Not quite Corgis

 

At first glance this looks like the #264 Oldsmobile Toronado. Then you see the wheels - and they're not the #276 Golden Jacks variety either - and the shade of blue is unlike any that Corgi issued, despite there being quite a range from turquoise blue to rich, dark blue during its production. And what is that? Opening doors? Goodness me, where on Earth does this come from?

Alicante. Spain. These are extremely good copies of the Corgi casting by a company called Auto-Pilen and date from the early 1970s. Indeed, these are so similar that one has to assume that the company took a Corgi model apart and made a mould from that. For me these are like the Corgi 'variations' I so enjoy finding and Auto-Pilen have managed to add more features to many of them as well. The Oldsmobile above is their model reference #307.

You will find several editions of the same car. Here there is a lovely chrome-plated model (#308) and below a Policia version (#298).

In each case the control for the headlamps operates very smoothly - indeed, rather better than the Corgi models themselves! The jewels look exactly the same as the Corgi models too, as do the chrome fittings.

Here are some more Auto-Pilen Corgis that I have in stock at the time of writing, All the images will take you to the appropriate page in my store if anyone wants more images or to purchase one.

The #310 Chevrolet (Corvette) Stingray

models #300 (green and silver editions) and #299-1 for the chrome-plated model

The #347 Chevrolet Astro 1.6

(#315 and #316 for a chrome-plated version)

The #384 Adams Probe 1.6

(#505 and #506 for a chrome-plated version)

The #334 Mini Cooper

(#319 and #320 for a chrome-plated edition) 

There is also a #291 Mini-Cooper Rally listed which I would expect to be based on the same casting.

Auto-Pilen also made a beautiful version of the Corgi #284 Citroen SM. You will also find Dinky copies too but I am not sure if there are any more Corgis. There are a Porsche 917 and Carrera 6 in one list I have found as well as a Citroen DS 23 and GP Beach Buggy which I need to investigate if ever I find one. The list also features the BRM and Lotus F1 racing cars which may be further possibilities.

These models are now quite hard to find here in the UK, although may be common across whatever the Spanish equivalent to a boot sale is. The company produced models through to the 1990s but, to the best of my knowledge, these would be the sole models of interest to Corgi collectors.

They are very well-made, solid and the opening parts operate smoothly. The wheels look great but suspension is seldom very good, either firm or practically non-existent. One nice thing is that the bases are screwed on - so if a model does need repair, or a fresh coat of paint, then that is relatively simple to achieve without having to 'break' rivets. Now, this does, of course, men that one can never be absolutely certain that what you have is totally original but I can live with that.

Prices are similar to their Corgi equivalents from what I can gather so, being comparatively unusual, they seem to represent good value to me. Most that I have found and that you will come across will not have either the box or the plinth to which they seem to have been attached when issued, with a hole evident in the base where a screw would have fitted.

US Military models

 

Here is a complete set of the US Army models from  1960, 1963 and 1965 that I now have available. All but the Tanker and one of the #357 Land Rovers have been carefully handled and show no marks or darkening of the vulnerable matt finish. Most also all have original boxes in good or excellent condition.

355 Commer Military Police Vehicle

356 VW Personnel Van

357 Land Rover Weapons Carrier

357 Land Rover Weapons Carrier

358 Oldsmobile HQ Staff Car

359 Army Field Kitchen

414 Bedford CA Military Ambulance

500 US Army Land Rover

1133 Troop Transporter

1134 Fuel Tanker

1135 Heavy Equipment Transporter

The #1135 Heavy Equipment Transporter is particularly rare with only around 28,000 produced, of which most will have been exported to America. It appears that roughly one-third of the production had a red interior fitted so there may only have been less than 10,000 of these, a number which puts the model, already in the same league as the 351S RAF Land Rover in total numbers, on a similar scale of scarcity to the Rocket Age, Garage and Silverstone Gift Sets.

It is currently missing the tray insert which has been lost. I am going to sell this with a tray that has the 'Carrimore Detachable Axle Machinery Carrier' text on the side, taken from an earlier #1131 model. Although most #1135s I have seen have had 'Heavy Machinery Carrier', there have been a few with the earlier text. Whether they are as issued or have been changed at some point I cannot tell. When the #1135 was being prepared for issue there would certainly have been the #1131 trays around as that was also in production. With a 'Heavy Equipment' tray I would expect this model to sell for around £500 but I shall adjust the price to £400 and agree to swap the tray should another come to light. There is, as I write, another model someone has advertised at £450 with the 'Carrimore with detachable axle' text. Whether that is original or a later replacement, I don't know. 

