A Citroen DS19 completes the Oldies list

The early releases - those with no suspension or interiors - are complete now with the arrival of this nice and clean Citroen. I found a good 210S quickly enough but the first edition hasn't been so easy, with some fetching crazy prices. I will need a metallic green and black version but at least the numeric list is complete up to 349 now.

This cast was a good solid affair with nothing that opened, just getting some jewels in the front and an aerial for the Monte Carlo Rally version along with 201S seats and suspension. There would also be the attractive Le Dandy Coupe with added fog lights, opening doors and boot. At the very end of Corgi days as we like to remember them, that coupe gets the enclosed headlamps but otherwise wrecked in some Paramount Cycling guise with most of the rear end chopped about oddly.

At the time, the real thing was a marvellously odd-looking affair and even now it turns heads when you see them around. A real 60s icon and suitably French, attractive but quirky. The older Corgi models have some tatty casting at the front where it looks as though no-one was quite sure what to do. The real ones seem to have a variety of front ends too, with a mixture of decisions made as to where to place the registration plates! Maybe that was what caused the casting issue.

Another yellow mini

I will have to stop writing about minis. Another yellow Austin Seven came along last week and it is in better condition, paint-wise, than the first. However, very unusually for a mini, the suspension is non-existent. I don't think I've ever encountered a mini without decent suspension before and, of all models, it has to be this potentially expensive one!

It sits pretty well on the road and, at least, it is even! I would guess that the wires have either come out of the holders at each end or become permanently bent up, leaving the axles loose. That may be something I can fix without taking it apart but it's for sale if anyone else wants to have a go! Once that's done, it would be on par with the £300+ examples I've seen at auction. This is one of those models that really needs a box so if I still have it when one appears at a reasonable price I'll pick up an original one.

An amusing postcript to this is that my children and I play a game as we travel around, scoring points for spotting minis on the road. There's a bonus for a yellow one but, as old ones are worth ten times more, an old yellow one would be around 20 points. So it looks like I'm winning, guys...

One in the back and one in the front

Never mind How do you get to Wales in a Mini? I am beginning to wonder just how many different versions of this Mini Corgi made in Wales in the early 1970s. Bearing in mind that their 1970 catalogue features the very popular 334 with opening everything and looking pretty spectacular as a model, as well as the redoubtable 226, still going albeit in metallic deep purple, bearing all that in mind you do wonder why they needed 204 which did nothing and looked pretty bad with Whizzwheels.

Someone had decreed, though, that Whizzwheels were the future of everything and so 204 would be The Corgi Mini in 1972. Except it wasn't and no-one bought any when the other two were still on most shop shelves. You can hear the little shop keeper now. 'Ere sonny, you don't want that one. Look, I've got these lovely metallic green or blue Mini Mannificks. Or you can 'ave a nice purple one but don't 'ee be blowing too hard on it or the paint will come off.'

So in 1973 they effectively disappeared again, most emerging in old stock sales over the years between now and then. The funny thing is, though, just how many different versions there are for such a short period of production. There are five main colours: orange, orange with a black roof, blue, blue with a black roof and metallic blue. As if that's not enough, you'll find tinted windows (and I'm guessing that they were spread pretty much across all the colours) and the orange one(s) came with yellow or red seats. I think that makes a dozen models you''ll need to find for your collection to be vaguely complete.

I say 'vaguely' because there are also silver or black bases but I am taking the view that they came with one or other of the variations mentioned already. There are, however, what look like different castings even amongst this short run. The all orange one looks to have a much less well defined badge and at the rear a smaller gap between roof and window and slightly different window frame detailing. The more I look at them , though, the less certain I am about a different casting and that may just be thicker paint and some optical illusions caused by the tinted windows and black roof.

This particular example of the orange one with black roof and tinted windows has seen better days but is still quite unusual. These may be little loved and rather messy Corgis but they're well worth some close examination and even tatty ones can be of good value.

Blue and rather rare again

What is it about blue and Corgi Toys? This has come along and you're probably already saying That's the wrong shade of blue and you'd be quite correct. It is neither the super rare RAF blue nor the RAC blue that were around at the time. However, look underneath and you'll see that the original colour was, indeed, RAF blue and so this I firmly believe is a genuine #351S that in good condition and a nice box would be worth four figures.

Unfortunately, it looks as though this had an accident that may have scratched the paintwork and smashed the rear screen and some kid has at some stage made a pretty reasonable job with some stripper and the old Humbrol. The base has not been removed. The tyres aren't original but they look pretty good so I'm not worried about them. I may add the RAF roundel but, even in this state, it is such a scarce item that I wouldn't risk messing up the paint further by attempting the remove one blue and put on another, tempting though that is!

It seems impossible to know what to price this at so I've just left it on the site inviting 'offers'. And if no-one wants to fill that hole in their collection I'm quite happy to keep it with the other 55 Land Rovers I seem to have accumulated! Oh dear, did I say 55? Heavens.

#351S - the base is intact and that's definitely RAF blue original paint inside the wheel arches.

Shades Of Red Austin Seven

Another Mini arrived this morning - an Austin Seven with flat hubs and in really nice, clean condition. What immediately struck me, though, was its colour. It has a distinctively tomato flavoured shade compared to the one I have had since my childhood.

It is also made from a different casting, being similar to the yellow Mini that came a little while ago, having rectangular holes in the base showing the axles.

