Corgi wheel changes Pt 1: smooth to shaped to free spinning

Many models were produced over a period which included a change in the type of wheels to be fitted. For example, a 219 Plymouth Suburban was produced between 1959 and 1963 and can be found with smooth or shaped fixed wheels. One type will be easier to find than the other, usually that will be the version with the type of wheel being fitted when it was first produced because that is when the vast majority would have been made.

A casual search of the Plymouth model had a ratio of about 5:1 with smooth fixed being the most often seen. For a 208S Jaguar 2.4 they were much more evenly divided with neither seeming more common than the other. The Jaguar was first produced in late 1960 so may have only had the smooth wheels fitted for the first six months or so.

Those for which production started in the 1950s and ceased in 1962 will be quite hard to find with shaped wheels: (updated August 2018)

205 Riley Pathfinder
207 Standard Vanguard
209 Riley Pathfinder Police Car
214 Ford Thunderbird Hard Top
216 Austin A40
303 Mercedes 300SL open top
304 Mercedes 300SL closed top
351 Land Rover RAF Edition
352 Standard Vanguard RAF Staff Car
404 Bedford Dormobile Type II
407 Karrier Mobile Shop
411 Karrier Lucozade Van
416 Land Rover RAC Radio Rescue

There are also many models where the production span included the introduction of free spinning wheels. These first appeared on the 224 Bentley in 1961 but it was 1962 before any other models were issued with these from the very start, the first being the 307 Jaguar E Type in March 1962. In the previous month the 420 Thames Caravan began with fixed shaped wheels and that type seems to be the significant majority.

It would seem that the only models which get free spinning wheels fitted during production are those that were still going in 1965. Models which ceased being produced in 1964, with only two or three exceptions, do not get free spinning wheels.

The earliest example that I have seen, referred to in a previous article, is the 458 ERF Tipper Truck which was produced from 1958 to 1965. I should imagine that the 457 ERF Platform Lorry and 460 ERF Cement Truck, which had a similar production run, may have some free-spinning wheels versions too.

Two intriguing possibilities - models whose production did not end until 1965 - are the Austin Healey and MGA!

The 409 Jeep FC-150 may also be available with all three types but, like the Austin Healey and MGA, I suspect they'll be very rare or simply never have been produced.

Models produced in 1960 do tend to have all three types available, albeit the free spinning types can be quite hard to find for some. These are known to exist:

210S Citroen DS19
218 Aston Martin (which also had fixed 'spoke effect' early cast wheels I have not documented here)
220 Chevrolet Impala
221 Chevrolet Impala New York Cab
226 Morris Mini-Minor
418 Austin Taxi
419 Ford Zephyr Police Car

The 211S Studebaker should also have them but I have not seen any.

In 1961 the Ford Zephyr Estate and the Jeep in the Gift Set 14 have all three types, the free spinning being still quite scarce and the 234 Ford Consul Classic is the first model (other than the Bentley Continental) not to have smooth fixed wheels. Nearly all had shaped fixed wheels, as did the Fiat 2100. I have seen the 234 Ford with free spinning wheels but not a 232 Fiat. The Ford is scarce, as will be the Fiat if it does exist. Another ERF, the 456 Dropside Truck, ran from 1961 to 1965 and may well also have free spinning wheels but I have not spotted any. The 225 Austin Seven, like the 226, also has all three types and production numbers were so high that all three are easy to track down.

234 Ford Consul Classic with free spinning wheels

From 1962, just about everything is being produced with free spinning wheels from the start. There are a few oddities, like the 435 Karrier Dairy Produce Van which didn't get free spinning wheels and for which the smooth fixed variety would have made a very late appearance. I can only guess that the model's release may have been delayed and it had actually been made much earlier.

Here is a chart of my estimates of when models were in production and when various types of wheels may have been fitted. This gives some guide as to those which you may wish particularly to look out for. The catalogue section of my web site at this link has a copy that may be easier to view and navigate. (It includes the later changes to wire wheels and cast types too).



Where you see just a single square that is an indication of a less common type to look out for. The dates of changes are, however, mostly guesswork so, whilst I think I have covered every possibility, there may be some included that prove not to exist and, perhaps, some will be scarcer or more common than a simple square system can display.

