Discover a selection of models that will be on sale this week from tomorrow Monday, June 16, 2025 until Thursday, June 19 on our website AUTOJAUNE COLLECTION
en vente cette semaine: Mercury – Lancia Appia 14 – Dinky Toys GB – Renault Dauphine minicab 268 – Corgi Toys – Auto Batmobile Mercury 267 – Bianchina Panoramica 11 –
I remember...
…of a little old gentleman who came to see me regularly at the store in the 1990s. He invariably wore a three-quarter-length jacket and a hat screwed on his head.
I still remember his blue eyes and his kind smile. He always arrived with a shopping bag full of toys. He had run a newsagent’s in the 1960s near Porte de Montreuil.
When he stopped working, he kept the unsold items at home. He came to see me every two months; it gave him a little extra money to supplement his retirement. A few Solidos, models from the end of the 100 series, military vehicles, Series 10s, Age d’Ors—nothing extraordinary. A few Corgi Toys too, and…one day, a Renault C-I-J 120hp tow truck.
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Renault 120cv dépanneuse 3-83
This model seemed like an antique compared to the other products on offer. When I asked him, he cleverly realized that this model was interesting.
I remember asking him if he had any others. He brought me five, in five batches, spread out over subsequent visits.
This model was already rare nearly forty years ago. It was the result of a makeshift project. The Briare-based company used the boom attached to the hopper of its “Sablière de la Loire” set and attached it to the rear of its Renault 120hp tractor on a specially designed circular part.
It drew from its stock of Renault 120hp tractors, a red Shell semi-trailer, or a gray one towing the “atomic pile.”
These trucks were no longer in the catalog, and one imagines that it was given the large inventory that management decided to use them as the basis for its tow truck.
Shell tanker trailers were then assembled with the more modern Saviem JL20.
This recovery truck therefore borrows the colors of both versions: its cab can only be red or gray, with, of course, the “Bourgey Montreuil” marking for exceptional transport.
C-I-J Saviem JL20 dépanneuse Collection AutoJaune
The Briare-based company first painted the stem black. It appears in the catalog, and this is the version we’re offering this week. Then, in its creative spirit, it expanded it to red, blue, green, turquoise, yellow, and black… which means that the enthusiast can practically combine the two cab colors and the six stem colors! I’m currently working on nine variations… if you’re interested in finding them, I advise you to start without delay, as it took me nearly fifty years to collect all nine examples.
It’s an extraordinary truck. It’s ugly and not very credible. However, you have to appreciate its endearing history and consider it a product of the ingenuity of this small French company.
Please note that I recently discovered a final and rare variation.
At the very end of its existence, around the 1960s, having exhausted its stock of Renault 120hp, C-I-J then used its Saviem JL20 to continue offering small dealers this “breakdown truck” which was to be negotiated at a low price on the professional rate. Without glazing, like the Renault 120hp, keeping the red color, the Birare firm was content to slightly modify the mounting system of its stem. I came across a few examples of this rare product. My seller had only had Renault 120hp
several very interesting C-I-J
This week we have several very interesting C-I-Js.
First, two models originally designed by JRD, the competing firm. When JRD ceased operations, imposed by the American firm Johnson, which had acquired the Jex group, of which JRD was a part, the latter transferred its spare parts inventory to C-I-J. This allowed the Briare-based firm to “inflate” its catalog at little cost.
It was during this period that the rarest models were designed, hybrid models that borrowed original JRD parts until stocks were exhausted.
We have a rare Citroën 1200kgs police car.
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Citroën 1200Kgs police 3-89
The Briare firm seems to have quickly run out of “JRD” chassis. So, they designed a completely smooth chassis. Time was pressing, and they certainly couldn’t afford to waste their money.
To give this police version a touch of modernity, they placed the silver-colored plastic sign decorated with a “police” decal, originally designed for their “police wagon” set, in front of the flashing light.
