NO Corgi Whizzwheels Club!

 It appears that the recent promotion by Corgi to introduce us to the Corgi Whizzwheels Club and invite us to pay just £9.99 for a Ford Cortina MkIII GXL (and the Graham Hill character and an impressive-looking sign) was just a bit of test marketing to see what level of interest there might be for this. I guess the models advertised would have been nice mint originals.

From what I can read elsewhere, the test was intended to reach only people who were not already members of the Corgi Model Club but how on Earth they expected to restrict that in this day and age is beyond me. So a bit of a blunder, although I expect they will have learned that there is a strong appetite for this series amongst existing members, at least.

I know that many Corgi collectors dislike Whizzwheels and would not wish to have them. However, if they were to appear as a normal Club issue they would need to go to the trouble of contacting the Club and specifically asking to miss that one. That's a hassle and many would probably not bother and just sell the model or give it to some children to play with. I have several issues that I would prefer not to have had sitting in boxes here which I couldn't be bothered to cancel. So the concept of a separate Club does make some sense but they really should simply have come up with a less annoying way of assessing interest in the campaign.

One can't help feeling slightly 'played'. However, at least I am not well worn as well and my suspension appears to be holding up!

So if you did place an order then you will get an email to tell you 'sorry, there will be a delay' or words to that effect. Although this is probably technically correct, I think they could have been a little more honest and just admitted that they were simply testing the market and apologised.

We are being credited with £10 towards any purchase form the store so let's not moan too much and look on the bright side; we're a penny up on where we were a few weeks ago!

Just before learning about the non-existence of any Club Cortinas I did actually place a second order and used the £10 discount code to minimise the cost to £2.99. I couldn't use the delivery discount code twice but, as and when they do get this under way I'll have a couple of models. I think they'll be popular and I already have a customer for one.

The Corgi Whizzwheels Club

 

Surprising most of us this week, Corgi announced the launch of the Corgi Whizzwheels Club. I certainly had not seen any hints of this. We get plenty of advance notice of new models and even get asked what the Corgi Model Club should consider reproducing from time to time and sometimes I spot a model in a photograph of a selection that are in early stages of production but they managed to keep any Whizzwheels models well hidden.

That might be because members who love the early era models can often be pretty dismissive of the Whizzwheels types that started to appear in 1969 and the Club might have been concerned about losing people. That, in turn, might explain why this is, in fact, a totally separate Club. And with the new Club comes the same sort of great offer as we had before. This time for just a penny short of £10 the Ford Cortina Mk III GXL in metallic blue will be delivered, with no charge for postage in the UK. 

The model comes with the Graham Hill character too and this display sign. All this seems a pretty good deal. Looking at the promotional stuff, it looks like the Bond 750 three-wheeler are on the menu for release soon, along with the Roger Clark edition of the Ford Capri (with pepperpot wheels) and, strangely, the Kojak Buick is illustrated. Now that's a 1:36 scale model so an odd choice and one I could certainly do wothout.

I am not likely to keep any of the models illustrated and hope one of my customers will be happy to take them from me at something like cost price once I have taken some photos and checked them out. However, there are a few Whizzwheels models that are particularly hard to find and I get the impression that there were not many produced. the 304 Chevrolet Camaro in blue with a white roof comes to mind, as does the 387 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray in pink. These I would like to have as it's so hard to find originals in good condition - one of the reasons being that Whizzwheels did tend to be 'whizzed' around and crashes would be more damaging!

Who knows, we might even see a Gift Set 20 with the blue Mini-Marcos GT850 (which makes the Pop Art Mini seem common)!

Another rare find abroad

 

A long time ago, in April 1960, the first Austin Taxi was issued. Model #418 would prove to have a very long life indeed, still going strong with Whizzwheels in the 1970s until eventually being abandoned for the 1:36 scale in February 1978. In all that time the casting seems never to have changed, only the base and wheels. And it is those wheels that have fascinated my friend Andi in Germany and myself for some considerable time.