Blue Beauties

 

I had this selection of recent additions to my collection on the shelf next to where I write and it just occurred to me how lovely they are and, in particular, how I have liked blue editions of many in the range. I was going to write about some annoying careless packaging but instead decided to be more cheerful this morning and leave that until later.

The Oldsmobile Super 88 is a very plain Corgi. Nothing opens, no suitcases or jewelled lights and the huge white stripe always strikes me as odd but there is something about this model in this colour that makes it one of my favourites and I was so pleased to find this lovely example recently. The shade is typical mid 1960s and you can almost hear the Beach Boys record playing in the background.  The more common metallic shade seems quite boring in comparison.

Now you don't need me to remind you that the Jaguar Mk X can be found in a really large range of colours, including several variations of blue, from solid sky blue to what is often called 'kingfisher blue'. This deep metallic blue is one of the best I have had and even the paint around the headlamps has survived the last 60 years (and a trip from Germany where my friend Andi found it). 

As a child I had the rather unpleasant pale green version. All the first issues were either solid sky blue or that green but I can only imagine I didn't have any choice when I bought mine. I remember returning to the toy shop a couple of years later when working for a local farmer meant that I had some money to spend each week on Corgis. There on his counter was a metallic cerise Jaguar Mk X that he had been showing to someone else and it was such an improvement that it was the first 'duplicate' I acquired. It is only over the last ten years or so that I have realised just how many colours that were issued. If I had known I would have asked the shop owner to look out for this one, for sure.

Another model with a fair range of colours is the Ghia L6.4. My first one was a strange, darkish turquoise-blue shade with a red interior but the duplicate I acquired in sage green was my favourite at the time. I was particularly fond of the cream interior and delighted to find a more normal metallic blue version with that cream interior some 50 years later! Of course, I now appreciate that there are many shades of the metallic blue and the model I should have illustrated here is the one with matching door panels as opposed to the odd red ones in this example. They are original, though, but I have never seen red door panels in the sage green car. They do appear in some gold cars with cream interior. The few bronze editions that I have had have only had all cream interiors too.

This was the first Corgi to have opening everything and it was a delight to own and play with. I shall probably always have one of these to look at somewhere around me. People do buy them every time I advertise them and then I have to start looking for another but, luckily, they are a bit easier to find than the Jaguar!

The Oldsmobile Toronado was after my time, to coin a phrase, in that by 1967 I was listening to Radio London, collecting 7" singles and albums by the Byrds and The Mamas and The Papas, singing Monkees songs and writing poems to possible girlfriends. It was one of the first 'new' Corgis that I found when I started all this Corgi stuff in 2012 or thereabouts. Again, that lovely metallic blue finish and very bright and clean-looking, almost white, interior appealed to me. The opening twin headlights were nice, especially with the chromed finish and operated so much better than those on the Chevrolet Sting Ray of earlier times.

It didn't do much else than flash its headlamps and shine with all that glorious chrome (the chrome sills were great) but the design just works for me. 

For a long time I was confused by what appeared to be variations but eventually I realised that the #264 model in a box did not have a tow bar and those that did were from Gift Set 36 with a Glastron Speedboat. I did, however, much prefer the look of the early and quite scarce editions with normal wheels as opposed to the more common cast variety.

Whilst on the topic of attractive 'blue' Corgis, I have written before about how I searched for a metallic blue #230 for  while before appreciating that Corgi had revised the Mercedes 220SE as #253 without steering and modifications to the boot and pillars. I did love the steering on the #230 model and the black model is likely to rank in my all-time Top 20 but I do like the blue #253. It must be that cream interior again!

I cannot allow any text on this topic to be published without reference to what could be my favourite Corgi - the metallic blue Ford Mustang.

Here it has wire wheels as that was the first photo I found. I think the one with plain wheels may be the one that actually tops my own poll. I will have to write a note to myself not sell the next one I find in good condition! Maybe this article will do.

