Shades of Aston Martin

The middle one arrived and its brick red shade was immediately obviously different to the two I had already - and they were pretty different! This one only cost a few pounds and I had intended to add it to the Black List to take apart and repaint. However, it is very clean, has virtually no paint loss and I can't discern any evidence of interference. I am it is original. The thought did occur to me that it had changed shade after being left in the sun but the interior shows none of the fading that would have happened in such a case.

That did get me looking closer at the other two as well and I am now sure that the lovely bright red one with the cast wheels has to be a restoration. An extremely good one, mind. 

This also came in  for less than its postage and was expected to go to the Black List but, again, is far too good and definitely all original. Apart from some chips around the headlamps there isn't a mark on it. I always find that yellow a strange colour but at least the shade seems consistent!

There was, well is I suppose, another yellow one that was probably red originally and had this really thick coat of paint that had cracked like earth in a drought. That spent a day in a strong acid bath and emerged completely unscathed! Goodness only knows what sort of paint that is! I think I'll have to abandon it and just use some bits for spares.

The Avengers - the real cars used

One of Steed's actual Bentleys in the colour filming of the series. Prior to this there were a number of others, also in green. So I can be reasonably 'accurate' with almost any of the Bentleys but the green with green wheels version may be the closest.

It seems that there were two Elans for Mrs Peel and, indeed, the first was white. 

HNK999C was an Elan S2.

Then came the colour series and the blue one - not in the pale colour I had thought, but in something very similar to the Corgi blue model.

SJH 499D was an S3, I am told. So a good model #318 without the Tiger In My Tank transfers would be ideal. That's quite a surprise.

So, that's a task for me - to create an 'accurate' set or two! 

And here are a few more photos I found of the real Lotus (except for the first which is a remarkable scale model).

00101 Bentley

In my haste to locate pictures of each of the Corgi Bentleys that could be suitable for John Steed in The Avengers Gift Sets the one I posted for the 1998 gift set was something that someone had made up. It's fair enough but not what was actually in the 1998 box. That had the excellent green car, as above and shown in the photo, with very nice wheels and a generally super quality all round but the figure is just Steed. In white metal and very accurately painted, this is a first class model. The only shortcoming is the way he clasps his brolly and appears to have bent it! I suppose he is also a big big for the car but no-one will try to sit him in it anyway.

This is the proper 'set'  that this version appears in, in its box. 

Clearly, the previous photo has reproduction models of Mrs Peel and Steed included with the 00101 Bentley. I will consider including this car in a reproduction Gift Set 40 box set just because it is so good - perhaps with a powder blue version of the Lotus for Emma. That's unlikely to happen soon, though, as virtually all the 00101 Bentleys are still wired in their boxes and selling for considerably more than the others. Lotus #318s are also holding their value well but if I can find some with poor paint and missing or damaged Tiger transfers at low prices then they would be worth buying as everyone will know they'll be restorations in the powder blue colour which was not produced by Corgi or, for that matter, anyone else I have seen to date.

War Of The Worlds

My home-made device for holding cars for painting has a certain War Of The Worlds look about it!

Bentley Part 2: The Avengers

Whereas there are just a couple of variants of #224, the Bentley Continental, I have been struggling with a whole load for the other Bentley - the 1927 4½ litre one - that was originally a Corgi Classic release and became well-known particularly for its inclusion (or not, as we'll see) in the Avengers Gift Set.

While the box shows Steed driving a green Bentley, most sets actually had the red one. That's just the start of confusion. Model numbers #9001 and #9002 were the ones around when the set came out first. But they had big hoods, a closed canopy. #9001 was green and had green mudguards like the picture but had a white suited racing driver and a strange number 3 drawn in white on the grill and on the back.

#9002 was red and had black mudguards, no driver, no number and. apart from the hood, was the one included. They made a folded black hood which fitted nicely on to the two lugs on which the big hood had rather strangely tilted. With a grey-suited Steed behind the wheel, this is the version that you should encounter in most original sets. It is what I had in mine.

This is #9001 with red wheels instead of steel colour and no racing number, the hood's been removed and the driver's swapped. You may even find this with green wheels and it would seem a genuine Steed car in the later sets.

The 'usual' #9002 with the roof replaced and Steed inserted is very common.

You will, though, also find #9004 sometimes. Now whether this is someone making up a set and using a not strictly correct item or Corgi, with that model now available, adding it in themselves. Short of someone having a genuinely untouched original we can open and look at, we may never know. #9004 was billed as the Bertie Wooster Bentley from another TV series and had much brighter red seats. It did have black mudguards like #9001 and a folded roof and, without numbers on the grill or rear, it was quite a simple task to swap Wooster for Steed and nothing else needed to be changed.

Some lazy sellers leave Bertie in the driving seat in his black suit and presumably hope we don't notice.

Sometime later in around 1985 the mould gets used again and surfaces as C861. This comes in two colours - a much brighter green and a distinct maroon. The green car has black seat and the maroon very pale tan seats. Both had ready folded-down hoods, much shinier wheels and brasswork, looking much fresher and that's not because they haven't been around so long.

Now these two came in their own boxes and were not in the original gift set (which had long stopped being produced). However, you will find examples of people putting them in with an Emma Lotus from time to time!

There was a new Avengers 'set' that came out in 1998. It had just the green Bentley, looking magnificent and almost too clean and shiny, with Emma Peel and Steed behind the driving seat. The two figures look remarkably similar to the originals. This is a lovely car and, whilst it is some 30 years or so behind the dating of the original gift set, you can hardly blame someone for including it. They're still quite expensive to buy too.

Lastly in the old Bentley saga, I mention this one - the Mobil item that Corgi produced. It is quite a bit different but may appear right at first glance. Look again and you'll see that it has no mudguards or rails and the chrome radiator surround and lamps are quite distinct. It's a cheap alternative, however - just don't let Steed, or worse, Mrs Peel see you using this!

Bentley Pt 1

Quite exceptional models now in stock in each of the two colour schemes released, black and grey and a pale green-cream and olive green. With the recent Buick and Ghia arrivals there is a serious collection opportunity growing for someone, or just me if I hang on to them as I am very tempted to do. In fact I would challenge anyone, even the buyer of that £500 model I wrote about a little while ago, to find a better looking one. 

The Riviera Set

An immaculate #245 Buick Riviera in gold arrived this morning. This has to be one of the best I have seen and it even had an original box. That had a bite out of it where I suspect a mouse had been munching but nothing major! However, I suppose that might have put off the purists and enabled me to pick this up for a very reasonable price.

Although it does have a towbar I'd rather use the light blue version for the Riviera Gift Set 31s that I am planning to put together. That colour just looks right in that set. I guess there must have been gold ones but all the sets I have seen had the light blue. Even the darker metallic blue was seldom used. I was wondering why they bothered putting a towbar on all models but, of course, the Dolphin boat was available separately as #104 and that would have been quite popular as a cheaper alternative to the quite expensive Gift Set and there wasn't a great deal you could do with the girl on a surf board, the only addition for your money, either.

So I now have gold and metallic blue versions with boxes to add to the site. My original gold Buick has excellent paintwork but the chrome has disappeared leaving just toffee coloured plastic. If I can find some replacement chrome this could be a candidate for the 'black list' (models I have taken apart and put back together again so can't sell as originals). This car could look brilliant in black.