I remember…my jubilation when I watched Billy Wilder’s film “Some Like It Hot” at the thought of the potential I could get from it for the weekly blog. A musician falls under the spell of Marylin Monroe, playing the role of a revue singer, and sets out to seduce her.

It was when he saw shells on the beach that he decided to pretend to be a rich heir to this company. It was the line where the latter believed herself abandoned by the cowardly seducer: “There will always be a Shell station on the corner of my street” that triggered the creation of this blog.

Tekno, which had close ties with Shell, had offered a series of vehicles, accessories and service stations in the colors of the oil company.

The Volvo N88 Shell tanker semi-trailer and these service stations had served as a support for this blog. It is the same Volvo that is being offered for sale this week. This first version, equipped with chrome steel rims and headlights, is sublime.

There are two very different shades of yellow.

Another very beautiful Volvo N88 is on the menu. It is a great classic. The subtle harmony of colors makes it one of the most successful Volvo Tekno cover trucks. It was by seeing the copper-colored plate and the Titan logo in the wooden elevator shaft of my hotel in Copenhagen that I was able to identify the sector of activity of this firm.

A Ford Taunus and a Scania dropside will also be available in the name of this company at Tekno. There must have been commercial links between these two firms. Other Volvo trucks are also on offer this week.

Two Volvo Express including a luminous Muus that always has its effect in the window.

The wooden prototype of this refrigerated body had been assembled to a Volvo N88 with a long wheelbase.

The model is very successful, but will remain at the prototype stage. Tekno will use this body only for its Volvo Express. The refrigerated body will be recycled a little later in a fire engine version.

Finally, a beautiful Volvo coach in the colors of the city of Zurich is also planned.

This very elegant car can constitute a collection in itself.

In the eighties, many of us were interested in it. There are many variations, there are more than a hundred, and the result in the cabinet is spectacular.

This week, about ten empty boxes are scheduled.

A person unfamiliar with the world of miniature collecting could, seeing these boxes for sale among the other scale models, conclude that this is a separate collection theme: we collect empty boxes like we collect miniatures.

I wonder if one day I will not end up selling an empty box to an amateur, just for the graphics, the colors or the shape of the latter.

I think that will happen.

It is certain that in the majority of cases they are much rarer than the models that go with them.

White and blue striped Supertoys boxes made of strong cardboard are on the program. Admit that in the background of the cabinet case they look gorgeous ! 

The ID Ambulance box from C-I-J allows the car to be highlighted. It then has a completely different look. The Europarc box of the Saviem Mobil is a product that is difficult to obtain. When will it be back on sale? If you have the truck, don’t hesitate.

Store price tags are an added bonus.

The names of department stores, prices in currencies that have disappeared are part of the charm of acquiring a box.

They help to situate the models.

I also like the little messages from grandparents for a birthday, Christmas, a lost tooth, a good report card. The dates and places of acquisition can also contribute to the pleasure.

This week a very classic model, a Delahaye large fire ladder is on sale with a small label. At the start of production, Dinky Toys will print a label praising the justified quality of the model. Few people thought to keep it and not all the models had it. You all have the Delahaye but do you have this label? It is true that if like Mr. Gougeon you have 15 Delahayes that makes 15 labels to find. Good hunting…I have five Delahayes and they all have their labels!

About twenty years ago at the shop I noticed a phenomenon that had me wondering.

Customers, collectors of miniatures, therefore car enthusiasts, no longer recognized the cars driving on the streets.

The trivialization of shapes, the loss of visual identity of manufacturers and the very rapid renewal of ranges seemed to be the cause. Even Mercedes had lost their radiator grille and their star. There was enough to disorient car enthusiasts.

When I saw the week’s program composed of a beautiful range of Italian cars, I immersed myself in my youth, at a time when you could immediately identify a car.

There was even a pleasure in recognizing an unusual car in city traffic.

This is the case with certain Lancias. The transalpine manufacturer has always offered its customers racy cars.

This week a Flaminia Politoys and a Flavia Mercury are on the program. You can recognize them immediately.

I also have a crush for popular cars and Fiats.

The Fiat 1800 on sale is adorned with more garish colours than the sober and elegant Flaminia described above.

This is also the charm of the toy. Too bad for reality. When choosing in the toy store, there was a levelling of prices and the child could acquire the Lancia Flaminia Politoys at the same price as the Fiat 1800 from the same manufacturer.

This is also another aspect of the magic of the toy world. If the name Mebetoys is associated with sports cars and other living room prototypes, the Milanese firm has also produced a very beautiful range of Fiats.

This week three 128 “rally” are on the program.

I like the concept of the time when car manufacturers, thanks to a few stickers, additional headlights and other small modifications transformed peaceful, popular models into exclusive cars, reserved for a younger clientele. These Mebetoys are superb.

 

More elitist, three Ferrari Dino Pininfarina prototypes are on the menu this week.

Be aware that a major variation exists. The model was produced with or without steering. It is a very well made model, superior to that offered by Mercury.

We’ve already said everything about the Lamborghini Miura produced by Solido.

A true masterpiece. An exceptional foundry.

Everything is adjusted to the millimeter, allowing for functional and reliable opening parts. T

he sleek line of the car is superbly rendered without being deformed by its openings.

We are at the top of the manufacturing of “model” type miniatures. So we’ve said everything about this model… not quite.

Nothing will be the same again after its release in 1968. The reason is the appearance in the USA of Hot Wheels the previous year, which will have as a repercussion the abrupt cessation of “model” type miniatures, the design and manufacture of which were very expensive. Consider that a year after the overwhelming success across the Atlantic of these Hot Wheels, sales of Corgi Toys, although at the height of its glory, will drop by 3 million units. Unprecedented for Corgi Toys, which had only known growth since its beginnings. Disoriented, probably vexed that these rustic, almost vulgar cars, with flashy paint, very low manufacturing costs, and generating large margins could steal the limelight.

Anglo-Saxon manufacturers will follow the popularization movement and stop expensive studies. Corgi Toys will lose its soul.

Solido will be less impacted. The French firm being little established across the Atlantic, it will continue, fortunately for us, on its merry way.

But it will no longer offer miniatures as sophisticated as the Miura to the public.