Corgi Toys @ 60: A little Ghia and another Commer

 July brings the little Fiat 600 Ghia Jolly and a Commer Pick-up truck to the toy shop shelves in 1963.

The Fiat was an odd-looking model, presumably something that might have been found at Italian resorts. Certainly not a common sight on British roads from my memories of the year. It came in three flavours, plain mid-blue and two metallic finishes, one in dark blue and the other mid-blue and these last two are the hardest to find now.

Total sales of #240 were not great at about the same as the Plymouth Suburban with suspension but the spread of production across three models means that the metallic ones will have fewer than 60000 sales and, as the less common, more like 30-40,000 at most, which puts them in the quite scarce category, a similar quantity produced as for, say, the later Milk Tanker or US Army Machinery Carrier with the Bedford TK cabs.

You will recognise the roof as being the same as that fitted to the Ford Thunderbird Bermuda Taxi in 1962, although now only made with a red 'frill'.

In the front seats are two barely-clad holiday makers and there is an abundance of chrome along the sides which can get damaged easily.

The Commer Pick-up truck as #465 can be found with a red chassis and yellow rear section or a yellow chassis and a red rear section. They all have Trans-o-lite headlamps, a bench seat in the rear and blue-tinted windows. Both red and yellow editions appear to have lemon interiors and these all have free-spinning shaped wheels.

You can easily distinguish a #465 model from one made from the Commer Construction Set as this one will have a fixed base, not one that can be removed. 

I have seen black rear bench seats but these may be replacements as both brown and black are available from Model Supplies and can be easily switched.

If you do remove the base you'll find that the rear sections are identical to those supplied with the Gift Sets. So you may find Gift Sets with red rear sections. I expect there may be some all yellow or all red models around too, where the factory has made a mistake, although I have yet to see any.