land Rover Breakdown Truck apart from the new plastic canopy fitted to this one, replacing the tin affair that had been fitted since the #417 was issued way back in 1960.

This another of Corgi's very long-running editions and stays in the catalogue for many years, getting cast wheels, transfers instead of stickers and, of course, Whizzwheels in the 1970s.

Something else with some play value was the #478 Jeep FC-150, although this is yet another re-working of an existing model. The same Jeep in red and lacking suspension or interior was available as Gift Set 14 in 1961. Now the lamp standard has gone but the character still remains (for a while).

The boom can be found in painted silver, plain metal silver and also gold-coloured metal. There is a variation with a red interior and the wheels become cast later in its long life, although it never gets Whizzwheels, oddly enough.

Two more very simple adaptations prolong the life of a couple of other old models. The #1110 Mobilgas Tanker was first seen in 1959 with the Big Bedford cab. All Corgi have done is add the new Bedford TK cab and changed the number to #1140.

The same trick was done with the #1129 1962 Milk Tanker.

Add a Bedford TK cab and call it #1141. Corgi didn't even change the trailer component. Well, they may have changed the coverage of the light blue colour on the tanker towards the rear but, as it is so simple to swap things over, I cannot be absolutely sure. #1129 models seem all to have the blue colour all the way along the lower half whereas the #1141 stops in a 90° corner.

Both these models had very short period of availability for dealers to order and are hard to find now - but do beware of an old rear section hitched to a new front one. With the Milk Tanker, that's not so easy as the 'milk' blue is not the same as the other blues used for the cab. The red for the Mobilgas Tanker, though, is more readily switched.

Finally, for 1965, you could have been one of the first to have bought a Gift Set 32, the #53 Massey Ferguson Tractor with Shovel attachment and driver, towing the #62 Tipper Trailer (with raves) issued in February. The #53 is the last of the shovel attachment types in all bare metal.

This is yet another hard to find item now and a valuable Gift Set when in good condition with its original, nicely illustrated box and display.

If you had been lucky enough to get this lot, as shown here (apart from the late #256) in your Christmas Stocking (well, you'd have need a pillow-case!) then your parents might have forked out 87/2d (that's 4pounds, 7 shillings and 2 pence). Now, however, you'd be able to sell them for £1500 if you' d managed to keep everything nice and original, as well as the boxes, of course. (For reference, inflation between 1965 and 2025 would make the original price around £120 in today's buying terms. So definitely an inflation-busting investment that you could also have had a lot of enjoyment from - on the carpet in the 1960s and in cabinets in the 2020s (and probably the loft in the years in between!)

Corgi Toys @ 60: A Jeep on the farm and two Chevrolets

 

June 1965 brought us an American trio. I suspect the left-hand drive Jeep would not have been something you'd have seen on many farms at the time but it was another marvel of Corgi engineering. In the box was an attractively illustrated inner tray carrying the Jeep with a farm hand slotted in a corner and four brown sacks. 

This was another re-working of the FC-150 model, now with suspension and an interior. Always in red with a bright yellow conveyor frame, I am not aware of any variations. The wheels appear to be shaped free-spinning and, whilst it stayed in the catalogues until 1969 when other Jeeps got cast wheels, I have not see any of these with that type.

The conveyor mechanism also gets mounted on a trailer and towed by a Ford Tractor next year!

The other two models were the first of the revised Chevrolet Impala castings. It was in December 1959 that the first Impala appeared, only the second Corgi with suspension, and it proved very popular. The classic style with the sweeping rear fins was about the change on the real car but Corgi extended its life in their catalogues by slicing the casting in two and inserting a chromed plastic element which ran the whole length of the model, creating splendid shiny chrome grille, bumpers and a rather fat side lining. Otherwise it had the same interior and suspension and no more features, just fresh colours for the new Police Patrol Car as #481 and the Taxi as #480.

Both models will be found with shaped wheels and cast wheels, although cast wheels on the Taxi are quite scarce. This model was really not around for long, being deleted from dealers' lists almost as soon as it was listed, available for less than a year. So not many had a chance to be fitted with the cast wheels.