At some point the taxi gets shaped wheels - probably quite late in its production as they seem a lot less common than the smooth type - but they remain fixed to the axles. However, with production not being ceased until 1965 it would seem pretty likely that there would be some models from the later period with free spinning shaped wheels. These were, indeed, fitted to the Gift Set 35 models, which had one of two drivers behind the wheel - either a serious looking small chap in uniform looking very much like the driver of the Green Hornet or the portly and cheerful remake of Simon Templar as Fred Housego in a nice jacket and bow-tie.

Despite this edition being produced, we have singularly failed to find a normal #418 issue with free-spinning wheels and no driver. Until a little while ago when my friend found this is France and it has finally arrived here on my desk.

Assuming that we simply haven't just not spotted the free-spinning wheel versions, this has to be either an extremely scarce model or a Gift Set 35 edition which managed to get away from the factory without having a driver installed. 

Whilst the 'factory error' is a possible explanation, I am inclined to the view that there simply must have been some free-spinning wheels editions made at the end of its production run and they would have been made for both the #418 box issue or sent down another channel at the factory to have a driver popped into place and then onward to join a bus and the policeman in Gift Set 35.

The Gift Set 35 first appeared in July 1964 and every model we've found with a driver has free-spinning wheels so it seems reasonable that sometime in 1964 all the last #418 taxis were being fitted with them prior to their getting Whizzwheels in June 1971. 

Another strange thing is that the #418 is supposed to have been discontinued as a boxed issue in 1965 and the Gift Set 35 edition ceases to be available in 1968. So there is a three year gap before the Whizzwheels editions appear in a box in June 1971 and the revised London Gift Set 11 in August 1971.

The 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1969 Corgi Catalogues show the Gift Set 35 edition only. There is no taxi in the 1970 catalogue and in the 1972 Catalogue it is the Whizzwheels #418 that is shown, as well as being available in the revised Gift Set.

I can't think of another model where production ceased and was then resumed several years later without any change to the casting. All the other switches to Whizzwheels occurred with the new edition replacing the old more or less immediately and usually with some changes to the colour schemes and some features. The taxi, however, stayed black (initially at least!) and, although the interior for most seems to have been changed to red, there are plenty around with the same lemon flavour inside.

So it seems perfectly reasonable for the Austin Taxi to have continued in production, getting free-spinning wheels fitted and placed in #418 boxes between 1965, when it was supposedly discontinued as a boxed model, and 1971 when the Whizzwheels took over. If that were so, however, why have we not seen any?

So putting a value on this model is not easy. As a factory error it would be worth around £250.  As a scarce late production model then, purely because I have not seen another in over 15 years of looking, I value it as highly as those I have seen several of, like the blue Mini Marcos GT850, Kingfisher blue Chrysler Imperial or PopArt Mini and several others which regularly fetch around £1000.

So, for now, until I know more about this mystery, that's what anyone will have to pay for this to leave my collection.

An attractive Toyota 2000GT

 

This Toyota 2000GT is the Whizzwheels edition of the model that had previously appeared as the 338 James Bond model (with missiles that fired from the boot). Corgi used some gorgeous paint on this one and you'll find it in a liquid metallic finish of either blue or purple. Apart from the wheels, this is a very attractive model. So when one arrived with some faults which I couldn't repair without removing the base, I decided to do something about those wheels!

The result is lovely as wire wheels really do suit the car.

And here's my purple original Toyota, missing an aerial, with Whizzwheels.

Be a little careful with these as the Whizzwheels are very easy to remove, so dealers can replace them with red spot wheels and claim that they're very scarce or something like that. They were not fitted with red spot wheels at the factory. You may also find some with a much later style of wheel which was not actually available until some time after production of this model ceased.

The blue model will invariably have the first type of Whizzwheels - the pepperpot style. There may be a few blue models with the later four crowns style, which also seems to be the normal wheel for the later purple issue as in my example above.

Spare time

 

I have just acquired two Datsun 240Z models, the #394 edition that was available from 1972 and stayed around until 1977. The early issue had the open 8-spoke wheel which replaced the ugly types that had been fitted on Whizzwheels models previously. Only a few models got this wheel: the #284 Citroen SM, #316 Ford GT70, #329 and #391 Ford Mustang, #393 Mercedes 350SL and #396 the other Datsun 240Z. Each of these, except the Ford GT70, also gets the later closed 12-spoke chrome wheel. (Maybe the Ford GT70 does get them but I have yet to find an example).

