Varieties of the Series I Land Rover 109" WB

It's all about the handles. The handles at the back of the Land Rover which appear on early models but disappear at some point. Initially I thought that they went when the shaped wheels started to be fitted but now that I have found smooth wheel editions without handles, it must have been afterwards.

Here I can show you examples of each type: smooth wheels with handles, smooth wheels without handles and shaped wheels without handles. So far I have not found any shaped wheels with handles but you never can be sure about these things. (All I need say is look at some much earlier articles on the RAC 416 model when one attempts to use logic to figure out when something might have changed!)

Those are the varieties for the yellow / black and blue / cream editions. Technically, there was never a green '406' as it was only issued in Gift Set 2 with a canopy and a pony trailer but I thought I should include it and this follows the same theme of three types.

I had to steal and image from QDT for the smooth wheels without handles edition. I need to find one of these for my own collection. Clearly it is something that I have missed and I may well have sold several without appreciating that I needed one for myself!

The same three varieties can be found for the RAF 351 edition too.

For the RAC416 model I have found five varieties:

smooth wheels, headboard, handles

smooth wheels, headboard no handles

smooth wheels, no headboard, no handles

shaped wheels, headboard, no handles

shaped wheels, no headboard, no handles

The mystery is, of course, whether there are any shaped wheel Series I Land Rovers with handles. So far, none have appeared across the range so it does look as though there aren't going to be any but, as I said before, you never know . . . unless, that is, someone out there can identify the introduction of shaped wheels as being significantly later than the change of casting to delete the handles. My guess is that will have been the case so I shall not spend hours searching for what may never be found but I shall still take a second look at these models as and when they appear!

Here is the 416 Tours Secours model. Both my example and my friend Andi's have handles but the one illustrated by QDT doesn't so even this scarce item has at least two varieties.. It is so scarce, though, that finding out whether there are more varieties is going to be difficult! (I had earlier thought find one with handles would be difficult but first Andi wrote to me to remind me about the one he has in Eilum, Germany, and when I checked my own records I see that mine also had them!!)

And here is a real Land Rover (albeit a slightly shorter wheelbase) and you can see what I call handles. Now I think about it, maybe they're better described as 'steps' but I will go back and change everything later! Hope you will bear with me on that.

The Farming Models Gift Set 22

 

One day I will try to gather all the items for the lovely Gift Set 22 Farming Models. The very first set was issued in September 1962, before the deep green 438 Land Rover was available individually. In those early sets was what I call a 'farm green' Series II Land Rover which would have been a 406S had it been issued in a box on its own. These are hard to find now and most that I have encountered appear to have had a pretty hard life on the farm too!

The Land Rover tows another item unique to this set - an all yellow 101 flat bed trailer. The first ones would have had fixed shaped wheels which will be about as scarce as the farm green Land Rover. Later they had free-spinning wheels fitted but I don't know whether this would have been before the deep green 438 started to be used or after. One would guess that, as the deep green 438 appears on the shelves in December 1962 it would also have been put in the Gift Sets once stock of the farm green edition had been used up.

Only 31000 of these sets were produced, according to the records, which isn't very many. By comparison the 351S RAF Land Rover is supposed to have had 25000 produced and you know how hard is to find those now!

The other components in the Gift Set 22 were initially:

• 1111 Combine Harvester
• 53 Massey Ferguson Tractor with shovel attachment
• 51 Massey Ferguson Trailer
• 55 Fordson Power Major Tractor
• 56 Four Furrow Plough
• 1487 Milk Churns
• 1490 Skip & 3 larger Churns to fit on the rear of the Massey Ferguson
• 3 Drivers, each different, for the tractors and Combine Harvester.

Despite its low sales, the set remained available until 1965 and, along the way, changes were made to what was in the box. 

• The normal 438 replaced the farm green 406S
• The 60 Fordson Power Major replaced the 55 version
• The 61 Plough replaced the 56 version
• The 57 Massey Ferguson Tractor with a Fork attachment may have replaced the 53 with a Shovel attachment but I'm not sure. I have only seen sets with the later item but it was not available when the set was first made available.
• The 62 Tipping trailer replaces the 51 Trailer but that will only be late in production as the trailer only gets issued in February 1965 and none of the sets I have seen illustrated seem to have the raves.

So most of the other components are fairly easy to find. It could be a bit of a struggle to find the different driver for the Combine Harvester but the other two gents will be with the later issues of the Massey Ferguson tractors in sets or in the box for the Fordson. You don't see many of the big milk churns or the skip but as a 1490 set they should appear from time to time and the 1487 block is common.

Now there's something that the Corgi Model Club could help us out with!! We haven't had anything agricultural from them yet.