The Patrol Car, however, stayed in the lists until 1969 and the majority have cast wheels, with shaped wheels being the slightly less frequently seen. Aerials tend to get broken on these models and I have just noticed that both used in these illustrations have suffered in that respect!

  

You will note that, despite a 6 year period elapsing, the fares didn't change! The same transfer has been used on the new model. The Police Car has stickers on the doors, as did the preceding issue but this time they're quite different. Neither the old nor new Police stickers strike me as being very well done.

I am not aware of any other variations for these two.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Nine new releases for March 1965!

 I don't think there will have been many children getting all the new issues which March 1965 brought to their local toy shop. There were no less than seven new models and two gift sets this month 60 years ago.

One was the almost iconic Corgi gift set - the Monte Carlo Gift Set of three 1965 rally models.

Record indicate that just 72000 of these were sold, not many for those times, and these sets are extremely expensive now, with prices reaching £1500 or more for a set in its original box. The box may be one of the most expensive pieces of folded cardboard around as the cars can be found individually for around £120 each in unmarked condition so the box adds a massive £1200!

It's an attractive set and features the 321 Mini Cooper which was released in February plus the new Citroën and Rover which were simultaneously released individually his month too.

The Citroën DS19 is catalogue number 323 and is the 210S model with four small jewels as fog lamps and the Monte Carlo decals. Individually it was issued in its own illustrated box. A classic problem with this model has been the aerial which can become brittle and is not easily replaced.

The Rover 2000 is the 252 model with Monte Carlo decals and two jewels added to the grille. The individual models were first issued in a 252 model box with a 'Special Release' label over one end. Later issues had their own illustrated boxes.

Another Mini appears this month in the shape of the Austin Mini Countryman.

I would have dated this rather later than 1965 but it did, indeed, come out this month 60 years ago. This is a substantially revised casting, previously seen as the Minivan and Police Van, now with woodwork and windows and a chrome-plated roof rack and two surf boards. In the box is a young chap in swimming trunks in a position where he neds to be holding the surfboard to avoid looking a bit strange.

It's a nice model and will eventually get cast wheels to replace the first issue's shaped wheels. There is also a little known and seemingly very scarce variation where there is no fuel filler on the rear left wing.

I believe this is a very early edition but have no further information about this.

A commercial vehicle gets revised this month in the shape of the quite ancient Jeep FC-150. First issued in April 1959, the Jeep now gets an interior and suspension as well as a plastic canopy.

There are three initial releases, two in blue and one in a sort of green-beige colour, often referred to as avocado. The blue can be found quite easily with either red or lemon interiors but the avocado version seems to be mostly red, with lemon being a scarce variation.

Later this model will get cast wheels and it stays in the catalogue for many years through to 1972.

The Saint's Volvo P1800 is issued this month too. This is a straightforward adaptation of the July 1962 228 model with the addition of a character at the wheel and a 'Saint' emblem on the bonnet.

Later editions get a red or blue label which covers the whole of the bonnet and has the Saint emblem in white. The red is usually found with cast wheels. The blue label edition is quite scarce. The same body and character will stay in the catalogue until 1972 too, the red label edition getting Whizzwheels and a different interior in 1970 as #201.

The 'Simon Templar' character appears to be the same as the driver inserted in the 215S Ford Thunderbird.

Next we have some models brining us some refreshments. First is a Karrier Van, looking rather old-fashioned now, but with an interior and suspension and a nice 'trans-o-lite' feature that lights up the 'Snack Bar' sign at the front.

You'll find two versions of this - the usual one is Joe's Diner but there's a nice Belgian variation advertising patates frites.

After your snack you might have fancied an ice cream and the next model is the Ford Thames Ice Cream Van in Wall's livery.

You get a model of the ice cream seller and a young lad on a pavement with a 'hopscotch' design. This was a short-lived issue, however, being replaced after just a few months in October by a 'musical' version. The characters and display scene go and instead you get an ugly handle at the back which plays a tune when turned.

Finally for this month, the second issue of the Fordson Tractor is paired with a Beast Carrier in Gift Set 33.

This is the first appearance of the Beast Carrier trailer, which will not be available individually in a box until later in 1965. It comes with four calves on a card straw design in the trailer and a green plastic mesh stretched across the top. There is also a driver on the tractor in this set.