It was only when I was taking these photos, however, that I realised there was another interesting difference. In the back there is a spare retained by some cross-shaped device.

In the earlier edition teh wheel is quite small and look solid plastic and the retaining piece appears quite flimsy.

In the later edition there is what looks like a treaded tyre, similar to what is on the model and this fills the retaining device which also seems a little sturdier (although that may just be how it seems).

The stickers were supplied on a separate sheet with the model so you will find these in a variety of places or, as in the case of the later edition here, not attached at all.

The interior of the later edition also looks slightly darker but that may be because it has been exposed more to light than the other one.

The wheel in the earlier edition looks suspiciously like what might have been a 'pepperpot' or 'four crowns' style of the old Whizzwheel placed face down. It makes me wonder whether the model was going to get the older style and the spare was never changed. As we know, Corgi never paid a great deal of attention to the spares. Witness the #202 Renault 16TS with Whizzwheels but a nice #260 style wheel as a spare and, of course, the Lamborgini and Ferrari Dino still have the intended 'Golden Hacks' wheel as a spare.

What I need to figure out is whether the change of spare happened at the same time as the change of wheel - in other words are there a possible four variations of this model or just two?

When I first found the Datsun many years ago, I remember noticing that one has a nice and bright metal fitting for the bumper and spotlights whereas another had what seemed to be black metal. Perhaps this was merely how the bright metal aged? Or are there two types of bumper fitting? Something I need to look into again.

It is, I suppose, equally likely that the #396 editions will also have a different spare and I'll try to obtain a pair to compare in the near future. These models tend to be pretty cheap still, although well-made and with jewels and opening doors and an attractive interior. It had a long life and even re-appeared in 1998 when a special edition made for a racing driver who raced in these and whose name escapes me. I was in correspondence with him at one point as he wanted to sell the whole of his stock of around 3000 which Corgi had made for him. They appear from time to time and are worth getting if you collect the  British-made 1:43 editions.

Whizzwheels wheel types

 I almost bought some 1:36 models yesterday. I am still trying to convince myself that I shouldn't. It's a similar feeling to that which I had about 8 years ago when I was building my collection of what I call 'the originals' in 1:43 or thereabouts and reached 1969 and had to decide what to do about Whizzwheels. Initially I told myself that I would stop with September 1970's 513 Citroën Alpine Rescue but then I saw a Ford 5000 Tractor in January 1971 and a few months later a Citroën SM with quite attractive wheels would be issued. That looked eminently collectible, especially as there would be four to collect with the two colours and two types of wheel and I told myself that I could live with the few models with ugly Whizzwheels that I'd need to obtain as there would be little logic in excluding them.

Later I began to quite like some of the Whizzwheels models after all, especially the rare ones which seemed impossible to find at a price I could afford. And when I did find one I'd snap it up and finish up with several. I have since sold most of what I regard as the common Whizwheel editions but have kept a few scarce items. Even now I still have three pink Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays.

As can often be the case, the ones I liked the least can turn out to be the most valuable. The Mini Marcos GT850 was reasonably attractive and well-finished in metallic maroon but downright ugly in white with stickers for stripes, and doors which flopped around loosely. The white one was expensive enough too but try and find a blue one . . . So far I have managed to acquire two wrecks but, once you start collecting it is simply essential to keep going until you have everything. I'm addicted, I suppose, and now I am even looking at the different ugly wheels put on those models in the 1970s. Early models start with the pepperpot style and then we see the four crowns style. For a long time I thought there was also a quite neat eight-spoke wheel but eventually it dawned on me that this was just the four crowns with the silver and black sections appearing to create continuous spokes.

The first 'pepperpot' style

The later 'four crowns' style

An example of how the 'four crowns' can appear to be 8-spoke

A more attractive 8-spoke wheel in mid-1971

A closed 8-spoke design

The filled in 12-spoke design from around 1973

A larger 12-spoke design in gold on a Rolls Royce

Unfortunately, an ugly design returns on some late Rolls Royces and one of two other models

Late Minis get another ugly double-5 spoke design

So you can see how one can get pulled in to collecting these things. It occurred to me that I had not provided a definitive list of the different types of Whizzwheels and so I have now done that and you can see the table on my Corgi Catalogue website. It is work in progress, of course, and if you know of others that need to be added then please send me some pictures. As always, I have to warn people not to pay a fortune for red spot wheels on later models. They're very easy to change and disreputable dealers do so and then even auction houses who should know better sell them as original for vast sums.

