Corgi Toys @ 60: another VW1200 and Corgi's first Rolls Royce

 

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 Ghost (apologies for the error in the first edition).

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!!

Corgi Model Club: a matt Impala?

 There is something about the #248 Chevrolet Impala that takes me back to the 1960s and how I admired it in my own Corgi collection. I remember my dad telling me that the man in the shop in French Row, St. Albans had told him this one was worth looking after as there weren't many issued. Now, I guess that he wouldn't have known in August 1965 that, along with the #480 Chevrolet Taxi, production would only be for a year at most. So it may have been later that year or early 1966 when I got this one and then the chap in the shop would have seen it deleted from his order form. The colour scheme is just right - I called it coffee and cream - and, despite nothing opening and no jewels, it really did stand out in my layout and has always been one of my favourite issues.

In particular, I now cherish the cast wheel editions which seem particularly scarce on the saloon and taxi models. So it was with some delight that I heard that the Corgi Model Club would be releasing this, with mine arriving (a little late) yesterday.

As the Hollies sang, just one look was all it took to see a quite different model to what I had expected. Yes, it is beautiful and the chrome and details are stunning but that matt or satin finish . . . no, that's not how the original was produced.

The Club people tell me and anyone who asks that the satin finish is a deliberate choice they made to reflect the finish that they declare many originals had. I have to challenge that and wonder just what model they had been supplied when they set out to reproduce this. I know from looking at several photos they have released in the past that they either dig out old models or ask people to send in theirs and I can only guess that they have been rather misled by someone sending in a decidedly less than shiny model. I am quite certain that all the original issues of this model had the usual quite glossy paint finish. None were issued in a satin or matt finish like this, however lovely it might be. It simply didn't happen and it really would have been best for the Club people to say so and just say that when the models arrived from China they decided to stick with them or, indeed, that they chose the satin finish but accept it was not as the original.

We can live with that. But not with an assertion that there are a few extremely rare #248 models out there that we all now need to go searching for as there is now a gap in everyone's collections - maybe two gaps if we also have to have a satin edition with cast wheels!

So, now for the model itself - it is, as I have indicated, a thoroughly excellent reproduction in most other ways and is a delight to own. The interior is the wrong colour, a much darker colour than the original and, as always, the shape of the wheels isn't right. One day maybe they will tell China, or Bangladesh to have another go with the wheels but, for now we have to put up with them always being not quite as the originals on all the issues with shaped wheels.

Once again there is a howler in the text on the Certificate card accompanying the model. When talking about the split casting for these second generation Impalas, they refer to the #221 Taxi. That, of course, was all beige and didn't have a split casting, nor any chrome for that matter. They meant #480 and this is another example of both poor editing and a little less than the sort of knowledge one might have expected from the Club staff claiming to be such enthusiasts. One wonders whether the success of the series has brought many inexperienced people onto the team to assist with the volume of work and not enough with the knowledge or research skills in quality control.

I am pretty sure that, if we could listen to some conversations behind the scenes when the first satin models appeared, we would here a suggestion that staff counter objections with an assertion that this reflects a scarce early original finish and that this was the Club's choice, not in any way an error. Standard responses to queries prepared, on with the show. People can return them if the wish but no replacements.

Corgi Toys @ 60: A smart Citroën and a new Transporter

 

April 1966 brought two new models to the shelves of your local toy shop. First, the Citroën DS gets rebuilt as a 'Le Dandy' Coupé. This had nearly all the features that I wanted Corgis to have as a child: wire wheels, opening doors and boot, not just jewelled headlamps but lovely, separate, jewelled fog lamps in chrome and a glorious paint finish in luxurious metallic maroon. It was definitely one of my favourites in 1966. I had no idea then that there was also a rather attractive edition in metallic blue and white, with a quite different interior colour too. I have to admit that even in 1966, that bright yellow that Corgi used on several models was just a bit too much for my taste.

The suspension has failed on many of these models now, being provided by plastic elements that have become brittle and many that you will see sag rather sadly, especially at the back. The individual fog lamps are vulnerable and easily snapped off so nice examples can be expensive now, especially for the blue and white version.

At least Corgi did finally get the rear axle in the right place, compared to the embarrassingly misplaced position on the long-running 210, 210S and 323 models (nor does the 259 have any semblance of a differential at the back!)

The second new arrival is the Ford Carrimore Car Transporter as Corgi Major 1138.