This is quite a scarce set because it gets the new Ford 5000 tractor at the end of 1966 and is renamed Gift Set 1. The Beast Carrier itself is another very long-running model, staying in the catalogue until 1972.

Late model differences

 

A 413 Mobile Butchers Shop came this week and prompted me to write about the small but important differences that you may find in models issued at the very end of their production period. The Karrier is a great example as it must have looked so dated on the shelves in 1964 and to discover that there was actually one of these old things with suspension was quite a surprise a year or so ago when I first found one. I now see that there is a reference to 413S in some Corgi documents although the boxes still read 413. This is certainly a rarity.

Another scarce one is this 210S Citroën DS19. It seems that Corgi decided to continue to produce these after having adjusted the casting for the 1965 Monte Carlo version to provide holes for the four small jewelled fog lamps. Instead of fitting jewels, though, we get some bright metal blobs instead. I have seen these fetch £150 or more at auctions but they do seem to appear regularly and maybe are not as scarce as I had originally thought. I now have four in stock although this latest addition is by far the best. Interestingly, only these models with the fog lamps have free-spinning wheels.

Free-spinning wheels are the difference on this late edition 223 Chevrolet Impala. It was a popular model, the very first Impala issued, in fact. and stayed in production for a long time before being sliced in half for the MkII version. Shortly before that some models got free-spinning wheels fitted but these are not at all as common as you might expect.

Corgi started fitting the shaped wheel in place of the smooth wheel in 1961 and some of the later editions of the 207 Standard Vanguard had them fitted. They also made another change that people may not have noticed, however, and that was in how the red paint now only covered the roof, not the pillars. Although shaped fixed wheels are less common on many models from this period (205, 209, 213, 214, 215 and 216 can be found, and 210 is common) only the 207 had this additional change.

Whilst late Buick Rivieras with cast wheels in metallic blue are quite common, and you find a few gold versions too, the pale blue Buick with cast wheels is very rare.

Wheels, again, are the thing to look for on the innocent and ancient-looking Jeep FC-150. This long-running model first appeared with fixed smooth wheels and the vast majority that you'll come across will have fixed wheels of one type or the other. Very few do exist, though, with free-spinning wheels and are worth picking up when you do see them as it is not something that sellers will realise is rare at all.

The penultimate one for now is the maroon Rover 2000 with cast wheels. Together with the equally rare gold Hillman Imp with cast wheels, it was produced for a Car Transporter Gift Set 41/48 which also featured the more common grey Ford Cortina Estate, Morris Mini Minor and Mini-Coopers all with cast wheels. Incidentally, a blue Cortina with cast wheels is also a desirable model.

Here is the Hillman Imp, which I had omitted from the article when first published.

There are, of course, many more models I could write about in a similar vein. I may return to this topic in another post. If you have any particularly interesting and rare late variations do let me know.

There may be more Jeep FC-150s than you think!

In April 1959 the strange little Jeep FC-150 appears. FC stands for 'Forward Control' which I can only guess refers to the driver sitting above the front axle and the engine mounted much further back than had been the case for most trucks and cars previously with their long bonnets. It helped the truck's manoeuvrability and had good traction for climbing. It was a 4-wheel drive vehicle but not something that was common on UK roads so an odd model to issue.

Corgi didn't supply a hood with early models, much as they didn't with the first Land Rovers and they were all light blue. Although there was not much in the catalogue to attach, it did have the usual tin hook so there was some good play value in filling the back with stuff and towing a trailer.

The spare was mounted in such a way that you couldn't actually get at it!

To me the casting is a little different to most other Corgis, The door outline, for example is raised rather than inset and the base design is unusual. I wondered whether they had to use a different method for this one for some reason but it may just have been one of those things.

The model did stay in the dealers' order lists until 1965 and is one of the few models which can be found with smooth wheels, fixed shaped wheels and free-spinning wheels. The last, shown above on a model I have just acquired, are quite scarce and would have required a different piece of equipment for the wheels to be fitted. Instead of having a sort of press which pushed the wheels on to the axle the ladies would now be operating some device which produced the enlarged radius dome to keep the wheel in place.

