Whizzwheels revisited: red spots spotted in a catalogue

 

A reader has brought to my attention this page of a leaflet printed in August 1969.

It shows the Lamborghini Muira with 'red spot' wheels. This gives us a little more of a clue as to when the decision was made to switch from Golden Jacks to Whizzwheels, initially of this 'red spot' type. 

Here in a 1969 Catalogue, printed in September 1968, we have the Lamborghini with its 'take-off' wheels illustrated. So, assuming that the decision to fit Whizzheels instead of Golden Jacks was taken at a similar time to Whizzwheels being the way to go for models generally, it will have been around Spring 1969 that 'red spot' Whizzwheels would have been produced and the Ferrari gets to lead the field with them in September 1969.

Clearly, there must have been some reason for withholding the Lamborghini issue until February 1970, by which time 'red spots' were coming to an end. Looking at the illustration, the wheels on the Lamborghini do look slightly different. Illustrators for these catalogues and leaflets did not work from imagination but would have had actual models on the desk. In 1968 they had a fairly familiar red car and a black bull but by 1969 they were provided with what looks like a much richer shade of red and a brown bull! The Chevrolet Astro is shown on the same page in a very shiny gold and we know that Corgi were experimenting with liquid, very reflective finishes which made their way onto the issued Chevrolet Corvette models (and later the Toyota 2000GT). Perhaps an early sample was in a similar finish. The wheels, though, are unlikely to have been made deliberately larger by the artist. Perhaps it is just the tyres. Whatever the case it is odd. I wonder whether the 'red spot' wheels that were fitted for the sample did not rotate smoothly on this model, maybe rubbing on some part of the body? This delayed its actual issue to dealers and, with the new plastic variety then becoming the norm, which did fit and rotate without any problem, that's simply what the Lamborghini got.

Like so many questions we have about Corgis from this era, we may never know the answer unless a reader just happens to have been on an appropriate production team in the late 1960s.

Update: a few minute after publishing this, I see this photo on a Corgi Collectors Facebook page!

I am due to meet the owner before long so will enquire as to how genuine he reckons this is.

I have made a table of the Whizzwheels models and am slowly adding the different types of wheel that I have seen fitted to original models. For the early models, there would just be three types as illustrated below (in order of appearance).

red spot

pepperpot

four crowns

Below is just a section of the table for the first few months. The full tabel can be viewed at this link.

Issued		Cat. No.	Model name	Red spot	Pepperpot	Four crowns
1969	September	344	Ferrari 206 Dino Sport	1	1
1969	October	347	Chevrolet Astro 1 Experimental Car	1	1
1970	January	343	Pontiac Firebird	1	1
1970	February	303	Roger Clark’s Ford Capri	1	1
1970	February	311	Ford Capri - 3 litre V6	1	1
1970	February	342	Lamborghini P400 Miura		1
1970	May	380	Alfa-Romeo Pininfarina P33		1	1
1970	May	371	Porsche Carrera 6		1	1
1970	May	202	Renault 16 Whizzwheeel		1	1
1970	May	375	Toyota 2000 GT		1	1
1970	May	201	The Saint’s Volvo P 1800		1	1
1970	June	374	Jaguar E Type 2+2		1	1
1970	June	377	Marcos 3 litre Volvo		1
1970	June	509	Porsche Targa 911 S Police Car		1	1

I hope this is helpful to anyone looking to collect these models and, if you do have any genuine examples of different wheel types then do let me know. I am, however, very suspicious of 'red spot' wheels on any models later than February 1970. They are so simple to change. The Lamborghini remains a bit of a mystery, though.

Lastly you may not have heard that Corgi, through the Corgi Model Club, are launching a Corgi Whizzwheels Club, to be run along similar lines to the existing subscription arrangement. Initial promotions have been limited to see what reaction they receive. This will be the second, or maybe third, attempt to see whether there really is sufficient demand to make the project worthwhile. I have seen illustrations of a range of models and members who have signed up are now receiving a Porsche Carrera Six. That's a cheap option for Corgi as they've already issued two of that casting.

I do not propose to join this one but will keep an eye out for anything interesting. So far, though, no sign of any 'red spots'!

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.

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.