Corgi Model Club: Kingfisher Blue

If you had a Corgi Toy in 'kingfisher blue' in the 1960s you were very lucky. It was most likely to have been a Jaguar Mk X but it could also have been a Chrysler Imperial. The last time I had one of these on my desk was over 10 years ago, when I found this really nice example when I was slowly working through the American section of Corgi's issues to review and document for my then very new Catalogue. I wish I had not let it go all those years ago - I have not seen another since, not even one I cannot afford! So it is a delight to see the latest Corgi Model Club issue, even if they have simply repainted the red one from May/June 2024. It just looks and feels right, and there is something about that wonderful colour . . .

Now, let's take a closer look at this and what the Club say about it.

First of all, it comes wrapped in tissue-like paper with a couple of L-shaped pieces of foam to help protect the screen. The certificate specifies this as the kingfisher blue edition. They get that bit right.

They seem, however, to be unaware of the origins of this model, 

If thy had looked in the 1969 Corgi Catalogue they would have seen it on page 13.

This was planned as model #507, a new Bermuda Taxi to replace the ancient Ford Thunderbird. It would carry the same funny detachable roof as the Fiat Jolly and Thunderbird and a couple of suitcases in the boot, with a suitably well-tanned chap behind the wheel.

That model, however, was never actually 'available later' but a batch of Chryslers had been prepared and these have reached the market. Now, bearing in mind that the 1969 catalogue would not have been produced much earlier than mid-1968 and the #246 model ceased production in 1967, it must have been the case that this batch were put into whatever remaining #246 boxes were around and, as the box talks of a 'surprise in the boot' they popped a golf trolley in there too. It would have been too late for dealers to order but I guess they reached a few somehow.

There is a notable difference between the kingfisher blue and the red editions which tends to confirm this. That is the two holes just behind the passenger compartment where the roof canopy poles would have been placed. These are not present on the re-issue.

There is a further marked difference between the original and the re-issue and that is the colour of the base. The re-issue, understandably, keeps the deep grey of the 2024 re-issue whereas my original had a much lighter grey finish.

For all the mistakes in the description, I have to say that I do like this re-issue and I may get a second so that I can make the two holes, change the base, install a canopy, driver and cases and create my very own #507.

Corgi Toys @ 60 : Two Americans

 

August 1965 sees two lovely American cars on the shelves in your local Corgi Toys shop.

You need to be fairly quick to find one, though, as the plain version of the new split Impala was not around for long at all, less than a year on dealers' order lists. So this is a comparatively scarce model but one that also gets cast wheels later in each production and this version seems particularly hard to find.

It is always in what I call coffee and cream and I am not aware of any variations in the finish at all. These colours do suit the period well, although I guess they're not a combination you'll see on the streets today. This Chevrolet Impala is the last of the four reworkings of the old 220 model. There are two last gasps to come when it gets a sort of box shape added to the rear for two dog wagons, one in 1967 and the last in 1970 for a Chipperfields Circus edition. The 248 model, however, is the last Impala saloon.

The other American arrival was heavily advertised as having a 'surprise' in the boot. I was rather disappointed to take this one out of the box and find quite a dull-looking Chrysler Imperial inside and the surprise was a golfing trolley with a set of clubs!

The car was big, very rectangular and everything opened. I suppose that should have been quite impressive as it was an open convertible too but I remember finding it all a bit clunky, with very far doors, a screen that looked as if it had just fallen onto the car and a rather basic-looking dashboard. 

The 'chrome' elements were now a solid chunk of silvery metal, including two bars for the cills. There were two people included with the car too although they often got lost and are missing in all the photos I have taken of those in my possession.

Here they are.

You will find this model with two colours for the interior - chalky green or chalky blue, similar to the colours found in the Mustangs. In my experience the blue seems a lot more common than the green but I cannot say which came first or perhaps they were both produced over the years and the difference was merely down to the current supply of interior materials at the time.

I have always found the door panels to match the interior, however.

The early editions had shaped wheels, replaced pretty soon after issue with cast wheels. I bought my own model very soon after it was issued and that had cast wheels and the green interior. Shaped wheels are quite a scarce variation.

I show here too the very rare 'Kingfisher blue' edition which some people have found in 246 boxes, with the two people and the golf trolley, always with cast wheels. This was supposed to be a replacement for the Bermuda Taxi but never made it into production as such. Clearly a batch of models were prepared in that finish and I can only guess that it was decided to sell them off as normal 246 models instead when the Bermuda Taxi idea was dropped. This would, though, have been sometime later than August 1965.