Now, all this started because I have been working on a catalogue of the 'later models', the ones I don't collect - and still don't, as I am resisting the temptation! I have, however, been distracted into talking about Whizzwheels so I'll not complicate matters and end here. The 'later models' article will follow separately.

Wheel change

 

"So what's this?" you may well ask! I had a 301 Iso Grifo in pretty clean condition but with collapsed suspension. It was too nice to discard so I had the idea of changing the dreadful Whizzwheels for some nice shaped wheels.

"That'll be easy," I said to myself. "No it won't." could have been a useful reply but, no-one else being around, I just pressed on hopefully.

Taking it apart was simple enough. There were more bits and pieces than I'd expected but nothing too complicated. I can't remember now what had provided the suspension before but, whatever it had been, it wasn't working and I removed what was left. The problem came when I tried to fit normal wheels on a normal old-style axle. Firstly, there was now nothing to provide suspension, of course. I toyed with some ideas of rubber chunks in the right places and even carved out some shapes to sandwich between the axles and the interior at the back and engine at the front. That ought to have worked but it didn't and I gave up. In any event the wheels were not sitting correctly, being way too high in the wheel arches. Eventually I realised that the slots into which the previous axles had sat were not wide enough. They looked wide enough and casual inspection seemed to show the new axles sat nicely in them. More careful inspection, however, showed this not to be the case. The Whizzwheel axles are very thin but the normal old axles are a lot thicker and they just sat at the top of the slot.

With a combination of a small metal saw blade and a very ancient file with a triangular profile I wore away a bigger gap. This took far, far longer than I could ever had imagined but, eventually, the axle dropped in far enough so that the car would look sensible when upright and back together.

Now, at this point I should, perhaps, have revisited my rubber chunks idea but I had had enough. "I'm sorry, Iso", I said, but "no more suspension." As if to answer a plea to reconsider, I continued with "Look, no-one's going to be playing with you. You'll sit on my desk for a few weeks, then maybe on a shelf in a cabinet and then you'll be wrapped in tissue and left in a box for years. I can't see anyone wanting to buy you and I'm not going to spend another 12p a month advertising you on Ebay but I may put you in my own store so that doesn't cost anything. And even if someone does buy you, you'll be sat on their shelf or tucked away again for years. So let's not get too sentimental about suspension, OK?"

And so it was so that I saved another week of carving old rubbers or risking damaging the interior by simply gluing the axle to the base. I do fear someone thumping hard on the roof or bonnet in an attempt to test the non-existent suspension and the glue not standing up to that but no other solution came to mind.

Putting it back together does require a little good fortune in getting the door hinges to align nicely with the base, and there is a correct order to window unit, doors, dashboard, steering wheel, rest of interior which escapes me now, but it worked and here is what, in my view, is a remarkably more attractive model of a splendid car.

This business of replacing wheels is very rewarding. Whizzwheels just scream to be replaced, don't they? Well, the earlier ones do. And that gives me the next idea which is a variation on the theme. Instead of doing battle with axles I could simply try just removing the pepperpots or four crowns (or the really awful six point stars) and refitting a later, more attractive style. Later Corgis did get a more reasonable wheel and that might work. The nice thing is that, with a good tug and a bit of luck, I can swap them over without having to take the model apart!

This, as you may have guessed, brings me to the topic of 'red spot' Whizzwheels. These were the very first and were actually quite a pleasant design that didn't look too bad on some models. There is an Iso Grifo on Ebay at the time of writing with them. 

Only £779. Or why not buy the same seller's Toyota for a mere £939?

Both have been created by someone - the old wheels pull off and the red spots push on. It is that  simple. Yes, they look interesting and they look a lot nicer than the original wheels but, no, they're only worth, at most, the price of a similar model with the ugly ones. When these models were issued, Corgi were fitting the pepperpot style to their Whizzwheels production, the red spot style being abandoned as it was expensive. There will have been been spare red spot wheels lying around and no doubt some factory people had some fun fitting them too but do not believe that these were issued by Corgi for dealers to order.

