Shite in Miniature II

[Tenmil Socket]

Thought I’d share a couple of pics of a few cars I found while cleaning the spare room with the mrs.

 

[andy18s]

[FakeConcern]

I have a few more Fake Corgis on the go at the moment, but not finished yet so while you're waiting here's a Fake Dinky

I've had the Dinky catalogue since I was a kid and until recently thought they produced the Commodore in the rather nice green shown in the rendering.

I got it at a toy fair for £3 and it looked like this so I didn't feel bad stripping it

I now also have an original blue one as well

I used the same number plate, but have no idea what nationality it is. I would have expected it to be German, but I believe they've always been white. So is it French as the casting was originally French?

 

 

[sheffcortinacentre]

5 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

While on subject

Who remembers these?  Matchbox in the 70s did a 'subset' of the 1-75 range named Choppers'  The artwork was dramatic, I think The Invisible Man was the rider

[ photos stolen off Vectis ]

Never had one, as a boy I didn't like them for some reason, perhaps the approx 1:32 scaling was the problem as they didn't 'fit' with the other vehicle on my bedroom floor roadway 

Anyhow, all these years later I might have secured a Chop Suey (1973-only) through the @bunglebus sell-off.  A closerer-up photo of one:

Tom has his Stingeroo (1972-75) already you see.  Also did I mention that Tom has come out of the closet since joining the local Hells Angels chapter

But am looking out for a Jumbo Jet (1973-76) as well

Anyway, that artwork takes me right back in time

There were other ideas submitted for the Choppers range that just remained pre-production one-offs

I've got chop suey from when I was a kid.

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, FakeConcern said:

I used the same number plate, but have no idea what nationality it is. I would have expected it to be German, but I believe they've always been white. So is it French as the casting was originally French?

G85372 MI ?

Italian.  From 1951 to 1985, the digits were placed before the provincial code

MI = Milan

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Saw this and thought of this thread! 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1B3PmYmXPm/

[flat4alfa]

Just couldn’t get sound running on that, so here is the direct link to the Insta Reel, if it helps

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9nnyoHyH6l/

What am I saying!  Insta should be avoided like the plague it has become!   A public domain link not needing an account to view it:

 

[Richard_FM]

8 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

While on subject

Who remembers these?  Matchbox in the 70s did a 'subset' of the 1-75 range named Choppers.  The artwork was dramatic, I think The Invisible Man was the rider

[ photos stolen off Vectis ]

Never had one, as a boy I didn't like them for some reason, perhaps the approx 1:32 scaling was the problem as they didn't 'fit' with the other vehicle on my bedroom floor roadway 

Anyhow, all these years later I might have secured a Chop Suey (1973-only) through the @bunglebus sell-off.  A closerer-up photo of one:

Tom has his Stingeroo (1972-75) already you see.  Also did I mention that Tom has come out of the closet since joining the local Hells Angels chapter

But am looking out for a Jumbo Jet (1973-76) as well

Anyway, that artwork takes me right back in time

There were other ideas submitted for the Choppers range that just remained pre-production one-offs

Quirky even by 1970s Matchbox standards!  I can't remember encountering any when I was occasionally buying die casts in the 1980s second hand.

[flat4alfa]

4 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

I've had the Dinky catalogue since I was a kid and until recently thought they produced the Commodore in the rather nice green shown in the rendering.

For comparison, the 1970 Dinky France catalogue pages, showing the Opel Rekord Coupe colour and the Commodore GT colour scheme

For the Rekord, you got a choice of French (Paris 75) or German (Cologne K) registrations to apply yourself

 

For the Commodore, you got sporty colours and a Customs sign as well

 

So much smarter than in the nylon Speedwheels fitted on the UK production.  This one back here

 

Never owned a NIB example, so the Italian (Milan MI) registration was applied at factory, it seems

Photos stolen from QDT, and why not

[bunglebus]

There was a Speed Kings trike called Easy Rider - should have actually had a rider but mine must have decided to take the bus instead 

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

3 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

G85372 MI ?

Italian.  From 1951 to 1985, the digits were placed before the provincial code

MI = Milan

Dinky have been a bit lazy with the plates. The provincial code was placed after the numerical part on the front plate, but before on the rear plate.

[bunglebus]

That's a decent bit of number plate trivia. Also a left-field choice to put on a German car, I wonder why they chose to do it?

[MiniMinorMk3]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

That's a decent bit of number plate trivia. Also a left-field choice to put on a German car, I wonder why they chose to do it?

Another piece of Italian number plate trivia. In 1976 the provincial code on the rear plate was in orange lettering. Also the rear plates could be a long oblong instead of the more square design.

