End of the Bedford CA chapter as a Type II 412 comes along at last.

Another very hard to find model has finally been acquired! It is hard to believe that such an ordinary looking old Bedford CA van should have taken nigh on two years to find. And I mean find in any condition as I was determined to buy whatever came along just to fill the gap. Well, I may have baulked at the QDT model in a box at £285 which I've just seen on their site. That was actually sold anyway and the only other one I had spotted was in some huge collection and partially obscured under a pile of other models in a box. It was an auction lot abroad and, having been caught out heavily on fees, postage costs and taxes in the past when buying things from overseas, I was not very keen on taking the risk as the rest of the contents were really not terribly interesting either and I really couldn't be sure it even had windows that were intact or tyres. And you try replacing tyres on the rear wheels!

As reported earlier, I finished up getting a restored model in the meantime!

This is in excellent condition with just three or four small marks on the roof but the windows are nice and clear, the wheel shiny and tyres good and the base isn't rusty. It has definitely been well looked after. I am now looking for a box because boxes did not change and all show the Type 1 model but the value seems to go through the roof with one.

That really does mean now that there are just the 'PopArt' Mini and yellow Fiat Ghia Jolly left now. Interestingly, they seem considerably more common but just as considerably more expensive which kinda defies logic but there you go. I really will not pay much for either so imagine that there will be blank spaces for each for some time yet.

It is more enjoyable to seek out now the different colours for exteriors and interiors and wheel variations of other models. Often they are not recognised as scarce by sellers and I can get quite a few of them fairly cheaply as and when I have some surplus funds. So I reckon that next year will see plenty of further additions to this story which has plenty of time still to run.

The Bedford CA chapter, though, is closed now.