I dug out the other two red Austins that I have and, remarkably, they all have different castings! There is the tomato one with the holes, my original collection item with no holes but two rectangular flat areas near the front and another deeper red type with free spinning wheels, no holes or rectangular areas but which has a small circular extrusion midway between the front wheels. That one also has a different shape cut out for the four wheels and the text, set out differently reads Patent No. as opposed to Patent Application.

My guess is that the tatty old one with the Patent No. text is the later of the three, especially with the free spinning wheels that it has. (That one also has two steering wheels - one floating around inside! I have no idea how that could have got in other than at the factory as the base has not been removed and the plastic interior looks intact. The rear window is a bit odd but I don't think it could have been opened in any way. Bit of a mystery, that one! In more ways than one.

Another yellow Austin is on its way from France where no-one seems to realise they're particularly scarce. It looks in fine condition and a lot better than the one I got a few weeks ago. I have also acquired a very pretty little Morris Minor in pale blue with a yellow interior. I had to look at the pictures for several minutes before realising that there was something different about this one!

I shall write separately about the yellow one when it arrives. I am assuming it will be the same casting as the one I have.

Blue and really rather rare

Here's a treat, courtesy of a collector who has been corresponding with me recently. Never mind feeling green with envy, his really rare finds could have made me feel blue too! It is, though, sheer pleasure to share these with you. He doesn't want any formal acknowledgement but I am sure many people will be very grateful for the chance to see these.

First is a #315 Simca 1000 with 'competition' stripes in a rich dark blue. The normal model had a plated silver finish, also used for the Jaguar E Type and Mercedes 300SL. My understanding is that this was not officially released in this colour but quite a few were produced and found their way into the public arena so, whilst you'll be extraordinarily lucky to find one you'll be unlikely to afford it!

Next to share with you is the #305 Mini Marcos GT850 in a sort of deep sky blue. This is the Whizzwheels version of the maroon one that almost everyone had with the Golden Jacks wheels. The normal version of this was an off-white colour and that is pretty scarce itself, the Whizzwheels version not being terribly popular. Few will also have survived as they were very flimsily built and inclined to get easily damaged. The blue one was an official release and would most likely have been found in a car transporter set. I have seen one set for sale recently and they will appear from time to time. They're not the prettiest of cars (and I spotted the real thing on the A43 near Towcester last week which further reinforced that view!) and you may be lucky to pick one up without needing a second mortgage.

The third blue car that my correspondent shared with me and that I now share with you is the #246 Chrysler Imperial in kingfisher blue. I always think that kingfisher blue sounds delightful and would seek out cars that shade almost just for the name alone. The photos don't really do the colour justice, appearing rather darker than it would appear to the naked eye in daylight.

Now this is also extremely scarce but it did, at least, sort of make the 1969 Corgi catalogue in the guise of #507 Bermuda Taxi, presumably intended to replace the old Thunderbird. Although the taxi never appeared I guess Corgi must have produced a fair number of these - and if you look closely you'll see the drilled holes behind the rear seats where the poles would have been placed - and presumably let them out in the wild as a cheaper version of the red model.

The pale blue interior looks pretty much the same as one of the two options in the red version but it loses the door inserts and we think it may also have lost the golf trolley. If that is the case, though, then the box would have had to be changed but that isn't something we've seen so remains uncertain.

I will add these illustrations to my main site in a while to make them easier to track down in future. I doubt whether I'll ever actually have one in the collection but there's no harm in looking! It is interesting that it is often the blue models that have been the scarcest. Another two that spring to mind are the Marlin Rambler (normally red and black) and the Citroen 'Le Dandy' Coupe (normally deep magenta). You'll find these without too much trouble but they are both quite expensive in comparison to the 'normal' colours.

Here are some examples of the real cars. My guess is that you could get the Simca for less than the 1:43 version!

The Mini Marcos looks like some kind of little bug but plenty are still going strong. The model was pretty accurate, indeed, possibly making it more attractive!

The Chrysler model never looked right to me, sitting too high and fat compared to what it should have been like. Corgi usually got it dead right but did seem to struggle with some models.

Really acccurate was their Simca 1000 Coupe. A simple model that I often got confused with the NSU Sport Prinz out at the same time.

Studebaker leads the American Invasion

Great name. Shame about the colour. My guess is that the Studebaker Golden Hawks of the day would have been in a slightly pale shade of blue with the gold flash on the fin gleaming a bit more. This shade of neither one blue nor another didn't quite work but that didn't matter a great deal. If you were a young lad in the toy shop and had to choose between a Morris Cowley and a Studebaker Golden Hawk then the latter probably would have been what you exchanged your pocket money for.

This was the first American car in the catalogues, appearing in February 1958. It would be a good year or so before the Thunderbird followed. Whilst there was also an attractive white version with a gold flash, that was reserved for the mechanical version, 211M, and those being near the end of their appeal by then, few of that version were sold and are decidedly hard to find now.

This normal one, in fact, has been a long time coming and is nearly the last one to complete the numbered list. I'm still missing an early Mercedes 300SL Open Top 303. So far they've all been missing screens or had bad cracks in them. For a long time the Studebakers seemed to be very worn, as if kids had played with them particularly toughly and I almost began to think that there must be a grey version, some having so little paint left!

Corgi were very strict with the colours still and it is almost a relief to have just one colour available for each version, the only difference being the strange silvery-gold plated one.

211

211M

211S gold paint

211S gold plate

It is much to the credit of Corgi's engineers and designers that, when searching through internet images for the car, it is not always immediately obvious whether you're looking at a model or the real thing. Remarkable.