The Mercedes 303S and 304S had curious smooth but free spinning wheels at first. They didn't get the fixed shaped type at all. A similar smooth and free spinning wheel (in smaller size) was fitted to early Triumph Heralds too which also escaped the fixed shaped style.

My next article deals with the next period when wire wheels and cast wheels began to appear and what may be scarce amongst those later models.

The Mystery of The Wheels

The 1961 Corgi Toys Catalogue was the first to illustrate the Bentley Continental. This year was the start of all the exciting 'features' that were being incorporated in many new models. Corgi threw everything at the Bentley - as the catalogue text says: steering, jewelled head lights, ruby rear lights, opening boot, spare wheel, chrome plated radiator and bumpers, special hubs...

Special hubs? The illustration doesn't show anything different - they look like the flat wheels common at the time.

As we know the car appeared with all those lovely features except for the special hubs. It was the star of the show anyway so I, for one, didn't pay any more attention to the difference at the time. It had the shaped hubs but then so too did plenty of other models so I don't think this was the first time they'd been seen, nor would it have been the first with free spinning wheels. Or was it? Could it be that the first occasion when free spinning wheels were made available was, indeed, on the Bentley in April 1961?

We know that examples of most other models released before that could be found with shaped hubs but most were still fixed. Only a few, like the Aston Martin, Morris Mini Minor and Austin Seven would get free spinning wheels but they might well have been rather later than April 1961. We know that Corgi were playing with the idea of making the wheels spin independently at about this time as some 303S and 304S Mercedes re-issues with suspension had the old style flat wheels spinning freely so it is possible that this may have been what they meant when the catalogue was drafted.

Alternatively, there may have been a plan to create a wheel that more closely resembled the classy hubs of the real thing, perhaps with bright chrome. I have no idea. All we know for sure is that the Bentley was the only model ever produced with pale grey tyres!

There was another mystery in the 1963 catalogue, also repeated in The Great Book of Corgi: spoked wheels for the Mercedes 303s, 304S and Aston Martin 309.

The catalogue has quite clear pictures of what look like the spoked wheels used for the Buick Riviera, Chevrolet Sting Ray and others fitted to these models.

It would have been a popular move and one that made a great deal of sense as the spoked wheels were really nicely made and suited models so well. Existing wheels could have been used so there need have been no special new tooling or change in the production process other than adding a box of the spoked wheels to the selections for these lines.

What seems to have happened is that a cast wheel, with a spoke effect design (to be used across the range in years to come), was fitted to later editions of the two Mercedes models. These were discontinued soon afterwards so they're not at all common. The 218 yellow or red Aston Martins had had a crude spoke effect cast wheel only ever found on that model and it was also fixed the the axle and not at all attractive. That was discontinued in 1962, though, and mercifully we never saw those wheels again.

I have never seen any 309 Aston Martin, however, with anything other than free spinning, shaped wheels. I am surprised that they didn't fit the same cast, spoke effect wheels as they used for the Mercedes, especially as they presumably were planning these at the same time. If there ever were any Aston Martins with those cast wheels or spoked wheels then they must be seriously rare. It is not particularly difficult for someone with the right tools to switch the wheels so I am inclined to be a bit suspicious of any I did encounter anyway. But if someone would like to have a go I would love to see one!

Update 9/3/17:

I have just seen this on Ebay.

Interestingly, the seller has not shown the base which always makes me wonder, especially as this is a dealer who should know to include that. He's asking £250 which, if it's genuine, seems very reasonable. Unfortunately, I can't afford that. He has another in better condition but with the cast, spoke effect wheels, at £350. Something wrong there. It ought to be the other way round. Anyway, it looks like the Mercedes may exist.

Little wheels

No, not the other Andrew's site but an update on my post about wheels. I forgot to include the very small wheels that you'll find on the 233 Heinkel Trojan. This can be in all three flavours; flat, shaped and cast. I only have one example and, of course, it will look pretty much like any other flat wheel but here it is anyway.

There are also the wheels on trailers, of which I only have the yellow ones for GS17 (towed by a Land Rover) and GS6/12/25/37 and red (towed by a VW Breakdown Truck)

There are others - the boat trailers, for example, that I think are this size too and possibly in both styles.

