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Discover a selection of models that will be on sale this week from tomorrow Monday September 29, 2025 until Thursday October 2 on our website AUTOJAUNE COLLECTION
en vente cette semaine: Marklin – Volkswagen Kombi 8008 – Spot On – Rolls Royce Silver Cloud 902- Marklin – Spot On – Rolls Royce Royale 260 – Volkswagen minibus 5524:14Z –
I remember...
Jean-Paul Juge is well known among professionals for having masterfully run Segem, a company dedicated to the distribution and importation of scale models. He managed the interests of Jacques Greilsamer.
I remember… the day he told me that the molds for the Champion models had been designed at 43 Cavendish Street, next to my shop located at 41. A wall separated the two premises. It was also in this workshop that many Dinky Toys molds were made. The 1/24 wooden models used to create the molds were designed in the same place, by André Fétu, whom Mr. Juge had known well when he was in charge of the production of Champion models. It was the latter who had made his own. If you’re interested in these stories, I invite you to read the various blogs devoted to the subject : « Le taulier », « L’excellence française » et « Le voisin du 43 ».
I thought about this when I saw the few Champion models offered this week. These models mark an important milestone in the history of miniature cars. You had to be as cunning as Mr. Juge and know your trade well to come up with six livery and color variations on the same base. These Ferrari 512Ms, Lola T70s, and Porsche 917s all existed, and the livery of each car corresponds to a very specific race.
When I was still a child, I would dream while reading the names of the prestigious circuits on which these cars had raced on the boxes. It took me on a journey: Nürburgring, Daytona, Monza…
modèle en vente cette semaine : Champion – Ferrari 512M Montjuich Le Mans 1971
modèle en vente cette semaine : Champion – Lola T70 Air Daytona 1969 (2ème)
modèle en vente cette semaine : Champion – Ferrari 512M Gelo Le Mans 1971
What could be done to increase production and make a mold profitable, without it being obvious to retailers? Offer six Lolas, but in six different colors, each more attractive than the last. The buyer forgot that he had the same car in front of him. Mr. Juge distributed his products in folding cardboard boxes of 24. The box also served as a display. He would then plan series of six models under plastic film for small points of sale. Mr. Juge was a skilled professional; he had hired teams of salespeople paid by the number of products placed. I remember that the bakery next to my house had long had Champion displays on its counter.
Présentoir Champion Collection AutoJaune
Présentoir Champion Collection AutoJaune
Présentoir Champion Collection AutoJaune
This week we also have three single-seaters that competed in the 1975/1976 seasons. They mark the end of the adventure. They are superb, faithful, and well-designed.
But with this type of product, Champion cannot multiply the number of versions as with sports prototypes. Few single-seaters enjoy a second life in private teams. It will therefore be necessary to offer a substantial field to create new demand. The Lotus 72 was designed, but it will remain on the drawing board, just like the Porsche 935, which could have suffered the same fate as the glorious 917… but Champion will find itself in difficulty, abandoned by Elf, with whom it had just signed a contract guaranteeing it substantial financial inflows. At the time, contracts did not provide for compensation in the event of unilateral termination, and Champion had just invested in a new manufacturing entity… that will be the end.
modèle en vente cette semaine : Champion – Tyrrell P34-2 1er GP Suède 1976
modèle en vente cette semaine :Champion – Ferrari 312T 1975
modèle en vente cette semaine : Champion – Ligier JS5 GP USA ouest 1976
Mr. Juge had entrusted me with numerous documents, wooden models, and prototypes. “You’ll put them in your museum,” he used to say.
It was while I was about to tell him that I had just received the first plans for my exhibition spaces that I learned of his passing on May 25, 2025, at the age of 92. He lived a few hundred meters from the store…
Collection AutoJaune : Champion maquettes d’usinages alpine 1600s et Ligier JS5
Collection AutoJaune: Champion maquettes d’usinages alpine 1600s et Ligier JS5 bis
endearing
C-I-J is an engaging company. The brand’s miniatures perfectly represent our French universe.
Being constantly around them, we sometimes forget their uniqueness. Foreign enthusiasts appreciate them and see in these productions a certain image of France in the 1950s.
I remember having many contacts and business exchanges over a long period with enthusiasts from Denmark, the Netherlands, and Japan, although Dinky Toys are superior in their quality of execution and finish.
The C-I-J models from the 1950s are the result of the legacy of Citroën toy expertise, with the use of sheet metal combined with the more modern use of zamac. In the 1970s, when we started, they were finally being honored by the new generation of collectors, of which we were a part. It seems to me that it’s time for today’s enthusiasts to rediscover them. The choice of models is crucial. When the Briare company tries to copy Bobigny by reproducing American or German cars, it will never find its customers.
This week we have three versions of the famous Renault R3040 coach, which embodies rurality.
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Renault E3040 car 3-40
modèle en vente cette semaine :C.I.J. – Renault .R3040 car 3-40
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Renault R3040 car 3-40
This type of bus served as a link between the countryside and the city just after the war.
