Land Rovers. 33 variations, and counting.

438 in Flying Club guise

The more I look into what I need to have in stock the more Land Rovers I seem to be acquiring. I wasn't looking for Land Rovers at all the other day but spotted a bright green metallic one on an American store site. This matched one I had wondered about on Andrew Wood's Little Wheels site but was just too messed up to make the expensive postage charges that seem to apply in the States worthwhile.

On that topic, I have bought several items there and the £:$ exchange rate is excellent at the moment so items can seem very reasonable - until you add postage. Many dealers use some outfit that takes care of the whole things for them but that costs a lot - over £15 sometimes for just a £6 purchase! This Land Rover was with one of them and there was nothing else I wanted, either, to make the exorbitant fee worthwhile or spread across several. So it stays in the States and I continue to look for one nearer home.

Now that's one which I haven't found with normal wheels. A lot come with both and they're the ones I am also looking for now. Here's my first attempt at some sort of list for 438s and 477s. Obviously the early ones only had colour variations.

Normal only

Dark green 

Pale brown 

Red

All the service, army, RAC, RAF etc. vehicles are normal.

Normal, cast louvre and Whizzwheels

Grey green metallic

Pale blue (Pony Club) 68-77

Daktari 68-76

Longleat 68-74

Breakdown Truck 

Whizzwheels only

Deep blue (Flying Club) 73-77

Bright light green metallic

Deep turquoise-green metallic

I think that we can include the cast louvre 'spoke effect' wheels in the middle section too as I have seen examples of each of them with all three types. I am not sure whether I have seen any of the third section with that cast type but certainly none of the first group. Of course, having said that, I now will!

The REALLY curious entry here, though, is the Breakdown truck which, just as the Land Rover stayed #438, has remained #477. I think these are the only two that didn't get renumbered but I do have to check that. If you look at the Great Book Of Corgi or other authoritative places they seem to agree that the Breakdown truck stopped being made in 1967 or 1968.

So how on Earth did it get Whizzwheels which didn't appear until 1969 and, probably, in the form fitted to the models I have seen, 1970 or later? I can only guess that existing stock was adjusted as it left. That cannot have happened to many which is why I am keen to get hold of one or two decent examples at a reasonable price. They should be very worthwhile in future unless we discover that they did actually carry on making them in tens of thousands until the late 1970s after all!

As soon as I have one I will display it here.

Land Rovers themselves must have been the most successful, certainly the most used cast, for Corgi for all time. Indeed, it is still being used today! Again, I am getting some examples and will add them soon as it has only recently dawned on me that this is the case. 

I've counted at least 33 variations so far in just the 1956-73 range. I don't think I will even attempt to go further but will feature the most recent and my favourite later edition in a post soon.

Corgi Toy 1970 Catalogue

A totally different cover in 1970 introduces a very different range. Gone is the young boy and his dad, strange scenes of oddly drawn models and its their place are two smart and fast-looking car illustrations with just graphic rather than accurate presence. It works as a modern cover  of the day but doesn't bear much resemblance to what's on offer.

This is where Whizzwheels came in. Some models had been released in 1969 and no doubt the 1970 catalogue became available in that year too. The first page of cars has an orange Lancia and three experimental-looking cars so that was a pretty good sign of where things might be going! Whilst the Adams Probe did appear in A Clockwork Orange the film got banned so even that fame may not have helped sales after all. I doubt if anyone ever encountered the Alfa Romeo or Chevrolet Astro.

Some more familiar cars appear on the next pages of Whizzwheels including the ones that had been intended to come out with Golden Jacks in the previous year's catalogue. The Mercedes C111 has an 'artist's impression' type of drawing and is 'available later'. When it does appear it looks nothing like the illustration or, in many commentators' views it seems, the real thing! There's the Jaguar E type now devoid of opening doors but still hanging on to its mirrors. There is also a very yellow Bentley version of the Rolls Royce. I have seen pink versions but was there really ever a yellow one? The illustration looks like a photo and, whilst 'available later' makes me wonder if there is a rare variant somewhere to be found.

There is also 'Project X'. That sounds exciting. Unfortunately, the number associated with the intriguing image is #313 which would be the very unexciting Ford Cortina Mk III! It was a great model, to be fair, but hardly deserving the 'Project X' mystery.

