Corgi Toys @ 60: Ford's Tractor and Conveyor Set and Cortina alone

 

It's August 1966 and Ford is the brand for both the new arrivals this month 60 years ago. The first is the reappearance of the Ford Consul Cortina Estate. This was first issued in January 1966 with golf trolley, golfer chap and caddy on a nice tray. Now it's  catalogue number #491, just the car, and 2/1d cheaper (that's two shillings and one penny less than the eight shillings for #440).

It's a very pretty model with its clean-looking almost white interior and lovely metallic blue, red or dark grey paintwork and chrome front and back. 

Most issues had small shaped wheels but towards the end of production cast wheels were fitted. These are not particularly rare on the metallic grey models but quite hard to find on red models and vey rare on blue models.

The second Ford was the 5000 Super Major Tractor, now towing a trailer to which the elevator mechanism first seen on #64 Jeep FC-150 in June 1965.

In the attractive box the models sit on a nicely illustrated display with a driver on the tractor and a bag of six plastic sacks. Turning the handle moves the black rubber belts to transfer items from one end to the other. These belts may often have become brittle and broken by now and, whilst replacements are available, they cannot be fitted without cutting and then somehow joining the ends together again.

This stays in the order lists through to 1971 and can be found with both variations of the Tractor's rear equipment design.

Corgi Toys @ 60: The Express Service Truck and another Land Rover

 

September 1965 brought us a model which has become something of a favourite amongst many collectors. This is the first appearance of the Ford 'H' series cab and it is a particularly attractive model with just enough features to make it interesting without getting too complicated.

The bits and pieces attached to the cab, though, are pretty vulnerable and few horns have survived without being bent down and you'll be lucky if the exhaust and mirrors are still well-attached. This is always finished in a rich metallic blue with silver plastic doors on a red chassis for the trailer. In the box there should be a mechanic who looks familiar from 1505, the Garage Mechanics set.

The original issue had the usual shaped wheels and large tyres, replaced at some point with the new standard Majors wheel, larger and more detailed in two styles for front and rear. The model has a long life, available through until 1971 when it was sold in a window box and can be seen with gold horns instead of bare metal.

The other model this month is a Chippefields Circus model, the Public Address Land Rover from September 1964 in Chipperfields colours - red Land Rover and blue fittings. In place of the politician is a clown (which always makes me smile!) and a monkey takes the place of the girl assistant.

You will find this model with or without a label on the bonnet and also with or without a hook at the back. Editions with a hook appear to be rarer.

The plastic elements may sometimes be seen in different shades of blue-green as several batches appear to have been issued with a quite different colour to either the blue or yellow. I thought that an example I have might have been due to fading in sunlight but the colour is consistent in areas here the sun wouldn't have reached and inside, visible where a corner had broken.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Two Old Renaults and a Mustang

 I know what I preferred when I saw the new arrivals in April 1965 at the local toy shop. Like many other children at the time, I didn't give the Corgi Classic Renaults a second glance. They may have been well-made but they had no play value and parts which could easily fall off and screens which would not survive mothers dropping the model into wooden toy boxes every evening.

This came in a sturdy box and illustrated lid, with the model protected by a piece of foam rubber which no-one now is quite sure how it should be placed. I think it goes on top of the model but then the box lid doesn't fit as well as it does when the wheels are pressing down into the foam when it's placed underneath.

There were two colours issued at the same time: a pale primrose and something approaching lavender, each with matching wheels. I have seen some variations in the colour of the primrose one and there are different finishes to the lamps but you can still pick up near-perfect models in boxes for just a few pounds, 60 years later.

This will be the penultimate Classics issue in this era, with the final one coming next year in the ghastly shape of the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. (I am not counting the Basil Brush or Hardy Boys editions!)

Now, moving on to what is one of my favourites and a 'proper Corgi' from this era, the Ford Mustang Fastback 2+2.

