Mini Mistakes

Here is something a little different! It's a 227 Morris Mini-Cooper body on a 226 Morris Mini-Minor base. I bought it for my friend and Corgi collector, Andi, who lives abroad, where the seller wasn't keen to post stuff to. Having it delivered to me here in the UK also gave me the chance to take a closer look at it. It could, of course, have simply been something someone had made from almost any old 226 using a drill and just a Code 3 of not really of great interest. However the paint on the inside of the holes and around the edges is untouched and so this is most likely to have been mistake at the Corgi factory.

I can imagine how a rack of 227 bodies could have been sent to the painting area and a dose of 226 lilac-blue was applied instead of the darker shade of 227 blue or even primrose. At a pinch, I can just about imagine how these blue 227 bodies found themselves further down the production line and being attached to 226 bases. More difficult might be understanding how these got past Quality Control unless you remember that there wasn't a great deal of either consistent quality or control going on! Or maybe they didn't get any further, this one and a few others finding their way into workers' pockets and back home for the kids to play with.

Clearly, how this one reached freedom outside the factory walls in or around 1966 we shall never know but it certainly didn't get played with and is as unmarked as if it had remained in the pocket of a pair of overalls ever after. The rivets are particularly clean and very new-looking. I did have my suspicions that these may have been replacements but the design and imprint is identical to others I have seen and they really do look like Corgi factory rivets.

One odd thing about this model is the fact that the body is a Type 1, the first casting, whereas the cast wheel base is the latest casting used and one might have expected anything with cast wheels to have had the Type II body. I have seen, however, this combination before so it's probably better to say that it's not so much odd but a little less common.

My friend is quite keen to have this and put some jewels in the holes so that it looks like a 227 in the 226 blue. I've cautioned him, though, that to do the job properly would require bezels or metal holder for the jewels and inserting those would inevitably damage the paint and destroy the model's provenance. He might as well buy any old 226 and drill a couple of holes and achieve the same end result. OK, finding a Type 1 body with cast wheels as clean as these isn't that easy but it would be preferable to spoiling something which someone might like to have as it stands for their collection of Corgi Mini mistakes.

As it happens, I have the reverse 'factory mistake' in the form of a 226 Morris Mini-Minor body on a 227 Morris Mini-Minor base. I have suggested that, instead of sending them to him for jewel insertion, I put the pair up for sale and see if anyone's interested. I would value each of them at around £250 so I'll be asking £350 for the two. I guess that will bring howls of protest from some quarters but a single decent and unmarked, somewhat scarce normal Mini in exceptional condition would sell for £60 and something like this factory error must be worth at least three or four times as much.

The 226 body / 227 base model is in the earlier pale blue rather than the lilac-blue of my friend's 227/226 model so the colours don't match and the base styles are some years apart but they still make an interesting pair.

While I'm at it, here's another nice pair that I have available at a similar price, this time Austin Seven bodies on Morris Mini-Minor and Morris Mini-Cooper bases! Oh, what fun you can have with Corgi Minis!

Austin red, Morris blue.

 

My fellow collector, Andi from Kneitlingen in Germany, will shortly have an interesting pair of Corgi Minis. I was successful in acquiring for him a blue Austin Seven to sit next to his red Morris Mini-Minor.

These are quite delightful production errors, where it would appear that an Austin body gets included with the Morrises and gets sprayed blue and then attached to a Morris base and escapes the attention of the Quality Control chap. He also misses the occasional Morris body that gets a red coat of paint and then attached to an Austin base, an example of which my colleague discovered a while ago.

Bids for this particular model were sitting happily at £2.20 for most of its period on sale and I did wonder whether I might finish up getting the Bargain of The Year but in a frenzy of digits on screen at the very last few seconds it rose to £120. One other individual had spotted the Austin badge on the blue bonnet in the seller's photos but his efforts were in vain as my colleague's top price was just slightly above the other player's.

The Morris has a type 1c base - clearly narrower front section below the bumper - which is normally used with those models fitted with free spinning wheels but this one has fixed, shaped wheels. The Austin is an earlier edition with a type 1b base with the wider lower front bumper section, more normal with fixed wheels too.

I am sure these variations will be found amongst earlier and later models too, although I doubt we'll see a maroon Austin Seven.

I would love to find these for myself some day. In my own collection I have a primrose Austin on a Morris Mini-Minor base and two Morris Mini-Minors on Mini-Cooper bases but these don't look particularly different on display as the bodies are essentially the correct colour for the badge. That's what sets these two models apart and a quite valuable pair.

Corgi Toys @ 60: A Mini, Planks and Cement Bags

It's February 1960 and here's the very first Mini from Corgi. This is the Morris Mini-Minor. (The Austin Seven comes next year.)