There then follow a few more pages of cars that had been revived with Whizzwheels for better or worse. No, just for worse. You'll see the red Chevrolet Stingray there which actually only made it in blue or pink to my knowledge. However, this is a fascinating period because in the changeover I am sure there must have been several models in the original colours that got fitted with Whizzwheels bases and I would love to try and find some of them.

At the end of the Whizzwheels pages there is a promotion for something I never actually saw but which sort of justifies the Whizzwheels thing - the plastic tracking. You could certainly have some fun running some of the models around a good length of that yellow plastic lifted at one end or down a decent slope in the garden. That may account for why so many Whizzwheels models are in terrible condition - being slammed into each other or turfed off track at speed.

The appearance on page 12 of four old-style Corgis does look a little sad. Still going are the #334 Mini, the #226 Mini and, remarkably, #233 Bubble car! The fourth is the Oldsmobile Toronado and speedboat Gift Set. It's the blue one that's illustrated (without Golden Jacks) whereas on the next page you'll see the red one with them! there's also the original Rolls so how they can have expected the Bentley to sell in comparison I do not know, unless it would be a lot cheaper. There were still lots of Golden Jacks models that presumably were all done and so couldn't be reworked as Whizzwheels at that time so there are some more pages of these, including a decidedly pink Chevrolet Stingray which was only actually red and green!

A few old style sports cars make the catalogue as does the Grand Prix Racing Gift Set. TV and Screen favourites aren't quite as high profile as before but there are still plenty of them and The Hardy Boys version of an old Rolls Royce Silver Ghost is featured. This is one of the models that sold least of any and must be a future real rarity. I have never seen one but hope to have one coming in before long if the bids don't go crazy.

Farm equipment occupies another few pages and then there's the latest Transporter page, now with six cars, all Whizzwheels. There always seems to be a car on the Transporter that is totally wrong. before it would be a Sunbeam or Mini rally car and this time it's the ruddy Saint's Volvo! That just doesn't work at all for me! It is also ranks as one of the worst of the conversions too.

The surviving Citroen Safari in #513 mode is still there along with a weird selection of old style Commercial and Utility vehicles. There's a Concorde plane too! Finally, we get the very big and flashy fire engine things and a bus and the camera vans are still there, with the cut-out Citroen coupé making a very late appearance on the Tour de France model list (another items that is really quite difficult to find at a reasonable price these days).

At the very end is a promotion for Rockets. If you hadn't already realised that the good days were over then you should now, with things like 'Golden Keys' and more track for some pretty dodgy looking matchbox size versions. Things are in quite a mess now and the brand will never really recover.

This is the last catalogue post I can do. I have the cover and a few pages from the 1971-72 book but after than the 1:36 scale will strat to dominate, presumably and so there may not be much point my writing about any more. I shall try and get hold of a full 1971-72 catalogue as that could be quite interesting and who knows what I'll unearth in a 1973 one (if there is one).

The 1971-72 cover with my addition of model numbers

Standard deviations

While the Americans were naming their cars Thunderbird and Golden Hawk we came up with Vanguard III. I don't remember Vanguard I or II for that matter and, indeed, this was not a common sight on our roads, Standard being better known for their little 8s and 10s before disappearing from view completely as a brand.

Corgi followed their initial launch with the Standard Vanguard III appearing in February 1957. Like the other initial models, they also had a Mechanical version with a friction motor and that is the yellow one illustrated above. these are very scarce because this type of drive was not as popular. Children preferred to push and let them go and see them spinning off towards the skirting board or other parked toys at a rather more than the slow crawl that these managed. It may have seemed a good idea at the time (and there were many friction motors around in other toys) but the free-wheeling versions were simply better. and 3d or 4d cheaper.

The Standard Vanguard III #207M went off the supply line in 1959 so really wasn't around very long at all. Its base was probably reused for the RAF Staff Car version that came out in October 1958 as these feature that heavier cast base with the 'differential' unit on the back axle. No RAF Staff Cars, however, had the Mechanical element and that's how I reckon Corgi used up the left over bases.

The yellow paint does show the chips far more than some other colours might have done and isn't in any event a particularly inspiring colour but the car has an endearing quality about it and, for all its chips and scratches, I am pleased to have found this one.

Good for Mr Samuelson.

Corgi did produce some very finely detailed items from time to time. One example is the lovely camera unit on a tripod and base that first appeared with Samuelson Film Service Commer microbus in December 1967. In this version there was a very clever device that fixed it in place at the rear of the bus which could be unlocked and I often see pictures of the camera on the roof too where it also sort of fits but not in a permanent way. It also fits in the front. Marvellous engineering.