This delightful model comes in four colours and three wheel types. There is pea green, metallic blue, metallic silver and metallic lilac. The early issues will have plain shaped wheels. Most of the production has wire wheels with some later editions getting the cast 'louvre/spoke effect' wheels.

In my experience the most common wheel types are the wire wheels, with shaped wheels being quite scarce on the pea green and lilac models in particular and I haven't seen many in these colours with cast wheels either, now I think about it.

This is only the second issue by Corgi to have opening doors, the first being the Ghia L6.4 some 18 months earlier. They're quite chunky doors and many would not close nicely in line. They did have a half-open widow attached to the door, however, which was a new feature. With chrome-plated bumpers and jewels for headlamps this was just what we wanted at the time. The seats folded down inside too, although the pale cream interior would soon get discoloured. Interestingly, the silver edition had a deep red interior. All the models had a Corgi dog on the rear shelf. In the Ghias, the dog would come in two sizes and I have yet to research whether the small dog came first or the other way around. I am also not sure whether there are different sizes of dogs in this model but my guess is that they're all the same.

The suspension on these models is vulnerable and you'll now find many that have collapsed. It is provided by plastic elements in the chassis which have become brittle and crack very easily now. Do be careful with any models that you have where the suspension has survived.

This model will be around for a long time in one form or another, as you'll discover, although you'll need to wait until 2031 for the final one!

Corgi Toys @ 60: By Repeated Requests . . , really?

 

It's November 1964 and, yes, it's probably raining in England and almost certainly raining at the Corgi factory in Wales. But is that enough reason to add By Repeated Requests beneath 'Operating Windscreen Wipers' on this month's new issue 60 years ago? No, I don't believe a word of it! Not once amongst my pals did I hear anyone think out loud that it would be really cool to have windscreen wipers on their Corgi Toys.

We liked things that opened, especially doors and boots where we could put things. Working windscreen wipers, however, were what we got. Well, an approximation to working windscreen wipers, in the form of two hemispheres of clear plastic with a black line representing the blade on each, which rotated back and forth inside the from screen. Great for clearing the condensation and I could do with something like that on a cold morning on my car now!

Joking aside, the mechanism was a typical piece of super Corgi engineering, with a nice cog on the rear axle turning a shaft that ran the length of the model to produce a 'to and fro' movement for the 'wipers'. It could be switched off on the base so it was not necessary to have them working all the time and very fast driving with them on did have the potential to jam the mechanism. Having said that, I don't recall ever encountering a model where they didn't work. Not bad after all this time.

The Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman was a pretty impressive model on its own. Corgi really could have sold it well without the wipers. The car was big, for a start and had the most gorgeous deep maroon finish (when first issued) and chrome galore. Really nice shiny chrome which not only provided shiny grille and bumpers but also went the length of the sills and wheel arches too.

It also had nice opening windows at the back - they slid up and down. I think this was the first time I had seen this type.

As you can see from the illustrations here, there were two very distinct shades to this model #247. The dark maroon was, I believe, the earliest and this gave way to more of a metallic crimson later in production.

Despite its lovely appearance, though, this was not a model that we played with a great deal. Once we'd finished showing mum and dad the working windscreen wipers, this was not a car to drive around our layouts. It was pretty good in a straight line but almost impossible to turn round corners with its fixed rear wheels.

The suspension was always lovely and it did look wonderful parked outside a Bayko house or in the Service Station.

The other November 1964 issue was the third Model T Ford to be issued in the Corgi Classics series. This time the model gets a hood as well as a coat of bright blue paint and it comes with an old chap to start the car, bent in a position to turn the starting handle.

I have always felt slightly sorry for the old chap who looks pretty tired and, unlike so many other Corgi characters, never gets a chance to sit in the drivers seat or do anything else.

The model itself appears identical to the yellow and black models from earlier in the year, other than the hood and not having any driver or passenger.