I have listed before the models you will find with red spots: 

344 Ferrari Dino

347 Chevrolet Astro

343 Pontiac Firebird

303 Roger Clark's Ford Capri

311 Ford Capri

342 Lamborghini P400 Miura

That's it. Treat any others as 'adaptations'.

Red spot wheels - an update

 

Back in December 2019 I wrote about red spot wheels, the first 'Whizzwheels', and how vast sums were being paid by people for some Corgi models featuring them. I had doubts and, after several collectors and one auction site director had written or called me to talk about these, I wrote that I might be persuaded that a very few issues in April and May 1970, including The Saint's Volvo P1800, might have been genuine factory issues.

Since then I have had a lot more discussions and learned that the decision to change to the cheaper plastic wheel was made in February and implemented more or less immediately. Whilst there would have been some stocks to use up, these would have been depleted by the time of the Volvo's re-appearance.

So, particularly as the wheels are so easy to change, I can only urge that you do not pay any more for a red-spot edition of the Volvo (or, for that matter, Renault 16TS, Alfa Romeo P33, Porsche Carrera 6 which were produced at the same time) than you would for one with the ubiquitous black wheels. I have amended my article with the addition shown here and apologise to anyone who saw this as a green light to invest heavily. I was wrong.

Despite the logic here, in many discussions I have had with people who seem to know what they're talking about and have a good knowledge of many other issues, it does appear that Corgi did not proceed with fitting red spot wheels to models after announcing the switch to a cheaper variety. Maybe stock lasted a few weeks but that's all, and not long enough to impact these three or the following two. In the absence of any definitive evidence or anything by way of better provenance no-one can say categorically that none of these emerged with red-spot wheels but, if they did, they're not official and are more likely to have been the product of someone who just reckoned the cars looked better with them and had access to a few spares.

It makes valuing any models that do appear with these wheels something that has to be done with great caution, not only because of the doubts of their origin but also, and probably principally nowadays, because it is so easy to swap them.

I should add that it is so often the TV and Film-related models which seem to get this treatment - these are the models which far more people seek to collect and so often want to believe that they have something special, a more generally gullible audience, I suspect. And that brings us neatly to the worst offender of all - the 270 James Bond Aston Martin that you'll find fitted with red-spot wheels.

For this one, I can state, without any doubt whatsoever, that they're fakes. You'll see that, by virtue of earlier editions having tyre slashers on the rear wheels, only the later editions with wider wheel arches are marketed with the red spots. That edition did not appear until 1976, some 6 years after red spot wheels had disappeared from production lines at the Corgi factory! The only place those wheels would have been in 1976 was on some earlier models and, over the years, people have simply taken them off a legitimate bearer, such as a Capri, Ferrari Dino, Chevrolet Astro, Lamborghini or Pontiac, and pushed them on to the Aston axles. The chrome wheels fitted would be easy to pull off. And yet, and yet, people still pay vast sums for the Aston when they see them . . .

Diecast Investor laughably describe their model as a 'transition' edition! Some transition, lasting 6 years or more!

OK, I'll stop now. Caveat emptor as the Romans might have said.

Changing wheels - a few projects to make some models a little better

 

The Ford Cortina MkIII GXL was issued in 1971 with a Graham Hill character holding a football. It came in metallic blue, metallic bronze and a solid mustard colour, the latter being available, remarkably, with both right and left hand drive interiors. The mustard ones are really quite rare and seem to have been exported and not sold in the local toy shop.

One of the blue ones came effectively free with some other models a while ago and was in a very sorry state so I decided to see what it would look like with normal wheels. For me, this is a great improvement!

I need to redo this one day as it needs another coat of paint and even the original didn't have door inserts so they look a bit bare. It did have twin jewelled headlamps and opening doors with tilting seats and is an accurate model of a popular car in those times. The released issue had a black 'vinyl' roof which I may need to add too. More in a while on this project.

