The lovely Plymouth Suburban Sports gets a final run as #443 a US Mail edition. It looks very glamorous in bright blue and white with a red stripe and some impressive silver paint, especially at the front end.
You may remember that the Plymouth was the first model to get an interior way back in 1959. A little earlier this year it finally got some suspension and this is essentially the same car in a different finish.
June 1963's other new arrival on your local toy shop shelves was a Commer Police Van. This is the first sight of this Commer 3/4 ton model, which would later appear in many guises. It is also the second model to have flashing lights - something which made it a little special and great to play with, especially on dark evenings.
The flashing light was provided by a normal bulb and a device on the front axle which, when set in the 'ON' position, made contact with a cam on the axle. So the faster the van went, teh faster the flashes. The connection could be a bit temperamental as the suspension altered how the cam and plate interacted and contact could be so brief as to cause barely a glow on occasion. The battery was stored in the rear section of the van which could be removed by unlocking from the chassis.
This locking device would be put to great use in the Commer Construction Set we will see in a few months' time.
The chassis could also be combined with different rear units in that set so it was very worthwhile having this model as well as the set!
The device to make the contact, however, was not that good and an updated version of this model, still numbered 464, will appear in future. Just as for the Ambulance, which had the same system in its first version, it will be changed so that the current is always on but a flashing bulb will be required.
The Police Van has some variations as export editions were made with RiJKS POLITIE for the Dutch market - still in deep blue. I have also seen one with a CITY POLICE transfer but I am not sure how genuine this may have been. Perhaps US export editions might have had CITY POLICE but then they would be unlikely to have used Commer vans like this over there so I really can't be sure of that one. Excellent reproduction transfers are available so it is very easy to create the alternative too.
there will also be a dark green export edition but not in this style - it will be the later type so I shall not feature it here now.
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