An attractive Toyota 2000GT

 

This Toyota 2000GT is the Whizzwheels edition of the model that had previously appeared as the 338 James Bond model (with missiles that fired from the boot). Corgi used some gorgeous paint on this one and you'll find it in a liquid metallic finish of either blue or purple. Apart from the wheels, this is a very attractive model. So when one arrived with some faults which I couldn't repair without removing the base, I decided to do something about those wheels!

The result is lovely as wire wheels really do suit the car.

And here's my purple original Toyota, missing an aerial, with Whizzwheels.

Be a little careful with these as the Whizzwheels are very easy to remove, so dealers can replace them with red spot wheels and claim that they're very scarce or something like that. They were not fitted with red spot wheels at the factory. You may also find some with a much later style of wheel which was not actually available until some time after production of this model ceased.

The blue model will invariably have the first type of Whizzwheels - the pepperpot style. There may be a few blue models with the later four crowns style, which also seems to be the normal wheel for the later purple issue as in my example above.

Corgi Model Club: The Bentley Continental in black over silver

 

From the Corgi Model Club, this month's issue is the lovely 224 Bentley Continental in the splendid black over silver finish that I have always thought looked the best.

You'll see that they have chosen to fit normal black tyres to this one rather than the grey type used for the green and cream issue. The original Corgi issue, of course, would have had the grey type but I think I prefer the black on this one. It's simple to change them anyway.

As always, the production is first class and it really is a stunning model. Looking at this image now as I write, it seems to me that the fog lamps are slightly larger than the original.  The jewelled lights are still plastic which I find always to be a bit of a pity. These things are very cheap to buy in glass and look so much better. If it were easy to extract the plastic ones I would swap them over but I suspect it won't be.

I had to check with my own original. You'll see now that the fog lamps are pretty accurate but it is the grille that is significantly wider on the Club issue. I remember now noticing this on the green and cream one way back in November 2021.

On my model the boot lid doesn't stay open at its widest setting but it does close in line.

In the box you'll find the model arrives extremely well-protected with not only that thin foam wrapped around both ends but there's tape wrapped around that as well which makes a tight fit around the front and back chrome elements. You have to be very careful when removing this because it is so tight and there is a risk of damage either from whatever tool use use to cut the tape or just from the foam catching the emblem at the front or overriders or a light fitting at the rear when extracted.

With the model you get an updated certificate and what I believe must be the first catalogue of CMC models. That will be worth keeping carefully for the future, I think, as it will be changed quite quickly.

The 224 box looks the same as for the first issue but is actually different on the information panel with reference to 'black and silver' and different layout of the panels and a new bar code reference too.

Yellow, red and orange

 

It was really nice to return home from a week or so abroad and find three new arrivals waiting for me. Each comes from the very early days of fixed smooth wheels and no suspension or interior but they all have a certain charm and I am more than pleased to add them to my store, with one maybe staying in my collection.

First is a well-played-with 203 Vauxhall Velox. It came with the Standard Vanguard (below) so is a sort of bonus. It's the second edition of the Vauxhall, Corgi deciding that a fresh coat of paint might help them sell a few more in 1959. Most of the early range get a two-tone finish in 1959 and for Vauxhall the previous dull yellow or cream turns to quite a bright and cheery yellow with a red roof (and window frames). I think all these second editions had chrome fluting on the bonnet. This was seemingly randomly missing on the first editions, both in normal and Mechanical form.

The second is another Vauxhall Velox but this time it's the 203M model with not only a nice, smoothly working motor but also a pretty nice coat of orange paint (and no fluting). This is a notably scarcer finish as most I have encountered have been red. Having said that, all the red ones I have had to date have only had, at best, 50% of the paint left! I don't know why but these mechanical Vauxhalls in red seemed to lose their darker paint in large chunks. It's not as if they could have hit skirting boards or other models at great speed. Perhaps they simply couldn't be moved out of the way of a speeding non-mechanical model quickly enough. Anyway, it's nice to have the orange version which still has most of its paint. You'll see that this one also has tinted windows. These appear to be about as common as clear windows on all the older models.

Now for the star of the three, not that it really looks very special at first glance. This is a model that only a few months ago I wrote about, querying whether it actually existed or was just a production sample being offered by some dealer at a massive four figure sum at an auction I had spotted. Well, as several readers assured me, it was an issued model. They'd had one or seen one and I had to admit to being wrong that time. It was just so unusual for me to find a completely new variation after all these years! And now here it is in the flesh, on my desk and I can say it is, indeed, real.

Yes, this one is pretty worn but all original and no-one has been taking it apart. It is the Standard Vanguard III in a pale yellow with a red roof and window frames.

