Some interesting little Imps

 Many, many years ago I came across a #251 Hillman Imp in bronze with jewelled fog lights. This week another one arrived and, unlike the first one, this is in pretty reasonable condition.

It is a strange model. It has the same jewelled fog lights as were added to the first Monte Carlo Hillman Imp #328 but the windscreen is the later style with two horizontal lines as was fitted to the second Monte Carlo (Sunbeam) Imp #340.

It is the same bronze colour as was used for the Transporter Gift Set models, which were also available individually in boxes for some lucky buyers at the time. Although this one came with an original #251 box I have no idea whether that was added later and believe this would have been part of a late set and not issued individually. With its normal shaped wheels it is not the last of the #251 production as I also have the delightful and very scarce edition with cast wheels.

The timeline for Imps starts with the blue (and maybe individual bronze) issues in November 1963.

These were withdrawn from dealers' order lists in 1966 and were absent in the 1967 Corgi Catalogue.

The Car Transporter Gift Sets 41/48 were available from December 1966 to 1968 and these contained the bronze edition.

The first rally edition, #328, had a short life from January 1966 to February 1967 with the #340 edition appearing in March 1967 and staying around until quite late in 1969.

All #328 models had shaped wheels and no lines on the windscreen. They can be found with either yellow or white interiors.

The double lines on the screen were absent from the #328 model but do appear on all #340 models, even the early ones with normal shaped wheels. Later (and most) #340 models have cast wheels.

All the 506 Police Imps were the Sunbeam version, using the #340 style of base, and all these had the double lines on the screen and cast wheels.The Police models often display marks at the front where the holes for four jewels were filled in.

So it would seem that cast wheels were first fitted to Imps in late 1967 or early 1968 and the one I have in bronze would have come from one of the last Transporter sets in 1968.

The bronze edition with jewelled fog lights is likely to have arisen when the #328 was replaced by the #340 and bodies given a bronze coat of paint instead of the metallic blue and, as this would have been in early 1967, I can only imagine the small batch getting this treatment were sold in a few Transporter Gift sets in early-mid 1967. Although it is possible that they were sent out to dealers as a sort of one-off addition, maybe free to them, I suspect the box with this one has been added at some time between 1967 and 2025.

I shall, therefore, put this one with the cast wheel edition in my own collection cabinet and transfer the box to one or other of my #251 models that I have available for sale. I might sell the other two but they will not be cheap as I do think they're pretty scarce models and, at the moment, I have nothing to compare them with in terms of valuation.

I do seem to be accumulating rather a lot of models like this - genuinely very scarce ones for which I have little guidance as to what they may be worth. It is probably the case that values for items like these will very much depend upon the depth of the pockets of those who would like them. For my own part, my resources are quite limited and, even if something wonderful appeared on the market that I had always wanted but never owned, my limit would have to reside in the three figure numbers. For someone fortunate enough to have a far greater amount of funds available, and with other living expenses taken care of so that whatever he has he may spend freely on a hobby such as Corgi Toys, then should he wish to have a model, and that model is likely to appear just once in a blue moon, then he will pay a vast sum for the satisfaction with just a mere small dent in his bank balance.

An odd little Imp with jewels

This odd little model arrived last week. I have had a couple of bronze Imps before with jewelled fog lamps but this one is different. This has the later 'Sunbeam' type of window unit but the earlier 'Hillman' base.

Quite a strange one, this, and difficult to figure out how it came about.

It is a factory bronze 251 issue and no-one has messed around with the base or repainted a blue 328.

To all intents and purposes, it is a 328 but in bronze and with a cream interior. I wonder if, perhaps, at the end of the production of the 328, when plans would be made to switch to the 340 to mark the later year's rally success, there were some castings with the two holes still to be painted and, rather than make 328s which may have been unwanted, someone decided to send them off for the bronze treatment with normal 251s. Maybe they would have headed off to Transporter Gift Sets or some lucky collector might have found one in a box at his toy shop.

It would have to have been made in the few months in early 1967 when the Sunbeam window units would have started to be available and production of the 251 was ending.

This particular example had been 'modified' by its last owner, unfortunately, and my efforts to ring it back to how it once would have been haven't been successful. I had removed some water transfers very easily but under them I found three white panels - one on each door and a circular one on the bonnet. I'd thought they were transfers but they were painted and bore hand-painted numerals - the bonnet number being different to the sides! The paint nearly came off but I damaged the base bronze colour beneath in a couple of places so, for now, I have covered the damage with some unwanted Citroën Monte Carlo transfers. (They use the wrong font). In due course I may change these for some more accurate Hillman Monte Carlo numbers if I can find something appropriate. 

These oddities are fascinating to find. It's a pity this one has had to have the decals but I don't imagine I am going to find another in a hurry! This one actually came from France. The other two that I had without decals were in quite bad condition with broken windows and suspension so this is, at least, intact and, yes, the suspension has survived!

Monte Carlo Sunbeam Imp and NSU Sport Prinz, small variations.