The #246 model stayed in production for a couple of years and sold quite well, despite is heavy 9/3d price tag, only 8d less that the James Bond Aston Martin which would come out a couple of months later.

Corgi Model Club: Chrysler Imperial

 Here's the latest issue from the Corgi Model Club, the Chrysler Imperial, #246 with the surprise in the boot.

I don't have an original to hand to compare it with but I do remember the model well as I bought one for myself in August 1965 when it came out and remember being a bit disappointed with the 'surprise'. OK, so you could open the boot and take out the golf caddy. You could put it back again. But that was it, the wheels on the caddy didn't turn and it just sort of sat there. I have also very little recollection of the two figures, possibly because the small lady may have fallen out shortly after opening the box never to be seen again after mum hoovered the carpet.

This was a big model, heavy and very, very square-looking. Some huge two-door vehicle, for sure. It didn't have the charm of the Chevrolet Impala which was issued at the same time in classic coffee and cream two-tone finish with sparkling chrome of the old sort, The Imperial was the first, I think, to have the front grille and both bumpers made of solid bright metal as opposed to chrome plated plastic. The Jaguar Mk X had a similar idea but the metal was not as shiny like this one.

I didn't try pressing down on the front to open the bonnet. A little pressure at the back of the bonnet near the screen lifts the front edge slightly. Whilst suspension does seem to have survived on these models in original form I am not going to take any risks!

It really is very well-finished and looks just like I remember the original, with the chalky blue interior. Mine was a chalky-green colour but I know both were available.

The cast wheels are good. Early releases did have normal shaped wheels and can be valuable so I was hoping they might do that version and, of course, we all hoped there might be a kingfisher blue edition! To be fair, that was supposed to be a Bermuda Taxi replacement and had a hole in the rear to take the roof thing so the few that did make it to dealers were really a different model and the club probably did the right thing by reproducing this first. I am pretty sure we'll see the other one in due course now that the investment's been made and the casting is all done. The addition of a small hole and tweaking the interior is no big cost, assuming Corgi decide to get it right.

I honestly cannot fault this reproduction. I do wonder about the colour on first getting it as it seems a shade deeper than my mine was but that maybe the lighting. Similarly, the rear bumper definition is slightly different in these photos of my old one but, again, that may be just the lighting.

This particular model never really made my list of favourites. It was a bit hard to drive around corners on my layout with its quite tough suspension and the fat doors were a little unattractive. For me, this seemed to have a few signs of cost-cutting, with the cast dashboard and how the screen was fitted, which always looked a bit like it had just been replaced!

This reproduction, however, will be just what fans of the Imperial will have been waiting for and it will certainly look good on display.

2019 arrivals

Very early GS2 with a box and inner tray which displays the pony separately. Later editions had no holes for the pony, which was wrapped in card in the trailer. As seems appropriate, I have used a similarly rare and early trailer without a handle at the top of the ramp. It's not going to be cheap.

58 The Beast carrier with calves and the green mesh on top (although that's not shown here)

151 Scarce edition of the Lotus XI Le Mans in red with original screen

200 Ford Consul in mushroom brown. I though it was a cream one when I saw it advertised! I now have two of these to sell.

202M I also have two of these mid green Morris Cowleys with working motors

203M Vauxhall Velox with working motor

208 Nice Jaguar 2.4 with super original early box

208M Jaguar 2.4 with working motor

209 Riley Pathfinder Police Car lovely but missing the bell.

213 Jaguar 2.4 Fire Chief's Car - excellent and complete but missing a transfer

214 Ford Thunderbird (I bought this hoping it might have had shaped wheels).

231 Triumph Herald - very clean examples in each colour

234 Bentley Continental - superb examples in each of the main colours and one with a lovely original box too.

238 Jaguar Mk X in a really stunning deep cerise shade. I have two of these, equally good, one with an original box.

246 Chrysler Imperial with original box. All very good. I bought this for the golf caddy - the one sold with it is a replacement.

252 Rover 2000 in maroon with an odd wheel!

252 Rover 2000 in maroon with an original box.

318 Lotus Elan S2 - very scarce with cast wheels

323 Citroen DS19 Monte Carlo Edition with an original aerial!

384 The last 1:43 Corgi car. From 1977 a VW 1200 Rally Edition - only available for a short period.

508 Commer Holiday Bus with original luggage cover (but no cases)

These are all quite recent additions, listed in catalogue order. Please enquire for availability and price as there has been quite a bit of interest in some of these.