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Discover a selection of some models that will go on sale from tomorrow Monday the 7th of October until Thursday the 10th of October on our website AUTOJAUNE COLLECTION
on sale this week : Tekno Volkswagen Kombi Sonderborg Garn 413 Tekno Spot On MG A Cabriolet 104 Spot On Daimler SP250 215
i remember...
Seeing the presentation grid of the models scheduled this week and the predominance of red cars, all manufacturers combined, I remembered an anecdote.
Jean-Michel Roulet talks about it in his book dedicated to Dinky Toys France. Mr. Badaroux, who worked for almost 20 years in the Dinky Toys design office, also told me about it by chance during a conversation. I’ll tell you. Claude Thibivilliers had to present new projects to Mr. Hennequin, the company’s director, on a weekly basis. The latter very often validated the red color for these new models.
One day, during the presentation of a new model, tired of the monotony of his boss’s choices, he dared to duplicate all the models presented in the same red color. I never knew how the story ended!
For his part, Mr. Hennequin had elements that Claude Thibivilliers did not have. I had the chance to meet his son. The latter had explained to me that before succeeding Mr. Chanu, his father ran the paint manufacturing company that supplied Dinky Toys, among others… It was Mr. Chanu who had suggested that he apply to succeed him. He therefore knew this field well, and knew better than anyone the most popular colors.
The color red is thus omnipresent in all toy catalogs between 1960 and 1970. This week we have six Corgi Toys.
on sale this week : Corgi Toys Mercedes 600 247
Five are finished in red, with shades ranging from metallic cherry (Mercedes 600) to burgundy red (MG ‘B’).
on sale this week : Corgi Toys MG B GT 327
The exception is the Porsche Carrera 6 which could also have been red and white (this is the classic version) but which here receives an elegant navy blue and white finish. This color is rare, and seems to have been made for the American market.
on sale this week : Corgi Toys Porsche Carrera 6 330
The Mercedes 220se is finished in metallic champagne pink, a very original color, if not very credible! JRD also used this shade on his Mercedes 220se. There is a burgundy version of this Corgi Toys, much more classic, like at JRD!
on sale this week : Corgi Toys Mercedes 220se coupé 230
The fire engine version of the Chevrolet Impala receives a two-tone finish, red and white, which is very attractive. This is a late version, the first one, with a single-piece body, was solid red.
on sale this week : Corgi Toys Chevrolet Impala Fire Chief 482
Finally, the red paint of the Austin Healey convertible gives it a sporty look, which suits it well.
on sale this week : Corgi Toys Austin Healey 100 Cabriolet 300
metallized
Politoys was the first toy manufacturer to have generalized metallic paint on its range of miniatures at the beginning of the sixties.
This finish gave them an exclusive side, as on real cars. The problem to be solved was to reduce the glitter effect as much as possible.
I remember the kits assembled in the eighties: the application of certain spray paints, initially made to restore scratches and other damage on cars, produced an unattractive visual effect on a 1/43 miniature.
We remember the significant additional price that the buyer agreed to when ordering a car for a metallic paint. Dinky Toys Liverpool will in turn adopt this type of finish, but a little later. Liverpool was often lagging behind and always had trouble questioning itself.
In a somewhat excessive manner, even fire engines will receive a luxurious metallic red dress. We remember the Ford Transit, Range Rover and other Berliet large fire ladder. Seeing this surge of metallic paint across the range, one can imagine that this had an impact on sales, or that Liverpool had negotiated large stocks that now needed to be used.
This week, a beautiful Rolls Royce Silver Shadow is on the program, finished in metallic red.
on sale this week : Dinky Toys Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 158
This miniature is quite difficult to obtain. Oddly enough, it was not imported to us unlike the other Rolls Royces.
This type of luxury vehicle was nevertheless popular with young buyers.
The Jaguar Type E, also on sale, is much later in this metallic ruby red finish. It is difficult to obtain. On display it closes the beautiful series of Type E, available in many colors. This model also seems to have been successful until the end of its production.
on sale this week : Dinky Toys Jaguar Type E 2+2 132
Mebetoys, a Milanese firm that appeared in 1966, a direct competitor of Politoys, will logically also use metallic paint. The shades of color will often be darker than those of Politoys.