 

Here I look at a couple of small cars that have variations you may not be aware of. Firstly this Sunbeam Imp arrived last week and it is remarkable in having suspension all round! Normally it is broken and I have to find some way to restore some stance to the car without spoiling it by taking off the base. That's not the interesting thing about this one, though. It's the wheel, they're the shaped type. These second issue Monte Carlo Rally Imps usually have cast wheels.

The other small car that arrived recently is the NSU Sport Prinz. This was not a car I knew anything about in 1963 when it was issued. In fact, it still isn't as they were not exactly something you would see on British roads. I had one, nevertheless, in my collection in those times but it seldom got played with and was one of the best looked-after models of all when I came to open up the old boxes a few years ago. 

It was a quite strange bright cerise colour, not dissimilar to the lovely Chevrolet Stingray which had come out a little earlier. Now I have one again in fairly reasonable condition. What i hadn't appreciated at teh time was that there was another colour available.

The other one was a dark metallic brick red, quite distinct and unlike any other model I know. It is definitely a less common colour and may have been missed by many collectors as it doesn't appear in many listings as a separate item to look out for.

New arrivals in 2020 Pt 2

Another example of the rare Citroen with fog lamps has come along. It is not in the best of condition and it is beginning to look as though the fog lamps go hand-in-hand with free spinning wheels on this model.

At first glance this looks like any other Morris Mini-Cooper but it is a scarce type which has a white bonnet and free-spinning wheels. Usually it is only the models with just a white roof only that have the free spinning wheels.

A super example of the gold Bentley, issued in the Golden Guinea Set. As this set sold only about 30,000, the models in it are really much scarcer than many people seem to realise. That is not a great deal more than a 322 Rover International Rally edition, for example, regarded as one of the more expensive Corgis.

Issued in 1959 and withdrawn in 1960, this was the last but one model to have a friction motor and these are now hard to find in good condition. I am lucky that this one also has a smooth, working motor.

Most early 438 Land Rovers you'll encounter will be in deep green but the very first that were include in the Farming Gift set 22s were a much lighter shade, more of a mid-green. They did not have a canopy, nor were they ever issued in individual boxes to buy at your local store. So these are quite rare and worth a good price, especially when coupled with the all yellow 101 trailer. that too, was only available in that Gift Set. It did survive to get coupled to the deep green Land Rover too, however, so, whilst not at all easy to find is slightly less expensive.

The first Fordson Power Major Tractor, model 55, coupled with the first edition plough, model 56 to make Gift Set 18. The plough would only fit this tractor, with each using a very accurate but awkward attachment method. This Fordson has the later red plastic wheels but early editions had pale orange metal wheels. I don't know which are the scarcer.

The Massey Ferguson Combine Harvester was on my Christmas and Birthday Lists for many years but never arrived. It was quite expensive at 19/11d. (That's one penny, or about ½p less than £1) when first issued in 1959 with metal times like this one. This edition is unusual, however, in having orange wheels.

From the same collection as the Combine Harvester, I received this lovely Massey Ferguson 65 Tractor with a Fork attachment, also featuring unusual orange wheels. Both came from the States and I wonder whether the export models had different wheels.

Continuing my purchase these days only of the slightly uncommon models, here is what looks like a very ordinary, and not very good condition, 218 Aston Martin DB4. It has fixed shaped wheels, however, and they are looking to be quite rare on this model. It started with smooth wheels but also was fitted with a criss-cross type of cast wheel to look like spoked wheels and later editions got free-spinning wheels. Those with shaped wheels, however, like this one, are few and far between.

One way to use up the stock of spare Hillman Imp castings was to make them Monte Carlo Rally editions and Corgi did this a couple of times. In 1966 there was the 328 Hillman Imp and a year later along comes the 340 Sunbeam Imp. The 328 gets a couple of jewels added but the 340 gets six, with two replacing the headlights. The interior is a distinctly different white too.

I finally got a black hard top - and another E Type Jaguar to put it on! Love this model.

With a big chunk of paint missing from the front of the bonnet, this 281 Whizzwheels Rover 2000TC is not exactly mint but it dos have a complete chrome section front and rear. It is such a shame that this model had such poor paint, which comes off if you as much as blow on it, and very brittle plastic used for the revised front end. One of the rare ones, though, with only 48000 made. That's less than the yellow Fiat Ghia Jolly.

Another model only around for a very short time and selling in small numbers was the Whizzwheels version of the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, two models now available in a strange pink colour. Note the different headlamp covers too. I need a supply of right hand targa tops! It is always the right one that goes missing!

The rather better and gorgeous-looking 300 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, also only available for a short period before getting the Whizzwheels treatment.

A rare 'transition' model - the 387 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with Whizzwheels but retaining the rear jewelled lights which were mere blobs of casting metal in the vast majrity of models. This one now gets its right-hand targa top which had been mssing for a year or two.

A nice example of the rare 438 in deep green and red interior.

A complete Gift set 41 with all the right cars on the Transporter.