I haven't looked to see whether anyone does a reproduction box but I am sure one will be available, if not both. That does mean you need to be careful, though, and make sure you get the right items for whatever box you find! (I will update later with more about this).

Lastly, you'll see that I have found a way to add some nice backgrounds to images! This is AI at work and most impressive it is too. One of my first efforts is below with the lovely 273 Rolls Royce with Golden Jacks. I have just packed up my silver over metallic blue edition which, interestingly went to an Andrew Windsor! So I had to use the slightly more common cream over muddy blue but it still looks good.

Farewell to the Classics

The word Classics has been used on several occasions in Corgi history but the 'Classics' I refer to here is the series of early 20th Century jalopies which started with the Model T Ford in January 1964. There were only nine models:

January 1964 9011 Model T Ford in black open with two figures

January 1964 9012 Model T Ford in yellow open with two figures

February 1964 900/9001 Bentley 3 litre 1927 Le mans in green with RN3 decals, hood and driver

February 1964  900/9002 Bentley 3 litre 1927 Le Mans in red with hood and driver

July 1964 9021 1910 Daimler 38HP in red open with four figures

November 1964 9013 Model T Ford in blue with hood and figure

April 1965 9032 1910 Renault 12/16 in primrose

April 1965 9031 1910 Renault 12/16 in lavender

May 1966 9041 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost

A Daimler with a hood was featured as 9022 'Available later' in the 1966 and 1967 Corgi catalogues as well as 9014, a Model T Ford Lyons Tea van but neither reached the store shelves. I had a factory sample of the Daimler and you'll find articles about that in the archives.

The Rolls Royce was adapted in a pretty terrible way for The Hardy Boys, an American band I'd never heard of, and that did make the stores as #805. The Bentley also had a revival in January 1966 in The Avengers Gift Set 40 with a folded hood and Steed at the wheel in red with gold or steel wheels or another shade of green with red wheels and then a further extension with Jeeves at the wheel of another shade of green Bentley with folded roof, reddish interior and Bertie Wooster standing beside it in #9004. There was a dreadful version of the Renault for Basil Brush too as #808 which I have just been reminded about although I would have preferred to forget that one!

I have never been a fan of these models. I do respect the excellent production quality and detail but they didn't interest me at the time and still don't move me. I have to see quite a few Bentleys as I am a big fan of The Avengers TV series and deal with many Gift Sets but that's it. The others I purchased when I started the catalogue so that I could document them and look for variations and I have acquired several since when they have arrived with something else. I seem to have acquired half a dozen Rolls Royces but don't recall paying for any!

I have spotted a few variations, like the radiator and lights on the Model T Ford appear in bright shiny chrome, a dullish brass colour and a very bland grey metal finish. The Daimler appears occasionally with bare metal side lights and horn which should be chromed. There are gold or silver or both colour wheels on the Rolls Royce, and one model I have has a black exhaust whereas the others are grey. There is a primrose, rather than bright yellow, edition of the Model T Ford that I have but I have a feeling that was a factory sample and not an issued model. A Daimler, which I think is a factory sample has rubber tyres, much more pliable than all the others which appear to be plastic (and not just hardened rubber).

That's all I've noticed, though, and now I've decided that they simply have to go. Prices are really quite low so to get rid of them I am going to have to quote very small prices. Those that are in nice condition with the correct figures (but no boxes) will be just £12.50 and the others where the figures are missing just £9 or less for any not in close to mint condition. There are a couple of factory samples - the primrose Ford I mentioned and a Daimler with soft rubber (not hard plastic) tyres, both missing windscreens - which will be a bit more.

Before I put them on sale elsewhere I thought I'd give anyone reading this a chance to have some as they're nearly all in excellent condition and the prices are definitely reasonable. These prices are in my own web store rather than Ebay where they'll be a bit more to cover the fees.

Rover 2000 variations

Well, I seem to learn something every day! I have just noticed, after more years of collecting Corgi Toys than many people have been alive, that there are two types of window in the Rover 2000. So far, I have only seen the two varieties on the steel blue 252 model but I expect we'll discover it on the maroon edition and, perhaps, the Monte Carlo 322 model. I shall now have to check all my models and hope the photos I have taken of others over the years are good enough to show me the difference.

The difference is in the window unit which has a line included to indicate where there would have been separate panes in the real model. The Austin A40 had this to indicate what was then described as a quarter light at the front. I remember that there are two types of 230 Mercedes 220SE Coupé too but this is the first time I've noticed it on the Rover 2000.

Then I looked at the two Rovers more closely and discovered two badge styles and slightly different front grilles too!

