The Corgi Model Club: Marcos 1800GT

 

The latest issue from the Corgi Model Club is the #324 Marcos 1800 GT. Once again, they have excelled in obtaining a very accurate reproduction of the original model. Indeed, in many respects this could be regarded as an improvement as all the originals I have had have had very loose doors or a bonnet which never closed in line. This is great and I have no criticisms at all.

I could say the colour is different as mine have been more cream than white but that could well be due to the accumulation of tobacco in most rooms where Corgis were kept or played with in the 1960s!

The wire wheels are very nice and the Club made the decision to affix the RN decals rather than including them in a transfer after consulting collectors. This is much better, although the original had a set of numbers on a backing sheet which they could peel off and affix themselves. I recommended that the Club do this too in future where that was done for an original release.

I understand that RN from 1 - 8 have been used, spread evenly across models - so they ought to be equal in value but I am still expecting to find that some might have been withheld or not as frequently seen.

The Club also chose to use blue stripes on the bonnet. The normal release had green lines (in either fat or thin style) and blue lines were only used on an export model for Canada in 1966.

One amusing feature of my model is how the driver seems to be sitting far too forward! His back is at the right angle but miles away from the seat back. I may find that he can be moved back into a less weird position but haven't tried very hard yet. The driver usually gets lost with originals anyway.

Update: a second Marcos has arrived (another RN5 incidentally) and in this one I managed to move the little fellow back. Although he's not touching the wheel now, this is an improvement!

Comparison with one of my original 1966 models shows just how good this reproduction is. The RN decals are a little too glossy and I do think there is a colour difference but that really is all I can find.

Corgi seemed to have a particularly close relationship with the Marcos company. It was a very small British company producing sports models which were not something you'd see very often on the roads, if at all, so not something we expected to see as a model in the 1960s. We didn't think too much about it, though, as no-one saw the American models or many of the European ones either. None were very attractive in the metal. The Mini Marcos 850GT model looked very much better than the odd real motor and this is also quite flattering, as is the Marcos Mantis, completing the Marcos stable in 1971.