For now, though, I hope you will excuse my rambling about some not particularly different or hard to find models but, instead, remembering just how nice ordinary Corgis can be.

I am aware that I have not mentioned a whole host of other models in blue that may or may not deserve mention. These few just happened to be next to me.

Simple memories

 

I just glanced at my desk today and realised how lovely ordinary, not quite perfect, played-with every day Corgi Toys can be. I had been cleaning a few recent arrivals. None would satisfy the purist collector who requires a model to be flawless and, ideally, still in its original box and packing with a membership leaflet too, of course. For me, though, these arrivals are a pleasure to see. I don't know why but perhaps seeing models with signs of wear sparks something in my memory and takes me back to sometime in 1964 when a 12-year-old me would have had these lying around on a layout his dad had helped  build.

In the house where I lived at that time there was what we called a box room. It was about 6 feet square and half the room was occupied by a bedstead. That was almost never used as a bed, however, and instead of a mattress there was a piece of hardboard that fitted across the whole of the bedstead. Onto that I had used strips of masking tape to create road markings, Bayko buildings provided some buildings where I could park some cars and Floral Garden items made everything quite attractive with their trees, walls, fences and paving cards, of which I had a large quantity as they were so useful in making road edges.

The nice thing about this layout was that I didn't have to tidy the cars away every evening. So they survived pretty well with only minor chips from time to time. I did keep quite a few boxes but all the models I liked would usually be out on the layout somewhere.

I remember now how much easier it was to drive the models around where they had free-spinning wheels. My Morris Mini-Minor had these but the Austin Seven had fixed wheels and was much less fun. Now I think about it, the only other models I had with fixed wheels were a Renault Floride and an Austin A40. I had bought the Austin A40 because my dad had one. His was all red and was the 'Countryman' type with an opening window and boot at the back. I didn't know about the Mechanical models and I guess I was too late for these anyway when I started buying Corgis for myself so I had bought the two-tone blue 216 model and used some Massey-Ferguson red paint to try and get closer to my dad's car in appearance. (He worked for an agricultural machinery depot so we always had paint in machinery colours!)

So the Citroën in the picture here would not have been on my layout and I completely missed all the original 1950s issues. My friend Andi in Germany had spotted the Citroën at a very reasonable price and I was lucky to win that one. Both the green / black and yellow / red editions are hard to find in good condition nowadays, the yellow one showing little marks much more obviously than the green. The Citroëns make quite a little collection on their own as you need to find two versions of each - early editions with 'differential' bulges and the later smooth base variety. Then there are the blue-tinted windows and plain windows, probably for each type too. That makes 8 models you need to collect! And you thought that was a simple model in just a couple of colours!

There may even be some variations in the base that someone can tell me about. I seem to recall spotting something (other than the differential or a hole where the revised smooth casting has malfunctioned) but can't recall what now. It may have been that some bases are silver and others grey but I cannot be sure about that.

Somewhat simpler indeed is the E Type Jaguar. As a child I only knew about the red one. I liked this car a lot, much better than the later 335 issue which was annoyingly too big and just didn't look right sat next to the 307. The metallic grey is lovely, though, and I would definitely have been to the shop and bought one had I known at the time. I always found the red plastic top a bit odd and felt it should be black and, of course, you can now buy black replacements which look great. As it was, the top usually was left to one side and I played without it. You could sort of 'get in' with your fingers and drive around that way.

That reminds me of one of my favourites for playing with - the Austin Mini Van. I had two of these and you really could whizz these little cars around like mad, 'driving' them from inside the rear section. You could put things in the back too, although I always wished there had been windows on the rear doors. I think I put some perspex on mine which improved their appearance a bit. I was always impressed that Corgi had put jewels on this lowly van! They made it a bit special.

Back to the E Type, you will find some variations in the intensity of the metallic grey finish, some being quite distinctly black as opposed to grey in my view. The plum red always seems to be pretty much plum red, however. Otherwise I did read some time ago about there being bases with one rivet as opposed to two but I have to say I have not yet managed to find any of the former.