First appearing in what I call baby blue, with a cream or red interior. That cream interior, however, seems to be dropped pretty soon so the red one is by far the most common amongst the early editions. Over the years this little car will go through many variations. The most obvious will be the colours as this will appear in a wide range of blues, each seeming to have either a red or (the later and quite different to the cream) lemon interior, as well as deep maroon in 1968. Then there'll be the wheels, changing to fixed shaped, then free spinning shaped, then cast with a louvre effect and very late in its life with Whizzwheels in shades of mid-blue and dark blue, some metallic, and orange coloured models, renumbered 204.

It will also have two distinct body castings and several different bases. I have tried to describe these and illustrate some in my earlier article which you can find at this link. 

The other issues this month were the first two Corgi Cargoes. 1485 was a block of planks and 1488 was a block of cement bags.

These would fit neatly on either a platform lorry or the trailers and looked quite smart. Until then we had to pile whatever we had lying around. I found matches made good planks but they kept falling off. Bayko bits and pieces were the best loads and I had plenty of that - the doors fitted nicely and were probably a bit safer than the matches although I don't recall any of my friends burning their houses down with the Swan Vestas that we all had.

Unusual arrivals this month Part 2!

May has certainly been a fascinating month for the items coming into the village. Today three more arrived and each is a little special! 

I'll start with the Riley Pathfinder. These are always wonderful models and this is the very rare 205M mechanical edition in red. 

I have had one for a while but it has lost a lot of its paint. This one is in very good condition but there is just one insurmountable problem! It didn't come with a rear axle! For the photos I dropped one in. Actually, I am somewhat heartened to find that the motor inside and the mechanism and base generally are pristine and barely used at all. I suspect the rear axle will have come off early in its life. If I can find another gear housing and axle (with crown gear affixed) then I think I should be able to make a decent repair of this. Normally the housing is attached by two long posts, sealed inside, but I am sure I can do something that will not look markedly different.

This will then, even as a repaired item, be worth a substantial sum.

The second item is this lovely little maroon 226 Morris Mini-Minor. Well, just as its maroon colleague, the Rover 2000, featured cast wheels yesterday this model reverses all that and, instead of what I thought all of them had, cast wheels, we have the earlier type.

I am really surprised to find this. I am not 100% convinced of its authenticity and that isn't just because it has come from Russia! Three wheels are marked - the rims dented or scratched in a way that you don't normally see on even much played-with models. One wheel also seems fixed to the axle too but I have not yet been able to ascertain whether it is some sort of glue or just corrosion.

The front axle seems fine, though and, unless it has been joined by a sleeve in the middle, I can't see how anyone could have simply replaced the wheels or, for that matter, why. I mean, I may find it intriguing but the seller did not receive any more for this than he would have done for a 'normal' maroon 226 with cast wheels.

So, I shall investigate this one a bit more closely. If it is original then it's the first one I have seen and won't be at all easy to find.

Lastly, my bank balance will be pleasantly enhanced should I ever find a buyer for this beautiful Simca 1000 in blue.

It is in A+ condition with no faults other than a small mark on the front bumper. Otherwise the paintwork is immaculate and the racing decals perfect. The windows are crystal clear and undamaged and this lacks only a box really. Serious collectors often have a space where this one should be and I sold a quite worn example with a cracked rear screen some time ago for about £150.

Although a blue 205M (not sure which blue) and a red and black 216M are on their way I think these will be in too good a condition for me to extract the bits I need. So I shall be looking around for a wrecked M model going cheap and, ideally, one with the right length back axle as well as a 315 box.

More or less Minis

Nothing seems ever predictable when you're dealing with Corgis and what may or may not have been produced when and which combinations may or may not have been possible. After all my and colleagues' efforts in the late Summer of last year I published some tables but revisions continue!

I have just come across a little 225 Austin with fixed shaped wheels and a 1c base so that needs to be added in to the mix! The original article is at this link.

All the 1c base types I had come across previously have had free spinning shaped wheels so this seems to be quite an unusual variation.

While I am extending the 225 possibilities, I have decided to trim down the 227 table. It was getting very long and, should examples like the 225 above be found - 227s with fixed wheels but a 1c base - then it would be even longer! Now, that may still have to be the case but until I encounter such miscreants I shall make things considerably simpler for you by not only omitting them but also deleting the white bonnet models with free wheels. They may well exist somewhere but, so far, I haven't seen any and so they can stay hidden for now. As and when examples do appear then I'll bring them back in, as will be the case with other variations not included below.

The 226 table, mainly due to the model's longevity, remains pretty much as it was but, of course, may also require further extension if examples similar to the Austin appear. It has changed only in the omission of some colours. I gave up trying to list every conceivable blue shade combination and have just left the lilac blue shade coming in near the end.

Again, there may be more to add to this but I'm sure that will be enough to try and collect for the time being.

I have included a permanent link to the main Mini article in a panel on this blog's front page so that you should be able to find comparisons and information fairly easily.