At the other extreme there are many varieties of commercial vehicle and truck wheels which I have not attempted to include as I have so few of these models to refer to. That will have to be for another day!

As a fellow collector and contributor did point out, though, I did miss one car wheel that is an important one. That is the 271 Ghia De Tomaso Mangusta which had a removable chassis.

This is quite distinct and, whilst being another 8-spoke wheel, is noticeably deeper and rather better finished than the others. A very late 'normal' wheel. I think that now completes the set.

I have also omitted the spare wheel that you'll find in most Lamborghini Miuras (the first one that came with the bull, not the competition edition that came later). Because this model had been intended, and, indeed, was listed in the catalogue and even had boxes printed to that effect, as a 'Golden Jacks' model there is a unique type of spare 'take-off' wheel sitting under the hood! I shall add a photo in a while but it is not one you're likely to spot in a hurry!

Unless, that is, you see one of these cars that the same contributor has constructed.

That is how the Lamboghini should have appeared. Apparently this necessitated his acquiring at least four of the Whizzwheel models and a little work to allow for the larger diameter axles. What might have been,.. oh well.

Corgi wheels

A collector in The Netherlands wrote to me with a question about the different types of wheels this week. He made the point that terms like 'spun wheels' or 'flat hubs' don't translate easily in Dutch. To be honest, I am not so sure they translate well in English anyway and I get quite annoyed at one trader who insists on adding  WITH SPUN HUBS!! after almost every title on Ebay.

So I thought there might be quite a few people out there who would like a guide as to the different types of wheel and it has been interesting to research this.

So let's start at the beginning. The very first type of wheel looked like this.

It was nearly flat and the same on both sides. I call these 'flat hubs'. This is the normal size on cars.

Some cars, like the Mini, would have had a smaller version.

Both these were fixed to the axle which made racing around corners a bit difficult and they didn't roll as well or as smoothly because the axle would have to revolve too.

Next came what I call a 'shaped' hub or wheel.

These had this slightly more realistic, perhaps, style with a more distinct rim for the tyre.

Again, there would be two sizes on cars and they were still fixed to the axle. Only one side would be 'shaped' like this so, occasionally, you will find vehicles that have some wheels showing the flat side and others the shaped side!

Still fixed to the axle, some Aston Martin DB4 models were released with a 'spoke effect' wheel. This was a bit rough, in my view, and didn't really look very good.

Finally, someone realised that the wheels needed to be able to spin freely on the axles, both for turning and for better running and, with the demise of the Mechanical editions, there was no need for a fixed axle anyway.

One of the first examples was this Mercedes 300SL which still had the 'flat' hubs but now they could spin freely with the axle having a turned end that was slightly broader to prevent the wheel falling off.

This is not a common style, though, and you won't find many vehicles with it. There would be the same two sizes for most cars and vans - the Triumph Herald, shown here with the smaller type. This one also features a polished end to the turned axle. I call these 'flat, free spinning' wheels.

By far the most common wheel is, of course, this one, which I call simply 'free spinning wheels' (or even 'normal wheels'! These wheels have a 'flat' side and a 'shaped' side. Unless there was an error at the factory, the shaped side will be the one showing. The illustration is a Bentley Continental which also had steering, requiring quite complicated engineering compared to the early days.

This 'shaped' and 'free spinning' wheel will appear in two sizes amongst cars and vans, an example of the smaller size here on a Ford Consul Cortina Estate. 

Next came the delightful type I call 'spoked wheels'. These are the best and just look excellent on every model they were fitted to. Corgi catalogues had the Aston Martin DB4 Competition edition and Mercedes 300SL coupés illustrated with spoked wheels and they would have been great but I have never seen any. They lasted for quite a while and were free spinning on the usual axles.

They were only made in the 'normal' size. So no Minis would have had them.

Competition cars needed something a little special and got these 8 spoke cast wheels. This example is on a Porsche 6. Some Mustangs had these too, as did the Customised Chevrolet Sting Ray.

A smaller version with slightly better defined spokes as used on several racing cars like this Lotus Climax.

