Mechanical models: two base types

 

Following my last article on the Rover 90 I took another look at the undersides of my other Mechanical models. Here's what I found: each of the M models up to the Jaguar had both the Type A British Made and Type B Patent Pending text to the side of Corgi Toys and the changed axle text. The Jaguar also has a grey base variant which features the Type B text as you would expect.

I know there are grey base 207 Standards but I cannot say whether there are grey base 207M models. That is something to look out for, perhaps. It does seem highly unlikely, though, that any of the earlier models could have a grey base.

The 209 and 210 didn't have an M edition but the 210 has a variety of base styles I'll write about another day. The 211M, 214M and 216M all appear to have grey bases with Type B text.

I shall return to this topic as I can see that there are also different types of tin base for the non Mechanical models and variations are to be found on later models too. that will take a while to document, however, so don't hold your breath for that. Of course, if anyone has already done this research then I would be grateful for the data!

For now, here are the bases for the 200M,201M,202M,203M,204M,205M,206M,207M,208M,403M,404M and 405M

Rover 90. Surprisingly interesting.

 

My eleventh Rover 90 arrived today. I cannot resist these old models. They seem to be the least loved of the first 1956 launch group and the casting often seems flawed and was regarded as the worst of the group by Marcel Van Cleemput himself by all accounts. Nevertheless, I like this old thing. It may be because I had a Rover 100 myself many years ago when I was at St. Andrews University and regularly drove to Edinburgh and back, stopping to get out and knock the fuel pump with a screwdriver whenever it ceased working!

The 204 model seemed very uninteresting at first when I started this catalogue project and I really didn't pay much attention to it. I thought there was a lightish colour normal model, a green M edition and the two-tone one and that was it.

The story is, however, rather more fun. First the 204 comes in two main flavours: light grey and ivory. 

The two-tone is a quite stunning pale pink over metallic crimson.

The 204M models appear at first to have two finishes: a metallic bluish green and a solid dark green.

Then along comes a distinctly different solid bright green!

These two shades of green remind me of the two shades that seem to exist for the 301 Triumph TR2 and 405 Bedford CA Fire Tender. I am beginning to wonder, too, whether I need to take another look at my 406 Land Rovers from Gift Set 2 now!

Actually, now I look again at this photo from above that I took this morning, I can see three shades of the solid green. I had placed the one with worn paint next to what I'd thought was a dark one, thinking it was the same shade but it is neither the same as the 'dark green' nor the 'bright green'! I guess I shall have to call it 'rich bright green' and add this to the catalogue. From what I can tell (apart from the new discovery) the colours are fairly evenly distributed with, in my experience, none seeming significantly scarcer than the other.

What is decidedly scarce is this one shown below. It is a non-mechanical 204 but finished in the 204M metallic bluish green. These - and you'll find similar delights across the early range - resulted from one of two things: either by simple mistake, attaching a 204 base to a 204M body or as a way to use up 204M bodies that had been painted shortly prior to the production of friction motor models being abandoned.

Finally, for now, there is yet another variation to look out for and that is on the base. There are two types. One, which I call Type A as I think it is the earliest, has British and Made placed either side of Corgi Toys. The other, Type B, has Patent and Pending in those positions and a revised text on the front axle. As what I call Type B has blanking plates it would appear that that is the one that has been revised and hence would be the later but I am only taking a guess.

Other early issues have a similar set of Type A/B bases, complicated by some with a grey base too! I will take a look at these as my next job but I don't have that many examples to work with so any help would be appreciated if you could have a look at yours.

Rolls Royce silver and gold

 

I was really glad to have had a 280 Rolls Royce in silver in my collection so that I could be absolutely sure that the latest arrival here in the village was, indeed, not the same silver but gold!

Sure enough, the difference is very clear and this is a beautiful and scarce edition of the 280 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow (corrected!) finished in metallic gold. You do have to place models side by side, however, as photos simply don't do the colour justice when taken on its own.

As you'll be able to tell from the style of box shown below, this was a late issue, probably from 1976/7. Great Britain's Rolls Royce should, of course, always be represented by an impressive model and Corgi had tried hard, albeit at a time when production methods were not producing the same sort of quality as we had become used to in the 1960s. The first Rolls Royce was the 273 model, usually finished in creamy silver and chalky blue-grey, first issued in March 1970.

Only a few months later though, in October 1970, the Golden Jacks base is replaced by a Whizzwheels one and a fine, if a bit clunky, model is ruined. The dreadful wheels were the same terrible design used across the board at the time. (If you see one with red spot wheels that will be something someone has made afterwards as the wheels were very simple to change.)

