Discover a selection of models that will be on sale this week from tomorrow Monday November 18, 2024 until Thursday November 21 on our site
AUTOJAUNE COLLECTION
on sale this week: Corgi Toys – Volkswagen 1200’63 politie 492- Corgi Toys – Volkswagen 1200’63 polizei (Suisse Zürich) 492 – – Dinky Toys France – Opel Rekord 554 – Dinky Toys France – Panhard PL 17 547
I remember
…of the effect felt when leaving Nice airport one January morning a few years ago. Coming from the Paris region, the change of scenery was total. The clear blue sky, without clouds, the infinite sea, the bright light, the tropical vegetation gave me the feeling of having arrived in paradise.
I thought of what Henri Matisse had felt a century before, when he came, convalescent, to Nice in the middle of winter. He was to remain attached to this city all his life. Yves Klein, a native of Nice, would go even further by appropriating the blue of the sky, by approving “his” blue. The Klein blue reference IKB (international Klein blue). The latter declared to justify his creation “That day, while I was lying on the beach in Nice, I began to feel hatred for the birds that were flying here and there, in my beautiful blue cloudless sky, because they were trying to make holes in the most beautiful and greatest of my works”.
The color blue is omnipresent in the programming of the models of the week.
I have a special connection with this color that connects me to my childhood and the discovery of motorsport.
In the mid-sixties, racing cars still wore the colors assigned by international sports authorities to the nationality of the teams that entered them. This assignment dated back to the beginning of the last century. Racing cars competing for a French team wore the color blue. French motorsport fans had little reason to rejoice at the beginning of the sixties. The last victory at Le Mans by a blue racing car dates back to 1950: a Talbot Lago. Since then, the ACO had cobbled together regulations favoring French competitors for places such as the energy index. It had also created categories grouping together small-engine cars, a category in which French competitors excelled.
Then, under the impetus of the new oil company Elf and the missile manufacturer Matra, a new era began. A French driver symbolizes this period, Jean-Pierre Beltoise. This is the time when I began to take an interest in blue cars. Like many people of my generation, I was marked by the revival of French motorsport. We all know the outcome, world champion titles and victories at Le Mans.
In my collection of miniatures, the color blue weaves a link between my acquisitions. The DB Panhard barquette from Solido was “the” first model that I sought out with passion, just after acquiring the Shooting Star from CIJ. It’s 1975.
This DB will give me a hard time and I often think about it. This model is now easy to find. It characterizes this long period of scarcity and “small” class victories.
We don’t have any for sale this week…but we do have another Solido, dating from the mid-sixties that left a big impression on me: the Alpine A220 with its unique silhouette and globular headlights.
on sale this week : Solido – Alpine Renault 3L Le Mans1968 168
One detail characterizes it: it only has one opening door. The expected results were not there.
Alpine, still with the support of Elf will then concentrate on rallies, with the success that we know. This A220 will try, without success in rallying, with a truncated rear at the Cévennes criterium. Let’s stay in rallying and with Solido, who very intelligently will convert his superb R17 into a Morocco rally version.
on sale this week: Solido – Renault 17TS Rallye du Maroc 37
This Solido is a success. This car will win the American round of the World Rally Championship in 1974 with Jean-Luc Therier. It was a good idea that Solido had. To do this, it had to modify the engine hood. The boss was removed in order to apply the decoration. The road versions will therefore also see their appearance modified. We also have this road version, in a less common metallic blue shade
on sale this week : Solido – Renault 17TS 196
Pilen, who also had this car in his catalog, will be inspired by the Solido rally version and will offer his version with the second grille and its modified optics. We have both for sale. Two beautiful and original blue cars. The low prices are solid assets in favor of their acquisition.
on sale this week : Pilen – Renault 17 Gordini rallye de Monte Carlo M-292
elf
The French oil group Elf, created in 1966, will quickly develop in France thanks to a masterfully orchestrated advertising campaign.
The Willeme Horizon tanker truck from Solido decorated with the famous Elf logo, composed of a red dot and two red and blue drill bits, on sale this week is contemporary with the launch of the oil company.
on sale this week: Dinky Toys GB – Austin A105 176
The logo, modern for the time, has stood the test of time. The advertising campaign, followed by a proactive commitment to motorsport, will boost the image of this oil company in the eyes of the general public and make other French oil companies such as Antar, Total or Azur look old.
All people of my generation remember the gifts offered at Elf stations, in particular the A4 photos of blue racing cars in the colors of the oil company and drivers wearing overalls and helmets proudly displaying the Elf logo. They inspired speed and dynamism. They will make more than one young person dream and inspire vocations. Elf had decided to get involved at all levels of motorsport. From the driving school, to the R8 Gordini Cup that it would sponsor, to the financial and technical support for the top French teams, Alpine and Matra.