A slightly fatter version appears on the Monkeemobile. Tyres for that must be difficult to find. I call all these just '8 spoke cast wheels'

The 8 spoke cast wheel and wire wheel types wouldn't suit every car, though, so Corgi came along with a new design which was to become the new 'normal' wheel. I call it simply 'cast wheel' but as it has a spoke design some refer to it as a spoked wheel too.

Here it is on a late Land Rover. It is a smart design and suited almost every vehicle well. Even a Land Rover but quite wrong when you think about it! Late edition Buick Rivieras had these wheels as did Ford Mustangs (the normal version as well as the Competition model) as well as many others.

You will find a smaller 'cast wheel' with the same spoke design on most Minis too. Some are quite scarce but all the BMC Mini Cooper S 'Manifique' had them. You'll see them on many others too, like the later Sunbeam Imps, late Bubble cars and, oddly, the Lancia Fulvia.

Looking for another new 'feature', Corgi now come up with what they called 'Golden Jacks'. Some models are produced with a very clever system that allowed us to put the car on a stand like a real car jack and remove wheels. Brilliant. Although the novelty did wear off after a while. the only real fun was fitting wheels from one model to another. There were just a few produced, as illustrated here:

Mini Marcos GT850

Rover 2000TC

Hillman Hunter

Rolls Royce Silver Shadow

Oldsmobile Toronado and Chevrolet Camaro SS350

Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

Golden Jacks were all well and good but the device that allowed them to be removed didn't really let them run that quickly so, at a time when everyone wanted to go faster and competitors were making models that whizzed along better, Corgi came out with 'Whizzwheels'.

The first type was what is now called 'Red Dot' Whizzwheels. These were only fitted to cars made in late 1969 to early 1970 and looked quite smart. they certainly spun quickly, with much less resistance from the tiny circumference axle.

A few models that had been featured in the 1969 catalogue as 'Available Later' with Golden Jacks actually came out with Whizzwheels. The underside of the Pontiac Firebird, Lamborghini and Ferrari still have the outline of where the devices may have been. Some that had been released with Golden Jacks like the Corvette and Camaro reappeared with Whizzwheels. The Oldsmobile and Hillman didn't, though.

Eventually, however, troubled times led to further significant reduction in engineering requirements and a new version of the Whizzwheel started to appear on almost every model.

This strange and unrealistic plastic affair was the start of some pretty poor times. It may have gone fast but the models were mostly a sad reduction from what had gone before. I think there was just the one size but the tyre part may be enlarged on some models. I am not sure about that, I need to check again. Another version, however, also came out and was probably the more common:

This may have been intended as something a bit more realistic with its four 'spokes' and 'wheel nuts' but it really didn't work. I can recall an MGB with a similar design in the real world but that's all! It did have different sizes, though, the normal one like the Ford Capri 3 Litre above and a smaller size.

Here's the smaller one on a DAF City Car. The 'wheel nuts' became rather poorly defined.

These wheels, possibly again with a slightly fatter tyre on models like the Bentley, remained across the range on almost everything for a while.

Someone must have realised that they were simply not good enough, however cheap they may have been and however short of cash the company might have been.

Welcome the new 'standard' Whizzwheel, a quite decent looking (from a distance at any rate!) 8 spoke affair that's you'll find on a very wide range of vehicles including the Datsun 240Z here.

A variation with five spokes can be found on the awful Ford Mustang 'Organ Grinder'.

Further improvements came after this as I guess they sourced some better moulding techniques and much more individually tailored wheels started to appear.

A Ford Mustang Mach 1 with a quite nicely detailed design that could have made Whizzwheels quite nice had they done this rather earlier.

A very attractive and accurate Citroen SM wheel can be found on late editions of this model. Earlier ones had the same as the Datsun above.

Late editions of the GP Beach Buggy also had quite attractively finished wheels, quite sought after in comparison to the dreadfully dull first type that most will have had.

Possibly the very last 1:43 Corgi model car made in Britain was this VW 1300 Driving School car. It has gold wheels of the older 8 spoke cast wheel which looks almost identical to a type of much earlier, occasionally appearing on a Ford Mustang and some racing cars. This isn't a Whizzwheel but a nice ' gold 8 spoke cast' wheel to finish this listing.

No doubt there will be some variations I have missed. I will revise this article as and when I discover more. In the meantime, I hope it proves helpful to someone out there.

Here is a link to the album of these images.