Another Whizzwheels model - one that did not need much outward attention - was this lovely Toyota 2000GT, a car that, strangely was not something you could buy from the Toyota store. This was Corgi making good use of the casting for the 336 James Bond model with Aki at the wheel. This car is crying out for the wire wheels to be refitted! So I'll see what I can do as this is a spare with virtually non-existent suspension.

Also available in bright metallic purple!

And, on the subject of making Whizzwheel models look better, here's another look at the much-improved Bentley I created last year.

A real 305 Mini Marcos GT850 in blue.

I definitely have plenty to keep me occupied during quarantine after my return from Ukraine! This is the extremely rare Mini Marcos GT850 in blue. It was issued only in a few of the Gift Set 20 Transporter Sets and is just so hard to find.

Some years ago I did come across a seemingly immaculate model but it lacked the sill transfers and there was just something about the finish that made me suspicious. Now, for the first time, I am satisfied that I have an original 305 model in my hands. Indeed, it is the first I have encountered in any media, let along touching one! Someone contacted me about a very rough one some years ago but that was the closest I got until this week when this one arrived.

You'll see that this is not in great condition! But it could be worse and, posed at the right angle, it might not be immediately obvious that it has no windows, a missing door and one that doesn't close properly and a damaged bonnet! Oh, and missing headlamp covers.

It's real, though, and I am delighted to have this on my desk. Now I have to work out how to improve its appearance without taking it apart or causing more damage. The headlamp covers will be easy. I just need to buy any old wreck and swap them over. The windows I think I can repair, thanks to the missing door. Whilst I still cannot get the whole unit in as one piece, I can cut it and attach it to the roof inside so that the front is retained and also the rear and two side windows. That will make a big difference.

The existing door has a twisted hinge so it moves up as you close it. I shall try to straighten this but may leave that to last as it looks fine when left open as shown above. I have replacements for both doors and will see how I might be able to attach one on the other side. I doubt I will be able to make a permanent fix that still opens and closes but a door that fills the gap (and painted in the correct colour) will be a good thing to have.

The bonnet I have a replacement for as well. Again, I may not be able to fit a new one that still opens and closes easily. The existing one has a tear in the metal near one of the hinges at the front but it is, of course, painted the right colour and original and I am tempted just to keep it as it is as it does close almost in line satisfactorily.

First I shall attend to the windows and headlamps and then see how it looks with a silver door lodged in position. I may decide to leave it at that.

As for its value, that's a tough question and it really has to be very much down to what someone might pay once I have made it a little more presentable. As with several of the particularly scarce models that I have in my collection, I am in no hurry to sell this, nor will any price I do decide to quote be particularly attractive! This is something special, even in this state!

 

Red Spots Before My Eyes

From time to time my brain is forced to function more efficiently for a while by a certain Simon Skipper who asks all sorts of interesting questions. This time he spotted a pile of Corgis with red spot Whizzwheels being auctioned by Vectis. They were not the ones you might expect but the sale included several from as late as March 1971. Naturally, for such apparent 'rarities' the starting prices were high. Vectis' reputation in this field tends to give every sale a degree of provenance which can lock in the higher price too as other buyers will like the fact that it sold at a Vectis auction for £y where y is a very large integer. Should we be excited? Could there be such wonderfully scarce models missing from our collections? How high will we bid for any of them?

Before looking at the red spots I should mention again that I have created a few calendars for the coming year. You can see them on my Catalogue web site and they are free. However, they might still cost you some outlay as they require printing! No doubt various company printers around the world will be buzzing with these when collectors still at work return to their office jobs in January! (Especially those with nice heavy paper and laser printing).

Now, let's look at those odd models. Firstly, as you will have heard me say before and probably on more than one occasion, anyone with a firm grip and a pair of pliers can change the wheels on a Whizzwheels model. Indeed, to demonstrate this I recently decided to get hold of a lot of red spot wheels and have been buying very cheap and otherwise grotty models with them. I am slowly building up a stock and will then fit them to a range of unlikely models just for fun (and maybe to attract some attention in a future news article!) I saw a taxi with them which gave me the initial idea.