I would tend to say that these firms have overexploited these metallic shades, sometimes to the detriment of the credibility of the model. But we must not forget that we are in the toy field and in this they reflect an era.
This week we have a metallic red Lotus Europa that I would dare to describe as rare. Metallic red was less used than metallic blue or metallic green at Mebetoys.
on sale this week : Mebetoys Lotus Europa A-39
rallye !
The Lancia Fulvia HF will enjoy great success in rallying at the end of the sixties, like the Porsche 911, the Opel Kadett and the Mini.
Mebetoys, which had the four models in its catalogue, will take advantage of this to decline a “Monte-Carlo 1968 rally” series.
At the time, the cars participating in this type of competition looked like those that we saw on the roads, and for a toy manufacturer the addition of a rally plate, additional headlights and a “rally” decoration was enough.
In this we can make the connection with Corgi Toys who also exploited this winter classic a lot.
Mebetoys will go a little further. In addition to a specific box, it will provide for these four miniatures a fold-out map of Europe, indicating the famous 1968 concentration route and its different starting points in the four corners of Europe. Once they arrived in Monte Carlo within the allotted time, the survivors took part in the final course in the Alps, a course made up of regularity tests and of course timed special tests.
Mebetoys, like Corgi Toys, will publish a box containing the four cars. It is a very rare piece that took me a long time to acquire.
personal collection AutoJaune Vincent Espinasse : Coffret Mebetoys Rallye 2
personal collection AutoJaune Vincent Espinasse : Coffret Mebetoys Rallye 2
personal collection AutoJaune Vincent Espinasse : Coffret Mebetoys Rallye 2
This week we have the Porsche 911 which also won this event in 1968. It was Porsche’s first victory in this rally. It is finished in red like the original. The Stuttgart firm had adopted this color at that time, for the cars it entered directly. The presence of the box and the famous fold-out map is a real plus.
on sale this week : Mebetoys Porsche 912 Rallye Monte Carlo A-33
If you prefer Italian cars, we also have the Lancia Fulvia, in a late livery, from 1973, in the colors of Marlboro cigarettes, finished in metallic red.
Mebetoys will keep this car in its catalog for a long time. It will even have an Alitalia version borrowed from the Lancia Startos that dominated the rally world for a few years.
on sale this week : Mebetoys Lancia Fulvia HF Marlboro A73
my favorite of the week for these 2 record cars from dinky toys
Since the creation of the automobile, the absolute speed record has been a challenge for engineers and mechanics, mainly of Anglo-Saxon origin, who saw in holding this record a form of world supremacy.
The English and Americans made this exercise their private hunting ground. The cars participating in this record hunt were quickly transformed into machines that had little to do with the function of an automobile in the primary sense of the term, that is to say a vehicle used to travel, to move from one point to another.
In France, at the beginning of the 1930s, manufacturers approached records from a different angle. They tackled distance and average hourly records on speed rings. These records were classified according to the engine capacity. The cars were derived from production models.
These records were very popular with the public and ensured significant commercial benefits for manufacturers. Citroën understood this well and took over the Citroën Rosalie adventure that the oil manufacturer Yacco had started in 1932, to praise the quality of its products.
Collectors of miniatures can measure the impact of these records by the large number of miniatures that toy manufacturers offered to their customers, proving their interest in this type of streamlined car.
on sale this week : DINKY TOYS DELAHAYE auto de records profilée 23B
Today’s two Dinky Toys belong to this type of record hunt. The first is a post-war reproduction of the Delahaye 135 (see the blog and Delahaye took on the competition). It is finished in red.
Dinky Toys France will mainly use this color after the war for its racing cars. When it resumed after the war, it was the Italian cars that dominated the competition.
In the absence of German cars, the Alfa Romeo 158 designed before the war could now show its potential. It would win the first two Formula 1 world championships. Maserati would release its 4clt in 1948. In 1947, a brand that is still talked about today, Ferrari, would appear in competition at Piacenza.
In short, the red color assigned to Italian competitors was the color that dominated the competitions at that time.
This explains Bobigny’s choice for its Dalahaye and its Hotchkiss borrowed from Liverpool. We also have the latter for sale, in its English version after the war, finished in a silver dress, much less common. These cars are a great collection theme.
Vincent Espinasse
on sale this week : DINKY TOYS HOTCHKISS auto profilée de record 23B
also coming this week :