The top is the 252 model without window unit lines and has a different shape of badge to the second model as well as slight difference in how the grille lines have been dealt with. I also took a look at a 322 model and find another variation here with a much less well-defined badge. (you can also see a surprisingly poor alignment of the additional jewelled lights! I remember being very annoyed with myself when I made a similar error when drilling holes in a 252 to make a reproduction 322 International Rally model but maybe I should not have worried as this happens on the genuine models after all!)

So, as well as window lines we also now need to look at the badges! I had not expected to need two steel blue 252s in my catalogue. I was prepared for a colour difference as some do seem to be blue-silver and others more silver-blue but so far I have been unable to have two different shades side by side so I may be imagining that.

So far, all my 322 models and the maroon 252s with cast wheels have had the lines in the window units. I have not checked the badges but will update this another day on that topic.

Corgi Model Club: Austin A60 Corgi Motor School

 

The Corgi Model Club's release for April 2024 is something even us oldies will not be able to resist playing with! It's the Austin A60 De Luxe Saloon as the Corgi Driving School car complete with the enormous red thing on top which is not really like anything I remember seeing on driving school cars in those days but it does serve the purpose of allowing us the steer the car around our layout roads.

It was nearly 60 years ago, in June 1964,  when the original was released and it was very popular. We had had steering on the Bentley and Mercedes-Benz 220SE, far superior to anything that Dinky could offer, but this was one further step forward.

The re-issue is excellent and nothing strikes me as incorrect other than the prefect painting by Chinese children. The pleasantly pale blue colour is spot on and every aspect looks great. It even has the poor suspension at the front and very low ground clearance which, with the small wheels, made use on anything other than a smooth surface hard work.

The L plates are transfers not stickers and are exceedingly cleaner than any I have ever encountered! The letter L also looks slightly taller than it should be, or perhaps it is positioned closer to the edge and Corgi logo than on an original. I do not have an original to hand but it doesn't look quite right to me. These are minor points and do not detract from the overall excellence of this issue.

When I decided to spend a little money rebuilding my own collection in 2012 I knew nothing about Ebay and the only place I thought I might be able to buy models was the NEC, where model toy events were held from time time. I visited one with a friend and this Austin A60 was one of the first two models I bought. An original in very good condition but no box cost me £25. The other model, incidentally, was a Bentley Continental in black over silver, excellent and with a decent box but I paid a crazy £225 for that! But that's another story. I eventually discovered more reasonable prices.

In the box with this model you will find two chunks of plastic foam to protect the bonnet and boot and the car itself is wrapped in a larger piece of thin soft paper. There is a single-sided sheet with instructions how to steer the model and another with red highlighting, entitled the Corgi Junior Highway Code, with some examples of how to do something, just like was illustrated in the real Highway Code in 1964. There is even a guide to indicate the width of a typical road in the same scale as the model so you could make your driving tests more realistic for activities like three-point-turns and reversing around a corner.

I honestly don't remember seeing these documents when I had mine at the age of 11. I did manage to hang on to most of the boxes in those days but seldom the documents included. 

How long, I wonder, will it be before we see a 255 edition in Left Hand Drive and a darker shade of blue? As I recall, the L boards are in the same position so it is merely a different interior and finish that is required. Of course L may not mean a great deal in other countries other than America and the British Commonwealth but it still sold pretty well abroad from the figures I have read. About 1 million were made of both types and a third were LHD. Despite that number, they're quite hard to find now in the UK in decent condition although I suppose if you have a friend in Europe they'll be able to help.

Corgi Toys @ 60: Simca 1100 Coupé and a Milk Float

 

April 1964 sees a Simca 1100 Coupé arrive on the shelves at your local toy shop.

It probably won't have been the blue on in the box, however, unless you were incredibly lucky, as the vast majority of this issue were in a liquid silver type of finish.

It was a very simple model and one of a couple that had been intended to start a 'low price' range - models that would be attractive but much cheaper to produce and so could be sold for lower prices. The other model was the NSU Sport Prinz. I would imagine that the silver finish would have been more expensive though so maybe the blue ones were for that initial cheaper release idea. Suffice it to say that the blue ones are very scarce and sell for several hundred pounds whenever they do appear.

All models had a RN8 stripe decal on the bonnet, extending over the roof and onto the boot. They had an interior and suspension, shaped wheels and that's it!

The other release this month 60 years ago was 466, the Commer Milk Float. You will, of course, recognise this from the Gift Set 24 Commer Construction Set but this has its base attached and cannot be removed, with a different design so the two should not be confused.