Many of us used this type of vehicle, produced by Régie Renault and later its more modern versions, the Saviem, particularly to get to school. C-I-J chose a reduced reproduction scale, approximately 1:70, for manufacturing reasons. The model enjoyed a very long career, like the original. As proof, three gearbox graphics exist, not to mention the subtle variations on the tabs.
We have all three variants for sale. This will give you a better idea and also note that the body color would become lighter over the course of production. To rejuvenate its model, the Briare-based firm adopted a different color scheme, abandoning the thin, elegant paint stripes that encircled the model on the roof and body. These coaches are fragile and the slightest defect appears on these light colors. The coaches offered are superb.
the contract
The C-I-J is also responsible for numerous zamac versions of Panhard vehicles, models forgotten by other manufacturers at the time: the Panhard Dyna X, Dyna 54, and Junior.
This proves that Régie Renault did not impose on the C-I-J the exclusive right to reproduce Renault models.
However, until the Dauphine, C-I-J had exclusive rights to reproduce Renault models in zamac.
We would like to know the exact terms of the contract.
The three Panhards on our program this week are of a good standard. In my opinion, the Briare firm better captured the tormented shapes of the Dyna X than those of the Renault 4CV, both contemporary.
It is no coincidence that the nickname “Louis XV” was given to this Panhard, in keeping with the baroque style of the armchairs of that era.
We also have the happy taxi version of the Dyna 54. These colors, red and black, are forever associated with the Parisian urban landscape.
Modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Panhard Dyna Junior 3-5
Modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Panhard Dyna X mécanique 4-47
Modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Panhard Dyna 54 taxi 3-54 T
What then can be said about the Renault Prairie police wagon belonging to the Paris Prefecture? This model is associated with the image of Parisian drivers with little respect for others and parking.
The execution is superb, and the whole thing is very realistic. C-I-J perfectly mastered the fabrication of folded sheet metal parts. Appreciate the treatment of the tarpaulin, the trailer, its finesse, and its small pennants, which contribute greatly to the overall beauty. The previous owner sought to reproduce one of the two illustrations on the box. He placed a Florida on the trailer.
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Renault Prairie Zone Bleue police avec Floride 3-65
A few years ago, a forgotten project resurfaced.
Bobigny was impressed by this police wagon, and based on the Renault Estafette, the design office developed a Sinpar “beaver” version towing a trailer used for removing vehicles. The project was abandoned. I see it as a tribute from Dinky Toys to the originality of the Briare-based company’s model. The Paris police headquarters seems to have greatly inspired the C-I-J… strange, considering the company’s poor reputation in Paris. Perhaps the little provincials saw in these models a certain image of Paris, of the capital.
collection AutoJaune : Dinky toys prototype Renault Sinpar castor charriot de police
I remember that Mr. Nakajima in one of his books devoted several pages to the models of the Parisian police. We also have two other models that circulated in the streets of Paris: the famous Renault 4cv “pie” with its notched doors that allowed the prefecture personnel to enter the vehicle more quickly and an elegant Simca 1000 in its “pie” dress.
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Renault 4cv police 3-49
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Simca 1000 police 3-8
Finally, still on the program, a Saviem S7 with a tarpaulin, which perfectly encapsulates the history of the C-I-J.
This model is from the end of production. It is superb. The zamac-injected cab is well reproduced. The rear section is made entirely of folded sheet metal.
In 1964, this technique was almost abandoned by other manufacturers. Plastic was introduced. Moreover, only the Sésame company, with its products intended for bazaars, continues to use sheet metal, here lithographed, combined with plastic.
While the tarpaulin is faithfully reproduced, and its granite effect is successful, the treatment of the folded sheet metal sides is dated and gives the toy a de facto “economical” aspect that must have hindered its distribution. In 2025, we see it differently. This toy has always been difficult to obtain. The free version has a plus: its color, the famous “Saviem blue”… almost as iconic as “Klein blue”! and also its rare box, a significant asset.
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Saviem S7 ridelles bâché 4-76
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Renault 2,5T camion radar militaire 3-98
modèle en vente cette semaine : C.I.J. – Renault 2,5T camion avec projecteur militaire 3-96
My favorite is this Poclain TC 45 shovel produced by Bourbon
Initially, for promotional purposes. However, I remember seeing them for sale in the “Au Nain d’Or” store in Compiègne. A long history links the two companies, Poclain and Bourbon.
The excavator manufacturer, based in the Oise region, regularly ordered miniature reproductions of its new excavators from Bourbon. This Poclain excavator connects me to a personal story.
The father of my childhood friend, Willy Gouble, headed Poclain’s marketing department. It was his passion for the 24 Hours of Le Mans that brought us together. When I opened my store in 1984, his father came to see me to wish me well and, as a gesture of friendship, offered to supply me with Bourbon excavators if I requested them.
modèle en vente cette semaine : Bourbon – Poclain TC-45 rétro
At that time, this theme interested few people, and especially those who were interested already had them, of course. It was a very small market. Ten years later, things had changed…but my friend’s father had retired. Much later, he would give me a large part of his father’s collection.
Vincent Espinasse
also on sale this week