This was a much overdue improvement on the ageing Bedford cab, the Ford cab first being seen on the Express Service truck 1137. With its tilting cab and an engine that even had a rotating fan, this was much more detailed and modern-looking. Frustratingly, the nice little touches like movable mirrors were made of plastic and came adrift too easily, as did the ladder and exhaust at the rear of the cab. Even the twin horns seldom survive the intervening 60 years, often now being bent downwards. Try to straighten them at your peril!

The transporter will take six cars without too much trouble and is a completely fresh design with very 60s style branding. The model also features the new type of wheel used from scratch for the first time. The Express Service model was initially issued with big shaped wheels.

The Ford Carrimore was a popular model, especially when loaded with six models in Gift Sets 41 or 48 and stayed on dealers' order lists through to early 1969 when it gets replaced by the Scammell edition. That, though, was a much cheaper cab to produce with only jewelled lights to give it a little appeal. The Ford remains as an example of Corgi design and engineering close to its peak at this time.

Aston Martins

 With no new issue for March 1966 I have had a few moments to look again at the #218 Aston Martin DB4.

It is a pretty simple model, with just the opening bonnet as an extra feature, but one of my favourites. Strangely, I never did have one as a child, (other than the gold James Bond version but then everyone probably had one of those!). I even managed somehow to miss the later Competition DB4 as well but made up for all that, firstly by having a delightful 1:1 1983 V8 for a while in 1984/5 and, secondly, by having 50 or more #218 models at various times in the last ten years.

What I hadn't appreciated for some time was the number of different variations for just the #218 model. I used to think that the first issue was the one with  smooth fixed wheels but I am now of the opinion that it would have been the one with the criss-cross 'spoke effect' fixed cast wheels. So it is time to update the table of what you may find out there for this model. In this respect I am most grateful to Göran Hellsin, a collector in Sweden who has helped a lot (and is still helping to look for other possibilities).

Firstly, there are, of course, two main colours - a bright yellow and somewhat brick-flavoured red. There are ranges of shades, with the yellow sometimes looking quite creamy and the red rather darker. I have decided, though, not to attempt to identify any particular colour variations other than the main two.

The second feature to examine is the type of wheel fitted. This we now believe started with the 'criss-cross' cast wheel, then the smooth fixed wheel, followed by the fixed shaped wheel and finally the free-spinning shaped wheel.

The third feature is the shape of the vent on the bonnet. This starts out as quite large and open, quite heavily raked back. A later version remains open but is much less deep with the top edge not significantly further back. My colleague has noted two different widths of this variety too but whether I shall list what would be a fourth type has yet to be decided. The other type, as things stand, is a closed vent.

V1 Open large vent

V2 Open smaller vent

V3 Closed vent

The fourth feature is the hinge on the bonnet. I am not sure I can describe the differences in a few words but a quick view of the photos below will show you which is which. (I was hoping that there is an association with the vent in each case but it seems that the same type of vent may have different hinges, although let's hope that is restricted to just H1 or H2).

H1

H2

H3

The fifth feature is the base. On early models there are holes below the axles. The next issue has no holes but retains the catalogue number 218. The third and last issue loses the number, possibly so that the same base can be used for the #309 Competition edition. Incidentally, I have often wondered what the purpose was for the holes in early Corgis with suspension and came to the conclusion that they may have been to enable a drop of oil to be applied from time to time. A can of 3-IN-ONE was never far away in my home. Lots of things seemed to need oiling in the 1960s as I recall. I suppose now the 3-IN-ONE has been replaced by the ubiquitous WD40. Having said that, I suspect that few parents today would let their 11-year-olds anywhere near a can without gloves, a mask and protective glasses, probably also staying in attendance in case the kid tried to drink it. But that is for one of my other site's articles, I fear.

So here is a table of what we think might exist. I would be grateful for any observations, additions and we might even consider a deletion as there are a couple of entries we haven't yet tracked down.

Updated 23 March 2026

The Michigan Collection: Competition Cars

 Here are some cars from the Competition Models section of the catalogue which are included in the Michigan Collection. They are all very nice and many have original boxes too. I am awaiting more pictures of many of these but offers and reservations welcome in the meantime.

The Michigan Collection: Military and Police Vehicles

 Here are some items from the Military and Police section of the catalogue which are included in the Michigan Collection (one of the 500s and the 464 are from my own collection). They are all very nice and many have original boxes too. I am awaiting more pictures of many of these but offers and reservations welcome in the meantime.