March 1968 brought a funny little car to our local Corgi stockist. It was a Mini-Marcos GT850 and something of a strange choice, the Marcos brand being a rare sight on our roads and this one being a particularly ugly car in reality. Corgi did, however, manage to make it look quite pretty in 1:43 scale.
Having said that, we did not see that many Buick Rivieras or Ghia 6.4 litres on the roads in Hertfordshire either. I believe one of the top guys at Corgi had a personal friendship with Messrs Marsh and Costin who ran Marcos which may explain why several of their range made it to the Corgi catalogues. Whatever the case, the Mini-Marcos, as model #341, was Corgi's first with a new feature they called Golden Jacks. These were levers which could be moved to provide a stand for an axle and also permit a wheel to be removed.
The levers were initially made in a golden colour metal but later models can be found with gold , silver or plain metal.
The Mini-Marcos had a host of other features too, an opening bonnet, doors and sliding seats. In a later guise,in blue with Whizzwheels this little car will become one of the scarcest Corgi issues, appearing just briefly in a Car Transporter Gift Set in 1972.
The #341 model was produced only in a lovely shade of metallic maroon with a white interior. This is the only Golden Jacks model to have small size wheels.
As can be seen from the 1969 Corgi Catalogue, this was the first of a series proposed by Corgi, with #275 Rover 2000TC following in April 1968.
This was very popular, being a very attractive and accurate casting. It essentially used the #252 casting, adding some welcome chrome to the front and rear, jewels in the holes where Trans-o-lite tubes had fitted before, a spare wheel in a carrier on the boot and a slightly unusual tinted perspex roof.
I had the single carburettor version as a real car myself but don't recall any options of such a roof. Unless it had particularly good heat absorbency or diminishing features, life would have been uncomfortable inside on hot sunny days!
The wheels I do recall reflecting very accurately the design of the large hubs fitted to these cars at that time. The 'TC' logos on the side and rear were a bit large, though! Nevertheless, this was a fine model.
The majority of these Rover 2000TC models issued were finished in metallic green with a beige interior. There are, however, variations with a red interior and a white interior. These are not common but not too difficult to find. Then there is also a white edition with a red interior. Again, considerably fewer white models were produced but they're easy enough to find.
Like the Mini-Marcos, the Rover would get Whizzwheels a couple of years later and a few revisions, to be released as #281 in August 1971 and just 48,000 sales establishing that version quite high in the 'rarest Corgi' list.
A couple of months later, in May 1968, the Oldsmobile Toronado gets the Golden Jacks treatment too. This time there is just a fresh coat of either metallic bronze-red or amber and a new base. At the same time Corgi took the opportunity to improve the device for operating the flip-up headlamps.
The amber version is a bit less common than the red but both sold well and red editions are inexpensive to buy now.
August 1968 sees the arrival of the fourth Golden Jacks issue in the shape of a new model to the range, #338 Chevrolet Camaro SS350.
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This model shared wheels with the Oldsmobile. These are, though, the only two models issued with the same wheels. Having said that, you will now find all sorts of combinations as the normal size wheels are so simple to swap around.
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The Chevrolet was always in metallic gold with a black detachable hood, red interior and black bonnet stripe. It also had sliding headlamp covers behind which were jewelled lights. The later Whizzwheels model has merely chrome lamps, not jewels.
As well as sharing wheels with the Oldsmobile, it shares much of its casting and all the interior with the #343 Pontiac Firebird, about which more later.
This model sold fairly well but is re-issued, almost as an afterthought, for a very brief period in 1972 with Whizzwheels and finished in plain blue with a white hood. At the same time the Mini-Marcos reappears too in a box with Whizzwheels, finished in white with racing decals and a red interior. Both of these later issues are now scarce, the Camaro particularly so.
It is almost a year before we see any more Golden Jacks models and, as Whizzwheels appear in September, it is safe to assume that the next issues may only have made it to the shops because lots had already been produced and needed to be sold. The first of what I call the 'reluctant Golden Jacks issues' is in July 1969 when #302 Hillan Hunter emerges in all its glory as a London to Sydney Rally marathon successful finisher, complete with roo bar, jewels front and back, opening tool box on the roof and, of course, Corgi supply a kangaroo in the box as well.
This must have been an expensive model to produce with its totally new casting and a whole lot of bits and pieces not used elsewhere before. I tend to find this model sits rather low, as if the suspension has failed (not that that was very good anyway). That does seem to be how it was produced, however.
As if all the features added were not already enough to get people buying this one, Corgi provided a large sheet of stickers as well as an illustration showing where they were placed on the real car. Personally, I prefer the model with just the RN75 decals but many you will find have the rest scattered across the place with varying degrees of inaccuracy.