So, in theory, anything is possible but it's fair to say that there will be several editions which will genuinely have left the factory with them as they were intended to have them. These will be the early models:

• 344 Ferrari Dino
• 347 Chevrolet Astro
• 343 Pontiac Firebird
• 303 Ford Capri (Roger Clark)
• 311 Ford Capri
• 342 Lamborghini

You'll probably see that these are quite common with red spot wheels and that's because the vast proportion of them will have been from the first production runs when red spots were the order of the day. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that, in time, it will be the later ubiquitous wheel that is found to be the less common on some of these models.

The next batch released was in May 1970. These, I believe will have been issued after the decision was taken to abandon the red spots but I am willing to accept that a good number may have already been produced and were ready to ship with the red spots at that time. My guess, based on purely observation, is that these may have had them:

• 380 Alfa
• 371 Porsche Carrera
• 201 Saint's Volvo

Edit September 2022:

Despite the logic here, in many discussions I have had with people who seem to know what they're talking about and have a good knowledge of many other issues, it does appear that Corgi did not proceed with fitting red spot wheels to models after announcing the switch to a cheaper variety. Maybe stock lasted a few weeks but that's all, and not long enough to impact these three or the following two. In the absence of any definitive evidence or anything by way of better provenance no-one can say categorically that none of these emerged with red-spot wheels but, if they did, they're not official and are more likely to have been the product of someone who just reckoned the cars looked better with them and had access to a few spares.

It makes valuing any models that do appear with these wheels something that has to be done with great caution, not only because of the doubts of their origin but also, and probably principally nowadays, because it is so easy to swap them.

The two other May issues I suspect were not actually produced until after the decision:

• 202 Renault 12
• 375 Toyota

I might be willing to be persuaded on these, especially as both castings had been available earlier and so samples, at least would definitely have been made and some may have slipped through into boxes. More likely they've reached our markets by other means but let's be generous. It is Christmas, goodwill to all men and all that . . .

Now it's June and I am pretty darn sure that the message has got through to the boys in Wales by now. No more red spots.

The June issues were

• 374 Jaguar E Type 4.2 edition
• 377 Marcos 3 litre
• 509 Porsche Police car

It really would be stretching things to think that any of these could have genuinely been fitted with them and made it out of the factory in any official form.

My views really do seem to be backed up by the fact that in many years of searching I have never seen any of the last 5 above (or later issues) with red spots other than as brand new in perfect boxes or in sales where the seller admits to having created them.

The Vectis models he drew my attention to are not played with and I suspect have never seen a carpet or skirting board in their lives. They hail from September 1970 or later, the 386 Bertone from March 1971! 

I simply cannot believe that they are genuine models which were purchased from a shop. Far more likely is that they were collected by someone who worked at the factory either as samples or models he fiddled with. A less pleasant option would be that they have been created more recently and the fact that the boxes for the 'suspect' items have also all had cellophane replaced concerns me. 

I wouldn't buy any of them unless they were at bargain prices which is unlikely to be the case. People will be attracted to these 'rare' models and the inability of anyone really to tell them that they're not really quite all there is in their favour. No doubt dealers will also try to snap up some and then put them out at really high prices.

Scrolling through the auction, though, I did find a couple of things to cheer me up and make me laugh. First, a 222 Renault without an interior! 

That is described as 'an early edition' which I find bizarre. Surely, this is simply either an error or a factory sample. Unless someone knows something that will be news to me, it will not be added to my catalogue as a model that was actually issued and which could have been bought at my local toy shop in St. Albans where I would spend all my pocket money. Vectis really can be laughable sometimes and, yes, they're experienced as a firm but not all the staff are. They also have a tendency not to wish to argue with customers so if you give them something which might be x they can go ahead and describe it as x as they have no incentive to say otherwise unless it is abundantly clearly not x. QDT are the same. Some of their guys are brilliant but not all and I often see descriptions which are nonsense but which look very reliable and definite coming from a reputable firm.

However, I can only base my judgements on my own observations and the results of often lengthy correspondence with others who seem to know what they're talking about and often back up their views with hard evidence. I could just as easily be wrong so you really do have to make up your own minds on these. I've made mistakes in the past, been fooled by reproductions or missed a genuine rarity by not looking closely enough or lacking some specific knowledge.

