1908 New York-Paris race: the inspiration of the Wacky Races TV Show

the cartoon series that appeared on ORTF in 1969, “wackly races” produced by the Hanna-Barbera company.

It was inspired by the Blake Edwards film “The Great Race Around the World”. But it was the car race between New York and Paris in 1908 that inspired the filmmaker.

An extraordinary adventure organized jointly by the newspaper “Le Matin” and the “New York Times”. The challenge consisted of reaching Paris from New York in the middle of winter. You have to imagine the infrastructure of the time. In the United States, competitors used railway lines to guide them.

The Thomas Flyer was the first to reach San Francisco… it was the first time that a car had traveled the great American West in winter. Once it arrived by boat in Japan, the crossing of Mount Fuji and its narrow bends forced the competitors to play with pickaxes. The Siberian plains, soaked after the snow melt, impassable and unsafe, led the German competitor on his Protos to put his vehicle on a wagon… he will be given a thirty-day penalty. At the finish, it is the American car, the Thomas Flyer, which will win even though it arrived after the Protos.

It is understandable that these adventures inspired a filmmaker and later a cartoon. In the cartoon, Dick Bastardly and his dog Muttley use tricks and dirty tricks to take the victory. Inevitably, it backfires…

this week the reproduction of the racing car driven by the two characters is offered for sale. It is a Corgi Toys from 1973 that deserves some comments. Since Dinky Toys stole the license for the series produced by Gerry Anderson in 1966, Corgi Toys has been marking time on this type of product. Yet this is what had established its worldwide reputation with the Saint’s Volvo followed by Goldfinger’s Aston Martin in 1965.

Like all toy companies, Corgi Toys was faced with the problem of the end of the decade, that of the lowering of the age of its buyers. This is confirmed by looking at the new models linked to a license that the Swansea company offered:

In 1968, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Noddy’s car (Oui Oui) were released. In 1971, it was the series of models of the Magic Roundabout (three elements) and Basil Brush’s car (the fox).

And finally, in 1973, Dick Bastardly’s car.

All these products were intended for a very young clientele. We collectors welcomed them into our windows, with an innocent eye and a broad mind. I remember a seasoned collector, having warned my father and me of the certain rarity of these products, advising us to acquire them without delay…we did, because they were part of the history of the brand but also for the playful aspect of these models in the window. It was much later that I analyzed the history of their design. 

his week Poppeye’s car is also for sale.

It is rare.

It fits into the logic described above. We are still in the world of the cartoon. It is clearly the American market that was targeted. The design of the model must have been expensive. It has always been sought after. 

If you prefer the great “classics” we also have on the program a late Batmobile, delivered in a window box. This model has enjoyed great success, deserved, and a very long career. This latest version is difficult to obtain, especially with a box in good condition.

Let’s stay with Corgi Toys.

Three models from the beginning of the adventure are on sale.

Did Dinky Toys measure when launching this brand the danger it represented for its dominant position on the market? Did it take this competitor seriously?

Reading the memories of Marcel Van Cleemput from the design office, we are surprised by the extent of the work carried out before the release of the first miniatures. The goal was clear from the start: to dethrone Dinky Toys. But how to do it?

Firstly, it was necessary to bring something more to the miniatures compared to those available on the market: these were the glazing (a first) and the friction mechanisms.

Secondly, it was necessary to be competitive on the sale prices. Corgi Toys will play on the quantity produced, with a moderate profit on each product. For this, tricks have been found. If you look at the first models, you must have noticed that they are quite similar in size. However, the Riley, an imposing saloon, was reproduced on a scale smaller than 1/43 while the Hillman Husky “small car” was reproduced on a scale larger than 1/43. This made it possible to harmonize the range. Technically, Corgi Toys did not hesitate to innovate. On the same press, Mettoy could inject four chassis at once…or 8 windows. The production rate quickly increased from 240 injections per hour to 800! Everything was planned. The molds were engraved in Germany in three different workshops.

Thirdly, to build customer loyalty, it was necessary to announce an ambitious program: one new product per month, no less. Corgi Toys would adopt a commercial policy that was the opposite of that of Dinky-Toys Liverpool. There was no question of keeping the models in the catalog for long. I can’t help but think of the Dinky Toys single-seaters with front engines dating from the early fifties that were still in the catalog in the mid-sixties. The management of Corgi Toys had also noticed that after three years in the catalog, sales of most models were dropping significantly. So there is always a need for something new in the catalog.

This week’s three models are a perfect example.

 Corgi has just stopped the friction mechanical models and is replacing its rather tame versions from the beginning of the adventure with lively two-tone versions. Dinky Toys, piqued by this, will go further in the color harmonies, sometimes “daring” (Austin Devon, Austin Somerset, etc.). Although they are a great pleasure to us today, I still wonder about the reception reserved for these models by the very conservative part of the Liverpool clientele (see blog on Austin Devon).