These Classics were very well-made and detailed but not that popular in comparison to the more familiar range of Corgis. These were models to put on a shelf, not play with, and would have had appealed to a very different market which didn't really exist in great numbers at that time. The whole range can be purchased now, in boxes and as new, for a few pounds apiece. Nevertheless, there are some varieties to look out for. Different wheel colours and a different finish to the side lights.

Corgi Toys @ 60: The Classics and Another Citroën

 

It's January 2024 and your local toy shop has something completely different, the first of a short series of Corgi Classics, vintage cars from the early 20th Century. The first two released this month were the Ford Model T in black as #9011 and in yellow as #9012. Each had a couple in the front and I believe it is the same couple each time.

The detailing is excellent and the intricate models, with many vulnerable features, were packed in a sturdy, thick card box with a separate lid, protected by a piece of foam rubber and an information leaflet.

These models were not cars to be played with, though. They were for display only and it was a quite different market that they would have been intended. They had no suspension and, whilst one or two might have been added to our layouts in the 1960s they were not really 'Corgis' as we had come to love.

Sales were modest but nothing like as successful as the normal range and at 8/11d they were expensive. You could have bought the Routemaster bus for 2d less or a Tractor and Plough set for 8/6d. Most model cars were four or five shillings, half the price of the Ford Model T. They are now very easy to find for just a few pounds and you should have no trouble finding models with intact windscreen and in original boxes with figures should you wish to build this collection. Maybe now that all Corgis from this era are just for display, these Classics will not appear so out of place and become more desirable after all!

Also arriving this month is the second appearance of the Citroën ID19, now in white with a ski rack, skis and skier character, a Winter Olympics transfer on the bonnet.

This is the April 1963 model but with a new fitting to the roof. This is usually red with yellow skis and poles but it also seems to have been issued with a yellow ski rack and there are red skis and red ski pole too. Perhaps every conceivable variation was available at the time or have items since been swapped around? The rack is not easy to replace, however, and both colours do exist. (There will be another, also numbered #475 but with a Corgi Ski Club motif on the bonnet issued in 1965, just to confuse us all!)

This model and the extras all came in a fairly normal-looking box. It is only the second to feature a separate character other than a driver or animal inside. (The first was the Jeep F150 with Tower Platform which had an electrician chap - but even was in the basket and not a standalone display like this one).

Tractors

I've been looking at tractors. I knew there were some variations but I had not really looked very closely before or made much of an effort to review them. The Corgi agricultural range is small but really nice and well-made - well, at least, the models from the 1950s and 60s are. Things went downhill rapidly in the 1970s but we'll leave that for another day.

First there is the Massey Ferguson 65 tractor, issued in May 1959.

At first it has a black steering wheel and metal wheels. The very first also had gold lettering and a red seat.

Later it gets plastic wheels and a slightly pink shade for the previously cream parts. Most you'll find will have silver or, more rarely, cream painted seats.

The trailer also has similar variations for the wheels.

The early trailer had metal wheels and the pin holding the mechanism in place on the chassis has its head on the right side.

Later trailers had plastic wheels and the pin head is on the left side. It is unlikely that the change of pin direction and wheel type happened at the same time so a third variation is possible although I do not know which change came first.

I also find there to be a distinct colour difference between the metal and plastic wheels on both the tractors and trailers with the metal ones being a brighter red and the plastic slightly deeper red.

Next came a Fordson Power Major Tractor and a plough, in May 1961.

It is always 'Fordson' blue and is first issued with pale orange metal wheels.

The plough has three linkage points and can only be used with this tractor. It can be quite difficult to fit but can then be very nicely lifted and lowered using a lever by the seat, operating very realistically. There is also a tin hook fitted to the first Fordson - the same type and size as can be found on Land Rovers and various other trucks at the time.

Later models have much brighter orange, plastic wheels.