The car most well focussed by my camera is the delightful Chevrolet Sting Ray, here in that gorgeous metallic cerise colour and plain shaped wheels. I know it also looks lovely with the wire wheels but somehow this one always catches my eye and I find them very hard to resist when they come up for sale. Mine as a child was in this lovely shade but I had the wire wheels. The Buick Riviera was the first model to be issued with wire wheels from the start but I have a feeling the Chevrolet may have been the first car we could buy with them if they were fitted before June 1964.

This particular example that I have acquired has lights that look really nice and in line with the front and top edge. Most get loose and never sit quite right. They can also look a bit awkward when open and viewed from the front but this one actually looks fine. I may well hang on to this one in my own collection. Having twin jewelled headlamps was a bit special too. We had had four jewels on the Jaguar Mk X earlier but here we had two full-size side by side. Nice. I did like those jewels and I am very surprised that the Corgi Model Club has been using quite dull plastic instead.

Elsewhere in the picture you'll catch a glimpse of the lovely Rover 2000, the original model in metallic slate-blue. I have written before about this model and the small casting differences in the badge and grille. The colour always seems to be consistent, though, so, apart from the maroon edition and the very scarce cast wheel maroon model, there are not too many to collect of this one. The 'Trans-o-lite' dual headlamps are great and I had no end of enjoyment at night with a torch making beams from the front.

Because the Volkswagen 'Toblerone' Van had completely passed me by I was not aware of these lights until I got the Rover. I must have had some catalogues at the time but I really don't think I spent a lot of time studying them as I simply didn't know about several models. The 253 Mercedes 220SE was a surprise to me when I re-started my collection. I'd always thought there was a blue edition of the 230 model! Something else which I would definitely had bought had I realised it was available was the Oldsmobile Toronado in its first outing as 264 in super metallic blue and almost pure white interior. It didn't do much but looked wonderful and is another I find hard to resist now.

On the subject of Oldsmobiles the last models in the picture are a pair of 235s, one in the more familiar metallic slate-blue (very similar to the Rover colour) and the solid sky blue colour. I didn't have these as a child but would have been very happy had someone bought one for me. They're very simple - and you only need the two for a complete collection - and they're nice to drive around. One of the problems with the Jaguar Mk X and Ford Consul Classic was that their bonnets often opened when you hit the brakes! The Jaguar was hard work driving around corners too. I had one in a terrible shade of pale green which I was never particularly happy with (although I would be very glad to have one in that rarer shade now!) and, as soon as I found the new metallic cerise shade in my local shop, I bought a replacement for the chipped model I had on the layout. Again, I had no idea just how many different finishes that model was produced in. It's probably just as well as my earnings from helping out at a local farm and a bit of lawn-mowing probably wouldn't have been enough. By 1966 it would be records that I spent my money on too, or tapes on which to record tracks from the radio. 

So forgive me for my simple memories from some very ordinary models rather than writing about some exciting new discovery or variation. In a couple of days it'll be March and I'll have nine issues to tell you about so that'll keep me busy tomorrow!

Corgi Model Club update

 

To bring you up-to-date with the Corgi Model Club issues, I have just received the Oldsmobile Super 88 #235. This is a super version, very well reproduced and, whilst I notice that some people have been unsure about the colour, I find it pretty much identical to my original.

As always with the Club issues, the detail is far more accurate than Corgi could have achieved in the 1960s. I think someone does need to have a word with the Chinese, though, about the wheels which have never looked quite right on all the 'shaped wheel' models. You'd think that getting the profile right would have been relatively easy compared to all the bits that they have matched perfectly.

I have always been a fan of this very simple model that has no special features but was great to play with and reliable in that it didn't have anything to go wrong. I only had the metallic silver-blue model myself and was delighted to find this colour many decades later! 

Last month we had another use of the Impala casting, this time in Police Patrol finish. Again, it is a lovely version and just like my original.

The second edition Impalas have also been a favourite of mine and I am always on the look-out for the saloon and taxi editions with cast wheels, considerably scarcer than the shaped wheels which are themselves not that easy to find as production of the originals was very short. The Police and Fire editions, however, did last rather longer and in those cases it is the shaped wheel editions that are less common.

Two months ago saw the arrival of another use of the Mini casting. 

The RAC International Rally edition #333 is reproduced in its later 'Morris' badged form with cast wheels. The axle ends are a little big, I feel. As always, the detail is super but those plastic 'jewels' are simply not 'jewels' and let things down a bit.

