Yellow, red and orange

 

It was really nice to return home from a week or so abroad and find three new arrivals waiting for me. Each comes from the very early days of fixed smooth wheels and no suspension or interior but they all have a certain charm and I am more than pleased to add them to my store, with one maybe staying in my collection.

First is a well-played-with 203 Vauxhall Velox. It came with the Standard Vanguard (below) so is a sort of bonus. It's the second edition of the Vauxhall, Corgi deciding that a fresh coat of paint might help them sell a few more in 1959. Most of the early range get a two-tone finish in 1959 and for Vauxhall the previous dull yellow or cream turns to quite a bright and cheery yellow with a red roof (and window frames). I think all these second editions had chrome fluting on the bonnet. This was seemingly randomly missing on the first editions, both in normal and Mechanical form.

The second is another Vauxhall Velox but this time it's the 203M model with not only a nice, smoothly working motor but also a pretty nice coat of orange paint (and no fluting). This is a notably scarcer finish as most I have encountered have been red. Having said that, all the red ones I have had to date have only had, at best, 50% of the paint left! I don't know why but these mechanical Vauxhalls in red seemed to lose their darker paint in large chunks. It's not as if they could have hit skirting boards or other models at great speed. Perhaps they simply couldn't be moved out of the way of a speeding non-mechanical model quickly enough. Anyway, it's nice to have the orange version which still has most of its paint. You'll see that this one also has tinted windows. These appear to be about as common as clear windows on all the older models.

Now for the star of the three, not that it really looks very special at first glance. This is a model that only a few months ago I wrote about, querying whether it actually existed or was just a production sample being offered by some dealer at a massive four figure sum at an auction I had spotted. Well, as several readers assured me, it was an issued model. They'd had one or seen one and I had to admit to being wrong that time. It was just so unusual for me to find a completely new variation after all these years! And now here it is in the flesh, on my desk and I can say it is, indeed, real.

Yes, this one is pretty worn but all original and no-one has been taking it apart. It is the Standard Vanguard III in a pale yellow with a red roof and window frames.

This one has the first type of red finish but the later type of base. I have examples of the normal pale green and red edition having the type 1 red paint with a grey base.

The yellow colour could be one of the many shades I have found for the 207M and the view is generally taken that when the 207was discontinued there may have been a batch of models in the 207M colour that needed to be sold as 207s. So a coat of red paint was added across the pale yellow to produce what I suspect must be quite a small number of these models.

Earlier thoughts that these had been accidentally painted in the second edition 203 colours are not correct.

So that's a new addition to the catalogue and my collection! It's not the prettiest of cars but, judging by how many I have seen in all the years I have been looking, it ranks up there with the blue Mini Marcos in the list of rare issued Corgi models.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Two tone and Bloodhound missiles

It would be the case that early 1959 issues were destined to have short lives. All those issued in January and these, issued in February, were withdrawn in less than two years. 

Firstly, the Powers That Be decided that interest in their original launch models could be revived and sales extended a little further if they were given a new 'two-tone' look. Whereas the original issues can be found in a range of colours, these six appeared in just these colours. 

You'll see that some of the paint schemes are more accurate than others!

February 1959 also saw changes to the Bedford CA model, the later single screen casting being used now with its revised front end and minor changes elsewhere, as well as a ribbed roof. The first issued model to get this mark II treatment was the 404 Dormobile. It can be found with a 50-50 scheme as well as a blue body and yellow roof. Each of those variations is scarce and good examples usually cost a fortune.

The Riley is conspicuous by its absence and would have been a lovely model in two-tone. I guess that the red 205, which lasted longer than most of these original issues, was selling well enough. The Standard Vanguard III had, of course, already got the two-tone treatment.

The other issue this month is a reappearance of the splendidly detailed and quite impressive Bloodhound missile, mounted on a khaki trolley. Some nice engineering clasps the missile nose and can be used to raise it whilst maintaining its horizontal aspect. Both items were included in Gift Set 4 and will be in Gift Set 6 later in the year, as well as being issued individually some time later.

It is an odd combination when towed by the RAF Land Rover, with which it is coupled in each Gift Set. The missile seems always to be white and the detachable side elements yellow. I have seen the rocket ends in red or just silver and the vanes or wings can be white but seems usually to be yellow.