Oddments from the Wilford Collection Pt 7

I use the word oddments intentionally as these items look pretty much like any other slightly worn racing cars or very worn Magic Roundabout vehicles. They certainly make an odd group and I don't expect a great deal from these when I advertise them for sale later this week.

But just in case someone spots something to distinguish any of these from the run of the mill issue I thought I would provide a preview here. More photos will be available on request.

I'll start with a 155 Lotus Formula 1. The tyres look unusual, the later branded type although I had not seen them fitted to this model before. The exhaust and engine chrome is worn.

The 156 Maserati I have seen with the later type of tyres. This seems nothing exceptional with worn chrome and the RN is split where the chassis meets the body, a common fault.

The 154 Ferrari Formula 1 has lost its driver and has signs of wear on the chrome, tiny chips on the paintwork and an odd blob of red paint on one wheel. This is the first edition, with normal wheels and early tyres.

And now for something completely different. 

Noddy has lost his bell and a headlamp and there are signs of some careless driving.

On the underside of Noddy's car there is a dab of white with a pencilled number. That is the only sign of this being anything other than a normal production model. Of course, there is nothing to prove that that hasn't been added later.

Next we have the even odder McHenry on his tricycle pulling an even stranger box affair out of which pops Zebidee. The stickers are missing and old McHenry has certainly been bumping into a few things over the last 40 years or so.

Finally we have Dougal's awful wreck of what once was quite a decent model of a Citroen. As if chopping it in bits for some French cycling race car wasn't bad enough, that version now gets stuffed with hard plastic characters, none of whom are looking where they are going and, from the expressions on their faces, I doubt they would recognise anyone or anything when they arrived either.

The car has suffered from the Snail's diabolical driving and the characters themselves look pretty much the worse for wear. The stickers should be bright and cheerful in a drunken sort of way, as would suit Magic Roundabout, but are now rather faded.

On the underside, however, we have a piece of what looks like old Elastoplast but may be just pink-brown paper with Mr Wilford's name neatly written. 

Now you may be wondering just as much as I am wondering why Mr Robert Wilford (my client's father and Percy Wilford's son) would have written his name on this. He must have been in his 30s and in a pretty senior position on the Samples team so it's not like a child might wish to mark his toys or a teenager mark his LP albums.

My guess is that this was the approved sample before mass production but it also fell into hands of some younger Wilfords at some point.

So there we go. There are some more items to come but I felt it was time to get these on the market for those who may not be able to afford the remaining gold Ferrari.