Another item of interest was a 324 Marcos in all white. It could simply be a factory error, the usually green stripes being omitted. So it's no great shakes really and I shall not be rushing to buy.

Lastly, I see a 468 ruddy bus with red spots there!!! I suppose that, where models were already lying around and just waiting for new wheels, it is conceivable that they got them fitted occasionally and the 468 would have been abundant. But surely not with a clear staircase. I don't know when the Whizzwheels did start to be fixed to the buses but I do know that there are examples around of 468 without jewels but still with cast wheels. The loss of jewels did not coincide with the Whizzwheels. My view is that this is also a rogue but an interesting one for all that.

I cannot deny that I find the red spot wheels quite attractive and would be happy to own a few more models with them but I would far rather buy a played with model that seems to have genuinely existed than some near-perfect example in a near-perfect and even possibly questionable box however nicely presented and such self-fulfilling provenance.

Take care and keep in good health. 2020 beckons and I'll be looking at the 60th Anniversary of the Chevrolet Impala in sedan form.

A Mini Marcos GT850 in blue?

This has been quite a month and it is ending on a potentially very high note. This little car appeared in a German seller's listing on Ebay. He had incorrectly titled the listing and referred to a 341 model which, of course, is the maroon one with Golden Jacks. That was encouraging and gave me some hope that the wealthy Walloon and dastardly Dortmund people who usually bid several times more than I can afford for interesting models may not have spotted it.

Naturally, I asked him whether he might sell straightaway. He was too busy, apparently, and preferred just to let the auction proceed and he would simply send it to whoever won and paid. I did ask a friend in Germany to enquire whether this might be original. There was no photo of the base and you have to be suspicious, indeed assume the worst, when there is no picture of the base. Having said that, there is a counter argument which says that there is no picture of the base because the seller has no clue as to why that might be important which, in a sense, is a little encouraging!

Anyway, my friend comes up with a base photo. I hope like mad that this doesn't also get added to the others displayed for others to see. The photos were all pretty good and, try as I might, I couldn't see a great deal to say this was not the real thing. But I was fairly sure that it must be a repaint - items as rare as this should not just pop up looking pristine and new like this one and certainly not remain within a price range I can cope with. The rivet was not perfect. There was a slightly rough edge and it was on a slight slant. Was that glue residue? It looked like a real old rivet head for sure. I suppose they can be refitted. I had also seen plenty of real ones looking just like that so I was not swayed either way.

My other bit of scrutiny had been what I thought was some white paint on the inner side of a window pillar. That rather sealed the thing for me at the time. It was a white 305 with the decals removed, taken apart and sprayed the right colour.

Well, I won it. For a very modest amount as only one or two other persons were involved and they didn't have my software and/or cannot have set much by way of a maximum. It arrived yesterday and I have to say I am none the wiser really. I thought something would be obvious and I would be quite happy to have a lovely copy to fill the space and take photographs of for the catalogue. If anything, I am inclined more to believe it is the genuine article now. The window thing must have been a trick of the light as the pillars are all blue as they should be.

The rivet looks OK but, yes, I guess someone could, very, very smartly have removed a rivet head and reattached it but, if so, their work is immaculate. The only thing that I am concerned about really now is the paint. It is all totally unmarked and the right colour everywhere that it should be, including in those places only a proper spray could reach. The texture just seems a little plasticky and not as glossy as normal Corgi paint. Having said that, I am comparing it with earlier models that I have cleaned and polished and which may simply have an older sort of paint that looks different. Perhaps this would polish up just the same and look brilliant and reflective too. I just don't dare try!

So here I am with something that could be extremely valuable. I would guess around £500 is reasonable for this. I haven't seen one in all the time I have been doing this catalogue research, other than an extremely damaged one that had few wheels, badly broken widows, was missing a door, had little paint on most panels, a bent bonnet and still made £50. Alternatively, it is a very, very smart copy that someone has made and I can only acknowledge their abilities if that is the case.

It is missing the sill transfer which is shown in the photos of most (but not all) examples I have seen in books and on auction sites. That is another indication that it may be a copy but then these things were often missed, especially in the 1970s when this would have been made, at the factory in Swansea! So that doesn't weigh heavily on the side of the debate for me.

Anyway, here are some photos of one or the other!