Another interesting Corgi Toys, a MG “B” GT in a “racing” livery borrowed from the chrome Jaguar E-Type is offered for sale.

I like this type of variant because it results from a certain manufacturing method of the toy manufacturers, according to which “Nothing is thrown away”.

This very rare variation seems to have been made with the decals left over when production of the model for which they had been designed, the Jaguar E-Type competition, was stopped. The remaining sheets were applied to this MG, to the great delight of collectors much later! Other models are listed in this way, proving that this is not an accident but a small series.

Rereading the letter that the BB Lorrain section sent in 1958 to Mr. Rio, who managed the Club Dinky Toys France, I note that the management did not know how to listen to the many requests from customers. Mr. Chanu, who presided over the smooth running of the company, may not have had a free hand to act. However, it seems that Meccano France was beginning to have a certain autonomy of action in relation to Liverpool. As proof, this Junior series that never existed in Great Britain.

This week three models from the series will be offered.

But collectors seized on this original range which allows models from the “500” series to be declined in the “24” series style.

They are difficult to obtain new in boxes, because the enthusiasts of the time snubbed them. A recurring phenomenon in the history of collecting miniature cars… it will be the same with the Corgi Toys Whizzwheels!

Let’s get back to Mr. Chanu.

It is often difficult after a long career to question oneself. I wonder about one point: would the changes of direction made by the new management and Mr. Hennequin in the mid-sixties have saved Dinky Toys France if they had been taken a few years earlier, at the time for example when the club members sent their wishes and comments?

I note that the arrival of Mr. Hennequin corresponds to a change of direction. Dinky Toys France will have Solido as its marker. When the fast wheels will appear in Liverpool or at Corgi Toys, Dinky Toys France will remain like Solido, faithful to the “model” spirit by equipping its models, certainly with needle axles but with beautiful wheels. Racing and sports cars will be offered. In the military series, GMC, Dodge, and Renault Sinpar will rejuvenate the range and make us forget the 80 series.

Among these models, the Opel GT which is on the menu this week. 

  Its line is successful.

Solido went further with the pivoting headlights. Dinky Toys also has opening doors. Bobigny has also made great progress on the latter with the arrival of Claude Thibivilliers. This Opel GT has a finely reproduced accessory, delivered separately, a chrome plastic luggage rack, fashionable equipment at the time. A nice anecdote about this model.

About twenty years ago, Mr. Jouin’s son came to buy this Opel in my shop to offer it to his father who had illustrated the box. The latter was very fond of this miniature because he had owned the real one, in this color. He regularly came to the factory with it. The registration that appears on the drawing and on the plates of the miniature are those of his car. Better. Look at the drawing: we see a character with a moustache: it’s a self-portrait! This miniature is close to my heart for this beautiful anecdote!

My favorite for the three Top 43/Solido on sale during the coming week.

They mark an era, the eighties. Rereading the articles devoted to model car making (focused on competition) that Jean-Marc Teissedre of BAM regularly published in Auto Hebdo, and this since its creation in 1976, I remembered a whole era.

Jean-Marc, whom I knew well, explained all the interest of these competition models, derived from large series miniatures.

These Solido 2, Record/Solido or Top43/Solido were intended for those who could not assemble and paint kits, who did not have the space, the possibility or the talent to do so. The kits have never been within everyone’s reach, and I have often met amateurs, frustrated at not having been able to assemble their kit correctly. You have to reread the articles where, with his southern verve, Jean-Marc knew how to distribute the good and bad points. The concept of these models based on Solido is simple, you just had to think about it. It is like the cars reproduced. Let me explain. In those years, there was still a national motorsport with championships accessible to private drivers. Group 1 or 2 car races brought together vehicles derived from the trade. Depending on their homologation sheet, bodywork and mechanical transformations were allowed, subject to a code published by the international federation. In the eighties, the production championship in France brought together Peugeot 505s, Renault Fuegos, BMW 530s and Alfa Romeo GTVs. Solido having these cars in its catalog, there was only one step to take to provide the collector with these racing cars. As with the real ones, Record or Top 43 had bodywork parts (spoiler, wing) made of plastic, which were easily adaptable. Then, they published very faithful decoration sheets. To make life easier for enthusiasts, the miniatures were painted in the exact color of the cars they reproduced.

models on sale this week  : Solido Top 43 Renault Fuego facom 82 0031

 Finally, these miniatures were equipped with turned rims with inserts. These docile Renault Fuego or BMW 530 were transformed into racing beasts, faithful to those that regularly competed on the circuits of the French championship. These Top43/Solido of the week synthesize the idea of ​​modeling accessible to the greatest number thanks to quality products, easy to transform and sold at reasonable prices.

models on sale this week : Solido Top 43 Renault Fuego Igol 0033

These criteria guided Jean-Marc Teissèdre throughout his professional activity and his writings. He fought so that it would go in this direction. I wanted to pay tribute to him for everything he did for modeling for more than 40 years.