I cannot quickly think of another model car or truck that had no interior or suspension but which had all three wheel types. There is the flatbed trailer which had all three and the Gift Set 14 edition of the Jeep can be found with the three variants but that's all. The red Jeep with the Hydraulic Tower, lamp and Electrician is also scarce with the late wheel type and worth looking out for as sellers who don't read my articles will almost certainly have no idea of this!

The Gift Set 14 edition appeared in February 1961 so only the early editions will have smooth fixed wheels. They are, though, much more common than the free-spinning ones merely because the vast majority of models would have been produced at the outset with just a trickle coming from the factory thereafter. This model did cease in 1964 too so will be harder to find with the free-spinning wheels, in theory, than the 409.

In March 1965 the truck is revised as model number 470 and gets suspension, an interior, a plastic rear canopy, a plastic hook and a fresh coat of mustard or blue paint. The mustard one will nearly always have a red interior and I have yet to see a lemon interior in that colour. The blue edition, much more blue than the pale blue of the 409, can have either lemon or red and they seem pretty evenly distributed. There is also Gift Set 64 edition with a working conveyor unit installed in the back in June 1965. Confusingly for collectors, this is in the same red as the old Gift Set 14 model and, where the conveyor mechanism has fallen off, the remaining model can look initially like either a red 470 or a 409 with interior and suspension!

In December 1965 the Gift Set 14 edition now appears as simply number 478 without the lamp standard but it does, for a while have the electrician. At some point, and I don't know when, the electrician chap is removed too. The Jeep does get a nice metallic green paint job, suspension and an interior and the interior can be either lemon or a quite hard to find red.

The Gift Set 14 box included the red, no suspension, no interior Jeep with a lamp standard and an electrician figure.

The first 478 boxes show that the electrician is included.

As can be seen below, however, later 478s do not include the figure (although the person selling the one illustrated has included it!) Perhaps he did continue to be slipped in to some? I can hardly imagine an order from the bosses going out to the factory floor that from a particular date no more electrician figures were to be added to the boxes. Corgi didn't sell the figure separately so if there were any lying around when the boxes were being put together then I am sure some will have still made it to the outside world. 

Finally the 470 gets another revision with the addition of cast wheels in 1968 and a different shade of blue becomes available too. I have seen darker blue 470s with both shaped and cast wheels so it appears that the colour change did not coincide with the wheel change. Again, with both interior colours.

The 478 in metallic green may have a grey-painted boom or (initially shiny) bare mazak. This model ceased being supplied in 1968 but had cast wheels fitted at the very end of its production. I have not seen many and need to add this to my own collection but the cast wheel was a common enough type in the late 1960s so there will be some around.

So, there's quite a few Jeeps to collect, including some satisfyingly scarce editions so the 'set' won't be that easy to complete!

Updated 31/3/24. Thanks to John Bowyer for some corrections and interesting advice about the electrician figure!

Corgi Toys @ 60 : Ford Zephyr, a Jeep and Lamp Standards

February 1961 brings two new models to the shop windows. Each is a re-working of an existing model, though, but sufficiently different to be interesting still,

The first is the Jeep FC-150, first issued in 1959 and now bearing a hydraulic tower which can be raised so that the workman included in the box can access the light unit in a lamp standard, also included in the box. Sold as Gift Set 14 this stayed in the catalogue until 1964, replaced by a metallic green edition in 1965 but without the man and the lamp standard is also dropped as it gets a new catalogue number 478.

This model can be found with all three variations of wheel type - smooth, shaped fixed and free-spinning - the last being quite rare and, possibly one of the very few models where free-spinning wheels were fitted without suspension or interior. The Gift Set 14 edition is always red.

The other release was the Ford Zephyr in its estate mode. 1960 had seen the Police version, this is the one you might have seen in a neighbour's drive. It is always two-tone, pale blue and a deep blue, with an interior and suspension and has the same range of wheels as the Jeep, smooth, shaped fixed and the free-spinning wheels fitted to the last models produced. This model had a longer run than the Jeep (without suspension) and so the three types of wheel are fairly evenly spread.

You'll find it with both a lemon and red interiors.