Here is something most unusual. The 319 Lotus Elan from the Lotus Racing Gift Set 37 but with spoked wheels! In fact, the chassis came from a 318 from the same set but that was in very poor condition so I switched it to this one. I presume this is something that someone has created at some time. Looks great and a lot nicer than either the small shaped wheels or cast wheels normally used.

These Rover 2000 International Rally models are expensive so I could only manage to get this quite worn example. It is all original and the screens are undamaged, though, which means it still will not be cheap.

Lastly for now, a very rare Land Rover! It is the fawn edition from Gift Set 2 but with a yellow interior. I didn't even know that this existed until a collector friend in Germany told me about one he had found. I had to pay quite a bit to someone in America for this one, not because of its scarcity but because it was in America and, for some reason best known to Americans, they all want to use some Global Shipping Programme that is really profitable for whoever runs it and ruddy expensive for us who have to pay. It was also virtually unmarked, as was the matching Pony Trailer.

Police in shades

No, not Beverley Hills cops in Raybans but an interesting different shade for a 506 Sunbeam Imp Panda car.

In my last post I had included a photo of the little Imp that had arrived more or less free with an NSU I'd wanted. Now I have put it next to the one I had in stock and it really is a completely different colour.

I have also pushed some rubber above the axles which seems to have fixed the lack of suspension. These models are so frustrating in that respect.

Looking various models advertised and on places like QDT, every other example I see is the bright, pure white like the one on the right in the photos above. The latest addition has a much creamier shade and the paint is a little thicker than what seems a very thin coat on the white. There is no doubt that the cream paint is original and I will be interested to see whether there are many more like this.

I have added this as another variation in my main lists.

Surprisingly nice little cars and vans that came in May

Discoveries last month included the NSU Sport Prinz in a sort of metallic brick red colour. Shown here against the more common bright cerise, the car I've bought has a few chips but it's not at all bad. These are odd little motors. My collector friend from Eilum sent me a marketing brochure for this and it has a tiny two-cylinder 500cc engine of little more than 500cc. The cerise is, indeed, one of the colours offered too!

Sort of thrown in with the 316 NSU was this Police Sunbeam Imp which I wasn't too bothered about really. However, having had a good look at it now, it is in remarkably clean and untouched condition. It is the version with just black bonnet and door panels. There is another with a black roof and, of course, the blue and white one too. This particular example is lovely but, as is so often the case with these Imps, there is no suspension. I shall try and revive it by inserting some rubber but that doesn't always work. More on that if I succeed. Otherwise it is available for someone else to have a go and then have the most delightful example of the quite sought-after model which even has clean little cast wheels.

I was never particularly fond of the Corgi racing cars and this is the first of the very early editions that I've had. This is 152, the BRM without suspension and, correctly, without a driver. It is pleasantly charming in the metal and I am even quite looking forward to finding the 150 Vanwall now! This was ridiculously cheap but is in amazingly good condition, especially bearing in mind that children would be inclined to race these around the room and bash into chair legs and skirting boards at speed. I like the silver paint on the air intake and what I assume is a lamp of some sort. The RN3 is also only slightly damaged after all so many years.

Yet another oddity arrived in May! This is the penultimate Karrier Bantam, used here as another shop, this time a Mobile Butchers' Shop. I cannot imagine children getting very excited about having one of these and, issued in late 1960, it was competing with the Jaguar 2.4 with suspension and things like a Land Rover Breakdown Truck. So it only sold about 100,000 which is fairly low by Corgi model standards. 

This one looks great and has only paint loss on the leading and risen edges here and there. The good thing is that it has all its original dark blue stickers and the windows are clean and show the really old-fashioned card illustrations very well. Its scale is a silly 1:55 so don't park this too close to your cars or it won't look right!

I am nearing the end of my Wants List now and things like this are what I need to get hold of. It's nicer than I expected, I have to say, like the BRM.

Let me introduce you to the very, very first Corgi model. Number 200, the Ford Consul. And this is the most commonly found colour. Also available in cream.

I can just imagine the conversation:

We've got a new car, children!

Ooh jolly good daddy! What colour is it?

Er. Mushroom, a sort of mud brown . . .

Oh.

I can take you to school in it in the morning!

It's OK dad. We'll get the bus.

Corgi had a more cheerful pot of paint for their Standard Vanguard III. This is the fairly scarce 207M version with a Mechanical motor. Even fewer of these were sold than the ruddy Butchers Shop! Every example I have had had has quite a few chips which really do show up against that colour but, at least it is nice and original - and the motor works very well sixty years later.

You may remember that I had a 448 Police Van missing a door. Well, finally, after several months, I found a decent condition 448 which was going very cheaply because it needed the door that I did have! So I have made a complete and quite good-looking model here and may actually be able to get some income from the two now. There remains in my shelf a van with slightly cracked windows and no rear doors at all which I may have to use for spares. I now need the left hand door for a green 450 Mini Van. Then perhaps my shelf will have a bit more room.

These will all soon be on my web site so if you want to take a closer look please visit any time.