This one has the first type of red finish but the later type of base. I have examples of the normal pale green and red edition having the type 1 red paint with a grey base.

The yellow colour could be one of the many shades I have found for the 207M and the view is generally taken that when the 207was discontinued there may have been a batch of models in the 207M colour that needed to be sold as 207s. So a coat of red paint was added across the pale yellow to produce what I suspect must be quite a small number of these models.

Earlier thoughts that these had been accidentally painted in the second edition 203 colours are not correct.

So that's a new addition to the catalogue and my collection! It's not the prettiest of cars but, judging by how many I have seen in all the years I have been looking, it ranks up there with the blue Mini Marcos in the list of rare issued Corgi models.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Nine new releases for March 1965!

 I don't think there will have been many children getting all the new issues which March 1965 brought to their local toy shop. There were no less than seven new models and two gift sets this month 60 years ago.

One was the almost iconic Corgi gift set - the Monte Carlo Gift Set of three 1965 rally models.

Record indicate that just 72000 of these were sold, not many for those times, and these sets are extremely expensive now, with prices reaching £1500 or more for a set in its original box. The box may be one of the most expensive pieces of folded cardboard around as the cars can be found individually for around £120 each in unmarked condition so the box adds a massive £1200!

It's an attractive set and features the 321 Mini Cooper which was released in February plus the new Citroën and Rover which were simultaneously released individually his month too.

The Citroën DS19 is catalogue number 323 and is the 210S model with four small jewels as fog lamps and the Monte Carlo decals. Individually it was issued in its own illustrated box. A classic problem with this model has been the aerial which can become brittle and is not easily replaced.

The Rover 2000 is the 252 model with Monte Carlo decals and two jewels added to the grille. The individual models were first issued in a 252 model box with a 'Special Release' label over one end. Later issues had their own illustrated boxes.

Another Mini appears this month in the shape of the Austin Mini Countryman.

I would have dated this rather later than 1965 but it did, indeed, come out this month 60 years ago. This is a substantially revised casting, previously seen as the Minivan and Police Van, now with woodwork and windows and a chrome-plated roof rack and two surf boards. In the box is a young chap in swimming trunks in a position where he neds to be holding the surfboard to avoid looking a bit strange.

It's a nice model and will eventually get cast wheels to replace the first issue's shaped wheels. There is also a little known and seemingly very scarce variation where there is no fuel filler on the rear left wing.

I believe this is a very early edition but have no further information about this.

A commercial vehicle gets revised this month in the shape of the quite ancient Jeep FC-150. First issued in April 1959, the Jeep now gets an interior and suspension as well as a plastic canopy.

There are three initial releases, two in blue and one in a sort of green-beige colour, often referred to as avocado. The blue can be found quite easily with either red or lemon interiors but the avocado version seems to be mostly red, with lemon being a scarce variation.

Later this model will get cast wheels and it stays in the catalogue for many years through to 1972.

The Saint's Volvo P1800 is issued this month too. This is a straightforward adaptation of the July 1962 228 model with the addition of a character at the wheel and a 'Saint' emblem on the bonnet.

Later editions get a red or blue label which covers the whole of the bonnet and has the Saint emblem in white. The red is usually found with cast wheels. The blue label edition is quite scarce. The same body and character will stay in the catalogue until 1972 too, the red label edition getting Whizzwheels and a different interior in 1970 as #201.

The 'Simon Templar' character appears to be the same as the driver inserted in the 215S Ford Thunderbird.

Next we have some models brining us some refreshments. First is a Karrier Van, looking rather old-fashioned now, but with an interior and suspension and a nice 'trans-o-lite' feature that lights up the 'Snack Bar' sign at the front.

You'll find two versions of this - the usual one is Joe's Diner but there's a nice Belgian variation advertising patates frites.

After your snack you might have fancied an ice cream and the next model is the Ford Thames Ice Cream Van in Wall's livery.

You get a model of the ice cream seller and a young lad on a pavement with a 'hopscotch' design. This was a short-lived issue, however, being replaced after just a few months in October by a 'musical' version. The characters and display scene go and instead you get an ugly handle at the back which plays a tune when turned.

Finally for this month, the second issue of the Fordson Tractor is paired with a Beast Carrier in Gift Set 33.

This is the first appearance of the Beast Carrier trailer, which will not be available individually in a box until later in 1965. It comes with four calves on a card straw design in the trailer and a green plastic mesh stretched across the top. There is also a driver on the tractor in this set.

This is quite a scarce set because it gets the new Ford 5000 tractor at the end of 1966 and is renamed Gift Set 1. The Beast Carrier itself is another very long-running model, staying in the catalogue until 1972.