that when I opened my shop in 1984, many children from nearby schools came into the store with their parents and asked me if I had reproductions of Citroën 2CVs or Volkswagen Beetles. These cars were still part of the Parisian urban landscape. The round and soft shapes were their favorites. I was surprised when I heard the parents tell me about their child’s attachment to this type of car. Some were very proud of their offspring’s ability to identify them among the other vehicles. Nothing more normal. Later, I heard that the attraction to this type of shape was normal since it was close to that of the fetus, synonymous for many with a happy and protected time. In the streets today, the landscape has changed a lot. The soft curves have given way to aggressive and angular lines, revealing of the time.

I thought back to this anecdote when I saw the week’s program. Five Volkswagens are on the menu.

Let’s start with the oldest. A 1954 Tekno, equipped with an oval rear window. Long before Corgi Toys, Tekno marketed a series of miniatures reproduced on a scale smaller than 1/43. I see this as a clever way to save on raw materials. It should be noted that the Danish firm subcontracted its manufacturing. This explains the lack of consistency between this very beautiful series at around 1/45 (Triumph TR2, Austin Healey and other Volkswagens) and contemporary Dodge and Ford V8 trucks, which are charming but more rustic in design. This 1200’54 is full of charm. The shapes are well rendered, and even exaggerated. The model on offer deserves your full attention for its black color. This shade, generally reserved for luxury cars, seems unlikely for this popular car. Wiking also produced its VW in this shade, suggesting that it did indeed exist. We are in the world of toys. In the cabinet, it stands out among the other colors made by Tekno. I have rarely had it for sale.

The second model is a version from the early sixties produced by Norev. Rectangular window and indicators on the wings characterize this version from the early sixties. Norev will keep it in the catalog for a long time, understanding that the demand of young customers for this type of model would still be relevant.

The third is a Gama from the end of production. We are in the mid-seventies. The bronze color, well chosen, symbolizes this period. At the end of its European career, the Beetle became bourgeois. We remember the famous series decked out with a Rolls Royce grille, which caused a stir at the time and displeased the British luxury car company! They usually do not lack humor!

Finally, the last two versions offered this week are Corgi Toys. The first is a Swiss post version. The fact that it was only distributed in this country in limited quantities explains its rarity. For this, it received a very beautiful yellow paint job. The most interesting thing is elsewhere. Its wheels. At the time of the creation of the Whizzwheels (fast monobloc wheels mounted on a needle axle), it seems that Corgi Toys tried an intermediate solution: standard bronze-colored rims equipped with rubber tires. These rims equipped the Chevrolet Astro and the Ferrari Dino. The elegant red plastic rim at the hub highlighted them. A series of models was equipped with this type of rim. It is also possible that Corgi Toys saw this as a way of liquidating the stock before moving on to its Whizzwheels rims.

The second Corgi Toys on the menu, in “hippie” livery, is also equipped with these ephemeral rims. It cannot be denied that in addition to their rarity, visually they are very successful.

 

Solido had difficulty exporting to the large market that was the United States. The discounts required on massive orders always seemed to frighten Mr. De Vazeilles.

However, Solido innovated in the commercial field by forming alliances with several European manufacturers: Tekno (Denmark), Lone Star and Airfix (Great Britain), Dalia (Spain), Carrera (Germany) and Mebetoys (Italy).

Europe before its time.

Solido thus distributed Mebetoys products on French territory, allowing the Milanese brand to benefit from its distribution network and even offering it pages in its catalog. It was still a daring move, especially at that time.

If Carrera and its road circuits did not enter into direct competition with Solido, the same cannot be said of Mebetoys and its carefully crafted products.

After being absorbed by Mattel in the late sixties, and having mounted monobloc wheels on a needle axle on some of its old models, Mebetoys, in the early seventies, made a spectacular comeback and offered zamac rims equipped with rubber tires with the most beautiful effect.

This change in policy raises questions. Was there a need to stand out from its Italian competitor Politoys, which had chosen to equip all its models with “fast” type wheels? It’s possible.

A beautiful series of Mebetoys, reproducing Italian cars from the seventies is on the menu this week.

An elegant Autobianchi A112, a cute Fiat 126 worthy heir to the Fiat 500 and a racy Alfa Romeo Alfasud are on offer. I can see them again in the Solido catalog.

 

If you prefer the “sputafuoco” series (monobloc wheels mounted on a needle axle), three models are also on the menu.

A revolutionary Chaparral 2J, surely the best reproduction of this car in miniature.

A Lola T212. There, the choice will be quickly made because only Mebetoys has reproduced it. As a child, I appreciated its articulated bodywork, giving a glimpse of the insides of the prototype.

The third one proposed is a “Mantis” with its bodywork straight out of the imagination of the Mebetoys design office. This car, post-sixty-eight, is very much in tune with the times. Excessive. This type of vehicle had its audience at that time. I was not part of it. Today I know that it has its place in the history of miniature cars.

Toy manufacturers have often had “exclusive” relationships with oil companies.

Rare are those, like Mercury with its Viberti truck, to have declined its miniature in the colors of several competing companies.

Dinky Toys France had a special link with Esso. We see that the Anglo-Saxon oil companies were the first to understand the interest of seeing their companies associated with the world of toys.

French oil companies, Antar or Total are almost absent from the world of toys. C-I-J, a French firm, has worked with BP and Shell.

This week three very beautiful vehicles produced by C-I-J in Shell colors are on the menu.

The models in Shell colors are so numerous that they can constitute a theme in their own right at C-I-J.

The Renault 1000kgs is splendid. C-I-J did not shy away from the difficulty and designed a particular stencil. This miniature reproduces a vehicle that Shell used. It was dedicated to the maintenance of gas pumps.

The Renault 120 hp semi-trailer is in tune. For your information, there is a version equipped with red rims, as shown on the case.

Finally, the Berliet is intriguing. This truck was omnipresent on the roads of France. C-I-J does not seem to have been afraid of upsetting the company with which it had a contract reserving the exclusivity of reproducing Renault models in zamac. It had the right to reproduce cars and trucks of other brands (Panhard, De Rovin … and this Berliet)

My favorite for the Saviem SG4 from Norev.

This discreet truck had a great commercial success.

It is part of our road landscape. Its wide distribution, over a long period (manufacturing under license will extend until 1998 in Czechoslovakia) makes it a familiar vehicle that belongs to our history.

It appears in almost all the street scenes of French films from the sixties to the eighties.

Norev will offer a splendid reproduction of this cabin born S7 in 1964. Several body variations have been made, all realistic.

The first cabins are equipped with round headlights (1965).

Norev will modernize its model by adapting the rectangular headlights that appeared on the truck in 1968

This week, three bodies equipped with the first headlights are offered for sale. Their ephemeral production makes them more difficult to find. These trucks do not have the success they deserve, perhaps because of their reproduction scale (1/43): the enthusiast sometimes hesitates to integrate them into a display case where most trucks are reproduced at 1/50. A little audacity, dare the Saviem Norev at 1/43!