Model #50 Fordson Power Major has headlamps at the side of the radiator. In December 1964 there is the same name on the transfer but now the Fordson tractor has its headlamps inset in a redesigned front end.

The new one, #60, also has a much more realistic traction rod-controlled steering and a redesigned rear linkage section, a much simpler device to which a new plough could be more easily attached. The tin hook also is replaced by a smarter type with the same lever controlling its release.

The #60 Fordson Power Major always has plastic wheels and was issued with a driver.

At the same time #61 Plough was issued which is the same basic design for the chassis and shares as before but now in blue and shiny chrome with no upper linkage. [Note that in this illustration one share is missing - there should be four.]

Normally, Ferguson tractors had the red wheels and Fordson tractors had orange wheels but you will find examples where the reverse is true. These are quite scarce and worth looking out for.

July 1966 sees the arrival of the Massey Ferguson 165 tractor. This is a good-looking model but, like its predecessor, Massey-Ferguson still miss out on the 'extras' as the only feature this one gets is a slightly pointless whirring noise from the front axle when it is pushed along. It does have a new driver, though.

The rear hook is very simple so this would not be suitable for ploughing tasks.

January 1967 brings the new tractor from the 'Ford' stable - the Ford 5000 Super Major.

This is a nicely detailed model and Ford must have been more generous to Corgi as it gets jewelled headlamps and steering as well as silver plated exhaust and other bits. However, they cannot have been that generous as the steering reverts to the dreadfully ugly pivoting axle type. No doubt a lot simpler to manufacture but it made it much more difficult for us to criticise Dinky Toys' sad steering style when Corgi come up with this! Especially as we had such fond memories still at the time of the Bentley Continental, Mercedes 220SE and Ecurie Ecosse Racing Car Transporter!

The Massey Ferguson did get a shovel #53 (April 1960) and a fork #57 (May 1963) attachment on the 65 model and a shovel #69 (March 1967) on the 165 model and it could pull some additional items: a more substantial Tipping Trailer with two extra side inserts as #62 in February 1965, a Beast Carrier #58 in November 1965 and a Disc Harrow #71, quite a surprise issue in July 1967.

There are so many variations of the shovels and fork that they will have to wait for another article! there was only one Disc Harrow, though. Even this had a special feature - the lever would raise or lower the main axle.

In September 1969 we see the first of three very detailed models, the Ford 5000 Super Major with a Hydraulic scoop attachment at the side.

Lots of detail including all the hydraulic hoses and an operation box.

In March 1970 Massey Ferguson finally get something a bit special with the addition of a mechanical saw attachment to the 165 model.

The saw element actually rotates when the tractor goes along, driven by a most inventive spring which acts like a gear against a toothed inner edge to the tyre and translates the wheel rotation to the saw unit. Quite extraordinary. [This should have a driver.]

Finally, in January 1972, a rear-mounted trenching bucket is the 'new' attachment to give extra life to the Ford 5000 Super Major.

You will see, of course, that it is merely the device used in the 1969 model with a couple of stabilisers added and fitted at the back instead of the side. All these last three models had a short life and sold only in modest volumes, farming in the 70s not having the appeal it had had in the early 60s. The last one, in particular, had a very short production period before being withdrawn in 1973 and is something I now need to replace in my own collection.

In June 1973 the last 1:43 scale tractor (with an attachment) is issued and you can see it is a very poor model indeed. It does still have young Farmer George inside but that's about all that can be said for it.

May 1974 sees it get a shovel attachment but, with most of Corgi's output now in the larger 1:36 scale, this is an odd release.

September 1976 sees the introduction of the David Brown tractor in the larger scale. The 1:43 story doesn't end there, though, as, remarkably, in April 1980 the Massey Ferguson reappears six years after its initial release and now in orange! With white wheels it is also part of a 'Block' Construction Set with the 'Block' logo on the roof of the tractor. Farmer George, though, retired and is not seen again.

Seeing these last desperate efforts, one can hardly blame him.