No milkman was in the box with this one and the colours were always pale blue and white, with a red interior and suspension. The wheels were aways shaped on this edition. Much later, in 1971, there will be a Co-Op promotion through which you might have been able to send some vouchers and get one of these models with Co-Op stickers on the doors and all those models had cast wheels and were supplied in a blank brown box. It is a different model, albeit just a way of using up old castings, I guess. There was also a Co-Op van and Scammell Truck in the same promotion, but more about that in a few years' time. For now I just wanted to make it clear that the April 1964 edition did not get cast wheels and, whilst it really does look like a Co-Op edition, it isn't.

There may be more Jeep FC-150s than you think!

In April 1959 the strange little Jeep FC-150 appears. FC stands for 'Forward Control' which I can only guess refers to the driver sitting above the front axle and the engine mounted much further back than had been the case for most trucks and cars previously with their long bonnets. It helped the truck's manoeuvrability and had good traction for climbing. It was a 4-wheel drive vehicle but not something that was common on UK roads so an odd model to issue.

Corgi didn't supply a hood with early models, much as they didn't with the first Land Rovers and they were all light blue. Although there was not much in the catalogue to attach, it did have the usual tin hook so there was some good play value in filling the back with stuff and towing a trailer.

The spare was mounted in such a way that you couldn't actually get at it!

To me the casting is a little different to most other Corgis, The door outline, for example is raised rather than inset and the base design is unusual. I wondered whether they had to use a different method for this one for some reason but it may just have been one of those things.

The model did stay in the dealers' order lists until 1965 and is one of the few models which can be found with smooth wheels, fixed shaped wheels and free-spinning wheels. The last, shown above on a model I have just acquired, are quite scarce and would have required a different piece of equipment for the wheels to be fitted. Instead of having a sort of press which pushed the wheels on to the axle the ladies would now be operating some device which produced the enlarged radius dome to keep the wheel in place.

I cannot quickly think of another model car or truck that had no interior or suspension but which had all three wheel types. There is the flatbed trailer which had all three and the Gift Set 14 edition of the Jeep can be found with the three variants but that's all. The red Jeep with the Hydraulic Tower, lamp and Electrician is also scarce with the late wheel type and worth looking out for as sellers who don't read my articles will almost certainly have no idea of this!

The Gift Set 14 edition appeared in February 1961 so only the early editions will have smooth fixed wheels. They are, though, much more common than the free-spinning ones merely because the vast majority of models would have been produced at the outset with just a trickle coming from the factory thereafter. This model did cease in 1964 too so will be harder to find with the free-spinning wheels, in theory, than the 409.

In March 1965 the truck is revised as model number 470 and gets suspension, an interior, a plastic rear canopy, a plastic hook and a fresh coat of mustard or blue paint. The mustard one will nearly always have a red interior and I have yet to see a lemon interior in that colour. The blue edition, much more blue than the pale blue of the 409, can have either lemon or red and they seem pretty evenly distributed. There is also Gift Set 64 edition with a working conveyor unit installed in the back in June 1965. Confusingly for collectors, this is in the same red as the old Gift Set 14 model and, where the conveyor mechanism has fallen off, the remaining model can look initially like either a red 470 or a 409 with interior and suspension!

In December 1965 the Gift Set 14 edition now appears as simply number 478 without the lamp standard but it does, for a while have the electrician. At some point, and I don't know when, the electrician chap is removed too. The Jeep does get a nice metallic green paint job, suspension and an interior and the interior can be either lemon or a quite hard to find red.

The Gift Set 14 box included the red, no suspension, no interior Jeep with a lamp standard and an electrician figure.

The first 478 boxes show that the electrician is included.

As can be seen below, however, later 478s do not include the figure (although the person selling the one illustrated has included it!) Perhaps he did continue to be slipped in to some? I can hardly imagine an order from the bosses going out to the factory floor that from a particular date no more electrician figures were to be added to the boxes. Corgi didn't sell the figure separately so if there were any lying around when the boxes were being put together then I am sure some will have still made it to the outside world. 

Finally the 470 gets another revision with the addition of cast wheels in 1968 and a different shade of blue becomes available too. I have seen darker blue 470s with both shaped and cast wheels so it appears that the colour change did not coincide with the wheel change. Again, with both interior colours.

The 478 in metallic green may have a grey-painted boom or (initially shiny) bare mazak. This model ceased being supplied in 1968 but had cast wheels fitted at the very end of its production. I have not seen many and need to add this to my own collection but the cast wheel was a common enough type in the late 1960s so there will be some around.

So, there's quite a few Jeeps to collect, including some satisfyingly scarce editions so the 'set' won't be that easy to complete!

Updated 31/3/24. Thanks to John Bowyer for some corrections and interesting advice about the electrician figure!