They equipped their Citroën with “homemade” aluminum rims; the stock of JRD zamac rims that equipped the original had been used until it was exhausted on the Citroën Traction. Finally, they used their available stock of “police” decals.
For our collector’s pleasure, they mixed these decals. I remember being jealous of Mr. Nakajima, who lined up three different decal variations in one of his books! (The variations always concern those affixed to the “small sign” on the right-hand side.)
It took me forty years to obtain all three variations.
C-I-J les trois variantes de décalcomanies pour le Citroën 1200Kgs police de chez C-I-J Collection AutoJaune
The other model offered this week, also from JRD, is the Berliet TLR Kronenbourg semi-trailer. The orange-red shade, which does not exist at JRD, and the plastic rims are its main characteristics that differentiate it from the original JRD. Quickly running out of zamac wheels equipping the trailer stand, C-I-J will then use plastic rims from a Renault 4CV. As with its Renault breakdown truck described above, be aware that when the stock of original JRD Berliet tractors was exhausted, the Briare firm used its Saviem JM240 tractor and coupled it to the Kronenbourg semi-trailer. This shows that it had recovered a stock of trailers much larger than that of Berliet tractors, which is logical. Indeed, this body served simultaneously as a “van” with the Unic Lautaret and as a trailer. We can imagine that it had injected a greater number of them than Berliet tractors.
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Berliet TLR semi fourgon Kronenbourg 3-77
For this she had to modify her hitch system (see the blog “one last one for the road”). This is surely the rarest C-I-J ever produced. She will even print a label affixed to the tongues.
Extrait du blog AutoJaune Un dernier pour la route à lire ICI
Continuing with the rare pieces from Briare, we also have a superb metallic brown Citroën ID19 ambulance produced for the French Red Cross, which, at the time, ordered numerous products from toy manufacturers.
She even went so far as to have a rather ungainly but rare Renault ambulance made! I don’t know the name of the manufacturer of this 1:43 scale plastic toy made for the French Red Cross.
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Citroën ID19 break ambulance croix rouge 3-41
My favorite three fire engines from Tekno
My favorite is these three Tekno fire engines, which take me back to my distant past as a collector. I was at Sandown Park on the weekend of May 17, 2025. After negotiating the purchase of a sumptuous Taylor and Barret truck from David Pressland, the latter opened his photo album for me.
Tekno ensemble de Ford V8 et autres Triangel de chez Tekno Collection AutoJaune
David Pressland is a pioneer of collecting. He first built a very fine collection of 1/43 scale models in the 1960s. Then, he happily turned to collecting tin toys, selling his 1/43 scale models.
He has thus amassed one of the finest toy collections in the world. Demanding and knowledgeable, he traveled the world to achieve this goal. Then, ten years ago, he recalled his early joys with 1/43 scale toys. The passion was still there. Better still, he decided to rebuild a small 1/43 scale collection made up of his favorites: almost exclusively pre-war models. Dinky Toys, Taylor & Barret, a few Ford and Triangel trucks from Tekno, and even a Cadillac Eldorado Mercury!
All this in the middle of toys from the last century…seeing these 1/43 in majesty in the middle of this exceptional collection of toys, I said to myself that these models had their place in a museum and that their plastic beauty had nothing to envy of a Märklin ocean liner or a tin car from Carette. They are worthy of interest and respect.
modèle en vente cette semaine : Tekno – Triangel camion grande échelle ZR 485
Know how to appreciate them. This large Triangel ladder is one of those pieces that marked their era with its innovations and quality of execution. Open your eyes, there’s still time, and know how to take advantage of it. Low prices are a unique opportunity. I could say the same for the Volvo N88 tow truck. A superb success.
modèle en vente cette semaine : Tekno – Volvo N88 dépanneuse Falck 436
At the time I declined the numerous versions due to the fact that this model had a long career.
modèle en vente cette semaine : Tekno – VolkswagenKombi pick up échelle pompier 404
Vincent Espinasse
also on sale this week
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