In September 1969 there should have been another Golden Jacks issue in the shape of a Ferrari Dino Sport but the order had come from above that Whizzwheels were the future, not Golden Jacks and a model such as the speedy Ferrari should be able to complete on the drawing room floor with other racing cars and not be defeated, as a Golden Jacks car would be, by even a 1956 issue Vanwall and probably even a Bedford CA Van, (although admittedly not the ones with a friction motor).
The Ferrari did appear in September 1969 but with Whizzwheels. Evidence of Corgi's earlier intentions are clear on the boxes for early issues, with stickers covering the text about removable wheels, Golden Jacks etc.and announcing Whizzwheels instead. The base also shows how there might once have been space for levers. There were also promotions in the Catalogue itself.
By March 1970, therefore, Whizzwheels were the order of the day and January 1970 brought us #343, the Pontiac Firebird, again with early boxes hurriedly edited.
February 1970 sees the Lamborghini also appear with Whizzwheels and edited boxes.
Then, in March 1970, we get something of a surprise.
Rolls Royce was Britain's premier brand. People talked of a Rolls Royce being 'the best car in the world' and there was little dissent from GM or even Cadillac, mere grumbles from Mercedes-Benz and the French refused to comment. I had always wondered why Corgi didn't make a modern Rolls Royce. I had had to buy a Dinky Toy. Heavens! (OK, yes, Corgi did make a Rolls Royce in May 1966 - the 1912 Silver Ghosr but, quite frankly, no-one wanted to have that plastic-bodied affair trundling conspicuously oddly on their layout, a view borne out today by even models in original packaging failing to sell for £10.)
So to see a lovely modern Rolls Royce Silver Shadow issued was a delight.
Mercifully, someone on the Corgi Board had realised that the dreadful plastic Whizzwheels were most definitely not to be attached to this model when first introduced to the public. This was an iconic moment and the model had the potential to become Corgi's most internationally recognisable car image so what had been planned as a Golden Jacks release stayed that way.
Personally, I would have just fitted nice wheels and not bothered with the 'take-off' mechanism. I mean, has anyone ever seen a Rolls Royce changing a wheel at the roadside? A Rolls Royce appearing in any way to be deficient is not correct. For all that, the wheels, a larger size than normal, were excellent and a spare could be found in the boot.
It was a heavy model and it just had to have plenty of chrome at the front and back as well as double jewelled headlamps. The bonnet opened (although I am not sure it does so in the right way) as well as the boot and doors, with tilting seats and a detailed dashboard. The suspension was never great on this model and some, like the Hillman Hunter, do seem a bit too low slung. Production quality, however, did not match the brand, with the model never quite feeling as something you would prize as much as it ought.
The normal issue was finished in a metallic pale cream over a plain greyish-blue. There was also, however, a much more attractive edition in metallic silver over a rich metallic blue which suited the model far better. The model, available only for a short period in 1970, is fairly scarce but in that later finish it is very rare. As it happens, that finish was used in the first Whizzwheels edition which was issued in October, just seven months later.
I suppose the directors in charge of costs and profits at Corgi held precedence over those seeking to maintain quality and appearances and so in October 1970 not only did we see awful Whizzwheels fitted to this model but also in December a Bentley version with the same ghastly wheels and, to add insult to the brand, finished in pink!!
Remarkably, the Rolls Royce was not the last to be issued with Golden Jacks. There was to be one more - an absolutely beautiful model in the delightful shape of #300 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.
What made everyone take a second and third look at this model was its finish - an extraordinary, mirror-like finish in metallic deep crimson or emerald green.
The bonnet was matt black and opened and the headlamps popped up to reveal double jewels à la Oldsmobile Toronado. There were two plastic targa roof panels which could be removed too. (Most models now have one or both of these missing or looking rather worn but I have yet to find anyone who makes replacements.)
The Chevrolet has a unique wheel with many radial 'spokes'. It also has lovely red jewels at the back.
Although availability to dealers ceased later in 1970, the Chevrolet was popular and sold a lot more than the Golden Jacks Rolls Royce and almost as many as the Whizzwheels Pontiac and Ferrari. If you held both the Chevrolet Corvette and the Rolls Royce, there was a noticeable difference in production and finish quality.
It would re-appear, like all the other models except the Toronado and Hillman Hunter, with Whizzwheels and a less expensive finish as #387 . It would also, after a few rare transition issues, lose the rear jewels and, like the #281 Rover and #304 Camaro, the Whizzwheels version is very scarce and much more expensive due to very low sales and thus now being hard to find.
Most of the Golden Jacks series are easy to find and, as they were not suitable for high speed chases around the floor or racing, they tend to have remained in reasonably good condition. None have great suspension but also none seem to have failed suspension either, unlike so many Ghias and Mustangs, for instance.
The Corgi Model Club have, at the time of writing, issued copies of the Rover, Oldsmobile and Hillman Hunter.