The colours selected for the 280 Whizzwheels Rolls Royce were so much better, however, being a rich metallic blue and silver. If you're very lucky, you might find the 273 model in the same finish but these are almost as scarce as the gold 280!

Later in production it changes to an all metallic blue finish.

At some point the quarterlight disappears but the colour and wheels remain unchanged.

Finally, much later in its life, someone at Corgi decides that the model really should get better wheels. After all, they had been making reasonable alternatives to the awful black plastic things for other models for some time. Maybe someone from Derby made a call to the boss. Whatever the case, a metallic silver finish and much better wheels are on the last issue. For some reason best known to someone at Corgi the chrome was finished in gold rather than silver, with distinctly gold wheels too, on many silver issues so you'll find silver with silver or gold chromework.

I have also seen some metallic blue 280 models with the six-point star type of Whizzwheels. It looks awful but that's not the reason I mention it. The curious thing is that all the models I have seen with those wheels had a quarterlight. One would have thought that, having abandoned the quarterlight at some stage in the 'four crowns' style of wheel production it would not have returned. 

Whatever the order of things was in those strange days at Corgi, when shelves would have had the big 1:36 scale models sitting next to the last 1:43 scale ones, these Rolls Royce models prove themselves to be much more interesting than you might have thought. There are lots of 280s around and most only fetch a few pounds even in good condition.

It would appear that only the silver and gold finish models have the more realistic style of wheels and all the previous 280s have silver chromework.

I have always been a big fan of the 273 in the rare blue and silver, but this 280 in metallic gold, which was what started off this article, is quite a grand item to have on one's desk with a lot more presence than the silver one. Interestingly, mine has silver wheels rather than gold. Perhaps there are some all gold models out there too?

Strange Studebaker

This Studebaker Golden Hawk model is up for sale as I write. The seller proclaims to be a Corgi 'man' and he has some excellent-looking stock amongst other items. This one caught my attention, though, with its smooth wheels, a variation I am not sure existed but have been looking for just in case it might.

Unfortunately, I'm still not 100% sure and thought I would share these images and see what others think.

The seller's text seems reassuring, although it should be noted that he never actually declares the model to be original! He does say 'No', however, to the 'Modified item' question.

There are so many of these that have now been repainted, with varying degrees of success, that I am always cautious anyway and my suspicions have been raised by the text. So I look at the photos again.

Frustratingly, they're all a bit out of focus. It's a technique that I fear many sellers are known to use if they don't want us to look too closely at their wares! However, it is also just one of those things that someone who may not be great with a camera will find happens from time to time. And this may just have been one of those times. Who knows.

The white fin paint looks a little too 'white' and the gold just a shade different to what I think the real one should be. But I carry on looking as that may just be one of those things too.

I am encouraged now by the silver paintwork on the front. It's not perfect, with some gold showing on the overriders. Typical Corgi missed spray, perhaps. People doing repaints usually go a bit over the top on the bumpers and want to cover everything well. So this is OK, and the box looks genuine enough.

Then I start to wonder. Should that rear panel be silver? Did this edition have painted rear lights? And they do look very neat, not at all like the usual Corgi red additions, if there were to have been any.

Suspicions back again, I look at the base. You have to say that this looks pretty reassuring once more. It is a bit blurred but the rivets are not obviously fiddled with. I do have my doubts that they're the shape I'd expect and don't you think that grey base is just a little too shiny? Did they have such a shiny grey painted base? Wasn't it just a thin coat which allowed the text to stand out better?

Here's a genuine one. See the rear panel. It's gold, not silver. The rear lights - not a sign of red paint anywhere. Below you'll see the genuine base from this one too. It's not conclusive, though, as there is something of a shine there but I don't think it's as thick a coat as the blurred image of the seller's seems to suggest.

So I looked elsewhere for more examples of this model and, guess what, I came across just one other with fixed wheels that was sold by QDT back in 2008. There are plenty of examples of QDT not looking too closely before listing so ignore any claim they may make as to it being original, of course!

Look at the shade of gold, the paint placing on the front and . . .

 . . . the silver paint on the back panel and the red tail lights!

I am very much inclined to say that this is the same model. Someone in the States acquired it, either from QDT in 2008 or at some subsequent sale and it eventually finishes up here on Ebay with the Corgi 'man'. And maybe he doesn't know any better. It might never have occurred to him that there might be anything wrong or, for that matter, that he might have a one-off from the factory. The paint colour tends to rule that one out for me, though, and I reckon he's got simply a very well-done restoration.

Here, just to remind us, is another genuine model.