We get a fortunately peelable label across the ends of a 225 Austin Seven box, reflecting well what was on the shelves at the time of the original issue.

Another favourite - there are so many interesting variations of the Mini-Cooper (never mind the Minis generally!) - so this group has been nice to receive and briefly review.

I wrote about the previous issue - the #276 Oldsmobile Toronado some time ago. The next models due to come our way are as follows:

• #224 Bentley Continental in black over silver
• #803 Yellow Submarine (red hatch edition)
• #436 Citroen Safari ID19
• #266 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• #406 Land Rover in yellow with black cab roof
• #492 VW European Police Car (Dutch export edition in white)
• #107 Bat Boat & Trailer (incl. connector piece)
• #334 BMC Mini-Cooper Manifique in green

I detect a considerable amount of influence on production by those fans of TV/Film-related issues! I guess that's also where the profits are with a wider audience than just those of us happy with fairly 'normal' vehicles. This particular group has no really new issues other than the Yellow Submarine, Chitty Chitty and the Bat Boat which must have meant a good saving on production costs, especially with the Bentley, Citroen, VW and Mini which required merely some fresh paint and a decal or two.

These also follow, as I am sure you will have noticed, three models that are re-workings of a previous release in each case.

I continue to receive these models but only now keep one or two of particular interest. I have several of the releases over the last few months available should anyone wish to have these at not a great deal more than cost price, including some matt black Batmobiles which will be more expensive although not as much as some seem to go for on Ebay at the moment.

Corgi Model Club: The Toronado arrives

 In a busy week for both Corgi and my postman, the Oldsmobile Toronado now arrives in Golden Jacks style as the Model Club's re-issue of #276. They chose the scarcer amber-yellow colour and it looks lovely. The Oldsmobile Toronado first appeared in a delightful shade of metallic blue with the very nice pale cream interior and with normal shaped wheels and without a tow bar. I missed this model when I was collecting Corgis as a child and was most impressed with it when I started to rebuild my collection. That was one of the first 'new' models that I bought.

It gets cast wheels shortly after being released and then a red and this amber-yellow editions come out with the Golden Jacks wheels.

Once again I have to take the Model Club to task on the text they write in the accompanying Certificate of Authenticity!! They say that this model with a tow bar appeared with the Glastron speedboat in Gift Set 36. No, only a version of #264 was issued in Gift Set 36, not the #276. The boxed edition of #264 did not have a towbar. All the Golden Jacks #276 models did have a towbar but they did not pull the trailer with a Glastron speedboat although, I suppose, there was no reason why collectors would swap them over.

Quite what the model was supposed to tow I am not sure and I have written before about Corgis with hooks and towbars and the comparatively limited things Corgi issued which they could attach.

However, that's another story. Maybe this Certificate will get replaced like I have suggested the Batmobile one may too, in which case those getting these early issues may have something a little scarce. We shall see.

So here is the new issue in all its glory:

I don't remember having the header card with any of mine. It isn't as pretty as Corgi's usual header cards but If that's what they did then OK, never mind, and it's nice that the Club decided to include this.

I have to smile at the reverse of the box where the artist must have only had on old #264 with cast wheels available when doing the illustration!

You'll see that the model itself is, as is now customary for the Model Club issues, very accurate. I cannot fault the bodywork, chrome, interior or wheels at all. Really well done.

Even the tow hook is accurate (and usefully a bit stronger too!). But then you turn up the lights . . .

Oh dear. They don't look right. Neat as they may be in comparison to the originals, they're just the same old plastic things which the Club are using whenever jewels were fitted originally. This is simply not good enough. The price of the small jewels can surely not be prohibitive in relation to the overall cost and we know that they're available in bulk from the same places that Model Supplies get all theirs.

I id not choose the best edition of the originals that I have in stock for this photo so the old jewels don't look that great either but, for me, it does have to be the glass, not plastic.

As the photos of the two side by side show, the colour is pretty much spot-on and the whole model is a very accurate reproduction indeed.

Here's the certificate with its error.

This is another model that is worth a little more than the normal re-issues in that the wheels are far better than those available from companies supplying spares. So if you need any, it might well be worth buying this just to get these excellent copies, especially as they come with the right type of tyres too.