The same camera also appears in the Tour De France Gift Set 13 but here it is attached to an extended base coming out of the back of the Renault 16 and the hatchback has disappeared completely! Maybe it didn't rain much in France then. That base didn't move either. This appeared in July 1968 and both were around for a few years.

It is very nicely made, though, and has a jewel as the lens which always strikes me as a nice touch even if it is a little odd when you think about it.

The Commer is in one of its final appearances, the very last being as a Holiday Camp bus, more or less identical to the blue camera one but in deep red brown and white with a white interior. That was only around for less than a year and is quite hard to find.

I am not sure who Samuelson was but they will have been happy to be associated with such a well-made model.

Corgi should have supplied replacement aerials in the box

Two rare Corgi models. The Ghia Mangusta 5000 De Tomaso first appeared in 1969 as #271 and was the second example of a detachable chassis. The Lotus Elan #319 had been the first. It was an attractive car but, apart from being able to take off the body for some reason best known to the production team, that was it. Nothing opened, it was a bit anaemic and the aerial broke on almost every model except this one. (You just try finding one with an original aerial intact!). 

I suppose there might have been a plan to release different coloured versions, maybe even different wheel types so that swapping chassis would be a bit more interesting. Unfortunately, as you all know now, this was Whizzwheels time and so this model didn't even see out 1969 (making good values now for these). 

In its place was #203 - the same body but with its chassis firmly sealed up now, ubiquitous little plastic wheels and a highly vulnerable to chips green metallic paint. If you can find one (and that's easier said than done) then you'll see that the paint falls off if you breathe too hard or there's thunder outside. I am amazed that I managed to find this one which is almost perfect.

I have yet to find a green one with an aerial, though. Corgi really should have put some spares in the box.

#203 didn't last long either and sales appear to have been pretty low. It came off most shelves in 1972, not much more than a year after coming out. It is these changeovers and very short runs, though, that make this period quite interesting. Models in good condition are scarce but, whilst prices for #271 are really high, #203 is all over the scale, from extremely expensive down to a few pounds. No-one seems to have much of a clue but I can only see these increasing. Despite the general unpopularity of these late models their scarcity will eventually be clear and I can even see some of them exceeding the traditional collector's favourite predecessors.

Thunderbirds are go!

Here I can show you three versions of the classic American Ford Thunderbird. The pink and black one is the #214M with a friction motor and was available for a very short time in 1959. The white convertible, #215, appeared in December 1959 and was replaced by #215S with suspension and a tall driver in 1962. I think the lower profile of the early model looks better although the white and blue combination is a bit odd, not helped by silver inserts for the seating!

There are also #214 and #214S available - the hard top versions without the friction motor and a suspension version but I am not in a hurry to stock these. There were very few American cars in the early years, the Studebaker came first and then the Thunderbird and a little later the Chevrolet Impala but that was about it for many years.

More Beetles

383

As Corgi rolled out the Whizzwheel VW1200s with all the features dismissed and just various shades of orange being offered to attract buyers in the early 1970s they didn't even bother to change the number from one to the other.

It is quite a clean and, if you can get over the colour and forget about the East African Safari edition being charged by a plastic rhinocerous and the green and white European police car with steering and all sorts of goodies, then this would be quite a pretty little model. It doesn't do anything but it sits prettily on the shelf.

383 'Flower Power'

I found this yellow one, though, recently and can't quite figure out where it has come from. The casting is identical to #383 but it has much more realistic wheels, fine detailing in the paintwork and the later Corgi logo with a doggy on the base.

It may well be a Corgi Classics model #67903 and the lack of Made in Great Britain on the base is a bit of a give-away to an Eastern origin. There was a model made specially for a drinks company called Yoohoo and this would be exchanged for several vouchers and some dollars. Usually, in those promotions, the dollars were all the thing cost in the first place but I reckon kids would have got a reasonable deal with this.

My example does look just like this and the base is the same too. I just don't have the stickers and wonder whether Corgi Classics produced models without the promotional guff. That would seem pretty likely but a first search doesn't show anything. I'll just have to keep looking but I guess this isn't what we'd call a 'real' Corgi being dated from the late 1990s I presume. Where the cast is clearly identical, though, I do like to add them in. I have a feeling I may well find a lot more. That could be a whole new ball game and collection! Hopefully, they'll all be really cheap.

Thanks to Nigel's World for this information and image.