Corgi Toys @ 60 : Mercedes-Benz with steering and the Thames 'Airborne' Camper Van

One of my all-time favourites hit the toy shop shelves in February 1962. The Mercedes-Benz 220SE was available in three colours, all solid. Black and red with yellow interiors, cream with a red interior. It had the wonderful steering that we had first seen on the Bentley Continental. Small-size wheels diminished the model's appearance slightly and it was a bit too close to the ground for really effective control on a carpet but worked fine on a harder surface.

The boot also opened and contained a spare wheel housed in a dip on the right hand side. There wasn't a great deal one could do with the spare wheel but I always liked opening boots where odd bits and pieces could be placed and driven around the room.

There are two types of window unit, one with an indication of a pillar and quarterlight and one without. Many models have since lost the emblem on the bonnet now. This is a typical example of where the Great Book of Corgi gets things wrong, as it states that this model was available in metallic red and dark blue as well as cream and black. I spent ages looking for those two editions before realising that the metallic red and dark blue were the colours for the later 253 edition! 

The later edition loses the steering and gets a reshaped boot panel. To make up for the loss of steering, Corgi will add a suitcase but, contrary to may dealers' listings, the 230 model did not have a case when sold. More about that in September 2024!

The other new arrival at the shop would be the Thames 'Airborne' Camper Van.

This was a fun model with opening rear doors and a very detailed interior. It came in three exterior finishes, all two-tone: creamy-white over a rich blue, pale olive over olive-green and pale lilac over lilac. Whilst colours for the olive green version were fairly stable, you'll find quite a few shades for the blues and lilacs. Furthermore, whilst the olive green had only a brown interior, off-white, yellow and red interiors can be also found in the other two with a red table in the off-white or yellow interior and a white table in the red. 

The Thames Camper Van would be the last model issued with fixed shaped wheels. Fixed wheels seem scarcer, particularly on the olive-green issue.

Models have blinds in three of the four side windows but this doesn't appear to be consistent as to which window is left open, with both smaller panes on each side with or without a blind.

So just two models but a remarkable number of editions if you are trying to collect each one!