Yes, his is not the real deal. That means I shall not be bidding. Nevertheless I would quite like to have the model, if only for a closer look and to satisfy myself completely that it isn't what I've been looking for.

So I wrote to the Corgi 'man' and told him what I thought, hoping that he might take it off sale and offer it to me as a restoration for a few pounds. I mean the box is worth $30, maybe a bit more, so the car and box could reasonably be priced at $60. Just not the $130 he wants plus what would be a further $60 just to get it to my door here in England.

At one point I was on the verge of bidding and may well have spent best part of $200 on something that really is either deliberately misrepresented or just something that Corgi 'man' hasn't noticed himself. I didn't get a reply to my suggestion that he revise his listing which tends to make me believe that he knows it's not quite right. So there you go - take care out there. If, as someone who thinks he knows his Corgi stuff, I can nearly get caught then so can many of you.

In the meantime, if you do spot any 211S models in gold paint with smooth wheels, do let me know.

The Corgi Model Club: Chevrolet Sting Ray Customized (sic)

 

Landing on my desk today is the latest reproduction from the Corgi Model Club, the Customized Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray (sic.) All very American and not quite right. I never liked this model at the time and am still not fond of it now, although I'll admit to warming slightly over the 55½ years since this first appeared in July 1967. Not exactly a Summer of Love car (which title has to go to the Pop Art Mini probably available at this time) but I guess more appealing than the other model new to the shelves this month, the Tandem Disc Harrow.

In the familiar slim brown package you'll find the usual quite shiny and a little too bright box and inside that the model wrapped in a piece of thin foam sheet.

The box is a pretty good copy, just the usual font difference for the numerals and white lettering and the printing process does create that unrealistic glossy surface. The model itself, though, appears to have very few faults.

Its stance, wheels, colour, chrome fittings and detailing, even the recreation of the interior are first class.

Look closely, well not all that closely as they're pretty obvious, and you'll see several errors with the transfers. First, the 'eyes' are round and should be oval.

Secondly, the '13' decal on the doors is way too small compared to the original.

Thirdly, the 'Lazy Bones' transfer at the back is not as deep and the characters have a squarer profile that the original.

Otherwise, though, this is excellent and, unless you have the old and new models standing next to each other these are not things that would spring to mind. Indeed, I suspect the 'eyes', at least, will come as a surprise to many as one would expect them to be round. That is, in fact, why they're oval on the original as they would then, as a result of perspective, appear round to someone seeing them from a distance or, perhaps, in their mirror.

Something I have noticed is a small flaw in the casting finish of the original which, as one would expect, does not appear on the reproduction. There are two small arcs either side of the central cut out section. I imagine this must have resulted from whatever process was used to re-shape the #310 model bonnet when creating the original #337.

The colour difference in this photo is due to shadow, nothing else.

Once again, congratulations to the Corgi Model Club people. Whilst not one of my favourites, I respect the fine work done here. Why on Earth no-one spotted the decal size errors I do not know but never mind. Still very good for £24.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Chevrolet Fire Chief and a Ferrari

 January 1963 was when the fourth variation of the Chevrolet Impala, 439 Fire Chief's car, was available at your local toy shop. This seems to be something of an afterthought as it had been three years since the saloon and State Patrol models had appeared - or just a way to make some more money from this very successful casting. And we know that there will still be many more to come! (It will not be until this time in 2030 for my last article in this series to feature it!)

This model had a comparatively short life but still sold well and is still pretty easy to find now. There are three main variations to look for, each with a different treatment of the doors. You'll find models with just the badge on the doors, the front doors painted white and a third, slightly less common model, with all four doors painted white.

I have also seen some different badges but they're extremely unusual and I am not sure of their provenance as things like that are very easy to produce.

All the models appear to have free spinning wheels, whereas the preceding two Impalas can be found with fixed smooth, fixed shaped as well as free spinning wheels.

The other new model this month 60 years ago was a Ferrari F1 Grand Prix Racing Car, catalogue number 154. This would prove to be a very long-lasting model, surviving unchanged apart from wheels and packaging through to a remarkable 1972.

Update a month or so later: see my February 2023 article - I have discovered that there are several changes to the decals, nose shape and base to look out for!

It comes with a driver and will always be red with RN36. At some point it gets cast, spoke effect, wheels. All have the standard size rear wheels but smaller size front wheels. 

Amusingly with the driver still in place, you'll this model appear again on a trailer behind a red Land Rover in Gift Set 17. I'll be writing about that in March.

It will also appear in a revised release of the Ecurie Ecosse Racing Transporter Gift Set 16 in late 1964.