Corgi Toys @ 60: Simca 1100 Coupé and a Milk Float

 

April 1964 sees a Simca 1100 Coupé arrive on the shelves at your local toy shop.

It probably won't have been the blue on in the box, however, unless you were incredibly lucky, as the vast majority of this issue were in a liquid silver type of finish.

It was a very simple model and one of a couple that had been intended to start a 'low price' range - models that would be attractive but much cheaper to produce and so could be sold for lower prices. The other model was the NSU Sport Prinz. I would imagine that the silver finish would have been more expensive though so maybe the blue ones were for that initial cheaper release idea. Suffice it to say that the blue ones are very scarce and sell for several hundred pounds whenever they do appear.

All models had a RN8 stripe decal on the bonnet, extending over the roof and onto the boot. They had an interior and suspension, shaped wheels and that's it!

The other release this month 60 years ago was 466, the Commer Milk Float. You will, of course, recognise this from the Gift Set 24 Commer Construction Set but this has its base attached and cannot be removed, with a different design so the two should not be confused.

No milkman was in the box with this one and the colours were always pale blue and white, with a red interior and suspension. The wheels were aways shaped on this edition. Much later, in 1971, there will be a Co-Op promotion through which you might have been able to send some vouchers and get one of these models with Co-Op stickers on the doors and all those models had cast wheels and were supplied in a blank brown box. It is a different model, albeit just a way of using up old castings, I guess. There was also a Co-Op van and Scammell Truck in the same promotion, but more about that in a few years' time. For now I just wanted to make it clear that the April 1964 edition did not get cast wheels and, whilst it really does look like a Co-Op edition, it isn't.