Very orange and very expensive

Some nice people in Yorkshire have asked me to sell their little orange Mini. I knew these were quite scarce and even my very battered examples often sell for £50 so I realised that this was something a little special, despite the annoying Whizzwheels.

It did come as some surprise, however, to see just how much one of these in A+ condition with a pretty good late box was worth. QDT had one for £450 a few years ago. The buyer paid £335 which would have finished up as a cheque for not far off £450 by the time the usual auction fees, tax and delivery had been added.

So this is one little valuable item indeed.

I have to say, though, that I didn't know why.  The 204 Whizzwheels Mini was first issued in February 1972, accompanied at the time by the Chevrolet Camaro, Mini Marcos and Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Whizzwheels editions, all of which had seriously short production periods and are now some of the most expensive to buy in good condition. None quite make the heights of the Mini's figures (ignoring for now the blue Mini Marcos which probably would if ever one were to appear).

I can only imagine that the production numbers for the Mini in this short space of time have had to be divided between the three different bases (matt black, glossier black and silver), the different colours (metallic blue, non-metallic blue, orange with a black roof and all orange), the different screens (clear or tinted), the different interiors (yellow or red) and, yes, even different wheel styles (4 or 5 spoke). 

OK. Now I understand. In theory that could lead to 96 different models but I am pretty sure that some of these combinations don't exist. Let's say there would be just 20 editions. Even for a production run of a quite massive 100,000 (for those times) that would be a mere 5,000 of each of the different models. Naturally some would be rather more and some rather less but my best guess as to the maximum that could possibly have been made of this particular (more 'normal') model would be 10,000. That is not very many at all. It's very likely that it is a lot less and other people have done the same sums at some time and that, friends, must be why we're now talking about such high price for this little orange car.

Collectors also like Minis. And complete collections. So they'll need this one. Available now. At a price.

The Wilford Collection Pt 4: Minis

As I have spent most of the last two weeks studying Minis and creating ever-lengthening lists of what collectors may wish to search for, it seems appropriate to take a break from the gold and probably very expensive items and look at some of the more 'normal' models that I have available from the office drawers of the two Mr Wilfords.

Included in this post are five Rally Mini Coopers from the 1964-66 period and a reproduction of the Wilford family Mini from 1972.

The Mini Coopers all have a little extra detailing in silver and all but the Sun Rally 333 models have what seem to be unique Monte Carlo decals, being noticeably smaller than those on the issued models. Apart from the extra detailing, the Sun Rally models do look like those that were issued.

It is a little sad, perhaps that a Whizzwheels edition of the Morris Mini Minor was used! The old shaped wheels were a far better likeness to the real thing. Below is a 1966 advert for the Morris. The model is otherwise really very good!

This is a charming little item, with all the little details presumably added by Mr Wilford who then mounted the car using a simple bolt through a varnished wood base. 

The unique Rally Minis should fetch a good premium over and above the price one would expect to pay for the normal models and the company connection should add some value to the two 333s too which are themselves identifiable with the extra detailing.

The Wilford family Mini is just a delightful item to have and if you must have a Whizzwheels Corgi Mini then I guess this will be as good as any! So Mini collectors, get in touch and reserve any that you might like. These are being made available only here and on my main site at the moment to give our regular visitors and colleagues the first chances of acquiring them.

227 Morris Mini Cooper

I have recently written about these so I shall not repeat what I said there. Here is the latest list of editions. (revised November 2017)

There do seem to be quite distinct shades of primrose, the lighter of which some call pale lime green. Like the 226 shades of pale blue, however, I am not sure whether there are two colours or a range running from one to the other extreme. As adding another colour would mean an extra four rows I have decided, for the time being at least, to list just 'primrose'.

I had previously listed the free-spinning wheel editions as having a type 2 base but I believe that nearly all would have a type 1b base. I have seen this example of a type 2 base, however, but it has only been the one and I am by no means certain that it will have occurred more than very rarely across the range and so, at this stage, I have omitted it.

227 with type 2 base (but no post)

You will find racing number decals of 1, 3 and 7 on all colour combinations and the digits have two clear types - a thick style and a noticeably thinner style.

For an explanation of the different types, please see my article titled Minis - the different types in September 2017.

226 Morris Mini Minor

This is the most difficult Mini to list. There are so many possible variations to look for!

There is a wide range of shades between the pale blue and lilac blue that I have listed. It seems that the early models were mostly shades of pale blue, including a quite bright baby blue and sky blue, whereas later editions were predominantly lilac blue or similar.

Free spinning wheels would have been introduced on this model by 1962, possibly earlier and may be found with base type 1b, although I have seen any yet. In 1966 the cast, spoke effect type will have been fitted and shortly afterwards a switch to the type 2 body casting would have been made. This will have resulted in very short production periods for some editions.

For an explanation of the different types, please see my article titled Minis - the different types in September 2017.