[bunglebus]

Day 8

Another reindeer. Looks like there are only two rather than the full team thankfully! 

Also found a bit of a design flaw, so I got a bit of a sneak peak at another day, as the pieces can fall out it seems

[bunglebus]

Package arrived from @sierraman. In fact the same box I sent him, with my postage label under the new one 😁

Maisto type 3 squareback is a big old beast, needs a couple of donor headlights 

Nicely done interior 

And base

Try as I might, I couldn't get the tailgate open. I quick look inside revealed why

Very odd that they made a hinged tailgate but then rivetted a piece inside to stop it opening. Not hard to fix but very strange

[bunglebus]

39 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Another piece of Italian number plate trivia. In 1976 the provincial code on the rear plate was in orange lettering. Also the rear plates could be a long oblong instead of the more square design.

Polistil Alfa Giulia wears a strange plate

While Alfetta wears an earlier Milan issue

Along with the Mini - but with an extra letter?

Honda Z is similar 

Renault 12 has another I don't recognise 

SDI has different styles front and rear

Volvo could have been issued in several countries including the UK

My other Mini looks decidedly 60s UK

1974 plate on the Silver Cloud is a bit out of place though

Another Euro style plate on the Porsche 

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

29 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

 

Polistil Alfa Giulia wears a strange plate

 

Plates with red letters are for emergency vehicles and other government uses.

 

29 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Along with the Mini - but with an extra letter?

Honda Z is similar 

Milan used an extra letter due to the amount of cars registered, it gave them more combinations without having to go to 7 digits.

29 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Renault 12 has another I don't recognise 

That's a Paris plate. The same one was used on the Tour de France R12

29 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

SDI has different styles front and rear

That's the correct type of plates from 1976 to 1985

29 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

My other Mini looks decidedly 60s UK

Snap

The GRX plate was used on the rally version

Corgi also used one of the GRX plates on one of their 1960s rally cars.

 

Will the real GRX 195D step forward.

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Autobianci (Lancia) Y10 with post 1985 white Italian plates

[MiniMinorMk3]

Another type of plate you might see are the PROVO type. You'll find them on a lot of Ferrari models, PROVO meaning prototype and MO for Modena.

 

[flat4alfa]

It’s PROVA, from 

provàre : to try, to try out, to test 🙂

 

A PROVO, tends to draw murals like this

  

🙁

[MiniMinorMk3]

9 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

It’s PROVA, from 

provàre : to try, to try out, to test 

Just checking people are awake.

[bunglebus]

A chap on Facebook recently listed lots of Porsche diecast for auction, annoyingly I missed the end of several due to a family emergency, but I did win a few others - and there's a back story. Years ago when I worked at VW, I bought a big tub of a work colleague's childhood toys off him, mostly Matchbox and generally all in great condition. Sadly most of them were in the loft when I parted company with my ex-wife, and like many other belongings, I never saw them again. This set was one of the things gained and lost

I know the Porsche is an ugly pig (or should that be Porker?), but the condition is fantastic. Even the trailer is mint

But that's not all I won. Hot on the heels on yesterday's K-70 is this amazing Polizei version

Plus two smaller 935s

Lastly, a previously unknown to me red version of a car I remember being very excited to receive at Christmas one year, the Sunnyside SS-903, with pop-up headlights - all I really cared about at the time!

In other boxes were a tidy Speed Kings Cougar Dragster

And a Lone Star Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, in need of a windscreen, as they all are

[bunglebus]

Going to stick some larger cars in my sales thread at 7. Some weirdos among them

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Some weirdos among them

I resemble that remark.

[camryv6]

16 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I resemble that remark.

Am i the only one here who wouldn't want to be friends with myself ?

[Split_Pin]

5 minutes ago, camryv6 said:

Am i the only one here who wouldn't want to be friends with myself ?

Not at all, I'd be the same.

I got called Mr. Beige at a previous place of work although I only found out on my last week being employed there which was after 5 years 😀

[bunglebus]

7 minutes ago, camryv6 said:

Am i the only one here who wouldn't want to be friends with myself ?

No I'm amazing 

[Tenmil Socket]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Going to stick some larger cars in my sales thread at 7. Some weirdos among them

Will the Lucky Toys Escort be amongst them?

[bunglebus]

26 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Will the Lucky Toys Escort be amongst them?

No chance 😄 

BUT there is a plastic MK3 Escort...

[bunglebus]

More Facebook auction wins just arrived, starting with a Corgi Rockets Mercury Cougar 

Corgi Chevy Astro, lovely early one with the red wheel centres

And a Welly Lupo, because she hasn't got enough already 

Wheels give it away as the rarer pull-back version, only two of those in the big tin o'Lupos