Collection personnelle : Modelisme Matra MS80 GP France 1969 et Tyrrell 001 GP USA 1971 (cadeau de Geoff Goodson)
Collection Personnelle AutoJaune – ensemble de Matra et Pygmée portant les couleurs Elf toutes reproduites par RD Marmande (Merci pour tout Mr Daffaure)
In order to promote French motorsport, Elf, with Renault as a partner, will organize the Renault 8 Gordini Cup from 1966.
This cup will be a popular success and will see future champions, such as Jimmy Mieusset, Réné Metge or Marc Sourd, crowned. Dinky Toys and Norev had the Renault 8 in their catalogs.
By slightly modifying their miniatures, by adding two headlights and two white stripes, they will offer the young public a successful replica of the R8 Gordini.
This week the Norev version is scheduled. It is quite difficult to obtain. I like the gold-colored strip surrounding the transparent case which distinguished this box from the others. In 1971, the cup will be contested with R12 Gordinis.
on sale this week: Norev – Renault R8 Gordini 68
Both manufacturers also have the peaceful 12 sedan in their catalogs, so they will start the operation again. This week we have the one from Dinky Toys for sale. It is a success. Dinky Toys has offered a realistic version, without bumpers, with headlight optics highlighted in yellow for the most beautiful effect.
on sale this week : Dinky Toys Spain – Renault 12 Gordini 1424G
The miniature is ready to take on the circuits. These races were sometimes virile, with numerous collisions and off-road exits. The peloton races are always spectacular and lively. So we also programmed a Citroën ID ambulance from Norev (a success… superior in my eyes to the Dinky Toys) in case the jousts ended badly.
on sale this week : Norev – Citroën ID19 break ambulance 40
mercury blu
Let’s stick with the color blue, but let’s skip the Alps.
Blue is the most popular color in Italy according to a survey conducted at the European level. It
is the favorite color of a majority of people surveyed on the old continent. But the proportion of people attached to this color is even higher in Italy. This has not always been the case. For the Romans, it was a symbol of bad life, and associated with barbarian peoples, especially the Germans, who had sacked Rome several times. Its symbolism would improve over the centuries. The first reason was technical. The pigments (indigo among others) used in its composition would become more accessible, less difficult to obtain. Venice would take charge of bringing these components from Asia.
It is therefore logical that among Italian manufacturers of scale models, this color is omnipresent, to the point of seeing many shades of blue appear, especially at Mercury.
This week we have no less than four Mercurys in blue!
The Fiat 1100 is a model that I am particularly fond of. You can line up an impressive number of variants and arrange them on the Fiat car carriers designed for this purpose.
on sale this week : Mercury – Fiat 1100 seconde calandre 13
The enthusiast must deal with the following variations: grille with bars (added then molded), oval grille, rims (painted then chromed), headlights (added then molded), chassis (painted then chromed) … and an infinite palette of colors. The kind of miniatures that accompany you all your life. More than forty years after the beginning, I still find some … I just need the space to display them.
The example for sale is pale blue with added headlights, an oval grille and a painted chassis. This color suits it very well.
on sale this week: Mercury – Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint 3
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta sprint is easier to collect. You can still line up about fifteen color variants including 5 blue ones.
Personal collection : palette de bleu Mercury Alfa Romeo Giulietta sprint et 1900 Collection Personelle AutoJaune
For the Bianchina, you will have to think about combining the shades of blue with those of the pavilion. The one proposed is pale blue and gray. This same base, pale blue, can receive a different pavilion color… lighter or darker.
on sale this week : Mercury – Autobianchi Bianchina 6
Finally, we have a later design model, the Alfa Romeo Montreal. At the time of its production, manufacturers used metallic paints. This will limit the subtle variations in shade described above. I am not aware of any shade of metallic blue on this model. This miniature is an achievement that deserves attention.
on sale this week : Mercury Japon – Alfa Romeo Montreal Bertone 304
my favorite is this dropside truck from series 25 by Dinky Toys and its improbable French blue color.
My favorite for this dropside truck from the 25 series of Dinky Toys and its improbable blue France color.
It is a final version recognizable by its molded bumper and the color of its rims matching the bodywork.
model on sale this week: Dinky Toys France – Citroën 2cv Wegenwacht 562H
It is an aesthetic success. I like it because in the window it contrasts with the sometimes austere colours used after the war in Liverpool. We can see a form of renaissance there.
Personal collection : Dinky Toys camions 25 A et 25 B de couleur bleu Collection personnelle AUTOJAUNE 1
The prices of these models are now reasonable. It seems to me that many enthusiasts do not know how to see in the lasting drop in prices a real opportunity to acquire objects that they could not afford before.
Take advantage of it! Start series 25.
Personal collection : Dinky Toys camions 25 A et 25 B de couleur bleu Collection personnelle AUTOJAUNE
Vincent Espinasse
also coming this week
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