23d Auto Union Racing Car / Large Closed Racing Car (1936-1950)

Now this is interesting ! I got a similar feedback fromJacques.It would be great if you could share ' your documents ' with me in one wayor another.Not because I do not believe you,but because I would really like to get to the bottom of it,so to say.I collect only the racingand record cars,and such an evidence of two ' hardware ' versions of the French Auto Union( not just ' with or without racing numbers ' or ' red or green hubs ' (Ramsay ' s) would be a real ' sensation '.Could you help me ? Best regards Walter

Hi Walter.If you visite the website ' filrouge - automobile.fr ' para ' les Dinky Toys anglais assembl s en France ' you will see a photo of an auto - unionwith an angular front.This one as a number(almost obliterated)and no filler cap on the bonnet.My informations come fromthe ' Argus de la miniature ' magazine.Both design came with the race - numbers 1 to 6 The angular front version came with red wheels only.That ' s all for the moment.Richard

Many thanks,Richard ( and Jacques),for opening my eyes (again).And I thought I knew it all ! Not so.Anyhow,I think we can close this case for now.All that is left for me is to tryand get a decent example of this second version of the French Dinky Auto Unionrecord car for my collection.Thanks againand best regards fromThailand Walter

Walter,It was a pleasure to help Richard

Hi Terry,Nice model,congratulations.But with riveted base plate it ' s early post - war,clearly.Best regards Walter

Jan --I mentioned to you that I had recently won a 23d Auto Union, from a seller in the U.S., and was awaiting its arrival. When it arrived a few days ago, I was surprised just how nice it was. From the posted photos on eBay, which were dark, it appeared nice and shiny, but could not see much else. The actual model is in wonderful condition, with just a couple of very minor marks. It is a very early post-war model, much like yours, with the smooth hubs, driver, and the engraved style black baseplate, with smooth crankcase. The only issue are the tires, and I cannot fathom how they got that way, but three of the four are flattened somewhat and also crooked. They are also very hard, meaning they are not some sort of more recent replacement. But I cannot imagine how they got that way, with the rest of the car almost perfect. A couple of the spots are quite flattened, almost like you would expect if they had heat applied. I am going to replace the two front tires, with nice reproductions of the original herringbone style, and will look for a couple of original ones. Overall, I am very pleased to find this....the paint is amazing.....shining and gleaming, for sure it was not played with it. There is a small wear area on the rear of the right front fairing pod.Regards,Terry

Walter -- I got in a hurry when listing that post on my new Auto Union, and I inadvertently said it was an early pre-war model. Obviously, it is an early post-war version, and I fully knew that, but did a 'senior moment' and typed it incorrectly.Regards,Terry

No sweat,Terry,happens to me all the time.Best regards Walter

Wonderful,Terry,good to see it ' live ' now.It must indeed be the same example that I saw on eBay USA recently.I doubted,but I think you have made a very good decision to strike ! It ' s all a matter of tasteand ethics what you prefer to do with the distortedand brittle tyres.I,for me,would leave them as they are,distorted but authentic,and wait until some originals (not very easy to find) come along.This model is too pure to fit artificial replacements on - mind you: in MY opinion.In fact I practiced that idea with my (much more common) French Coventry Climax Fork Lift Truck.Not too long ago I found satisfactory original replacements for that one (see picture).It remains rather unpredictable how tyres behave.Some seem to remain ' new ',others collaps unexpectedly.Some decades ago this was a problem for prewar Dinkies only,but nowadays it happens moreand more with later examples,no matter how well they are being treated,even if kept in the original boxes.My solution is to take action BEFORE such nasty decay happensand I have put all models with rubber tyres on the supports I have shown several times.Perhaps not the most attractive solution,but the most effective indeed.Although we will not experience that ourselves: I frequently wonder how presently ' perfect ' Dinky ' s will look like 100 years fromnow...Anyway,I try the best to keep them as authenticand unharmed as possible.Still: congratulations with this marvellous addition,it looks great,kind regards Jan

Jan --Thought you would like to know that I came up with a quick and simple solution to the front tire problem on my new Auto Union Race Car. Like you, I had already purchased a restored, silver Auto Union many years ago, and upon inspection, it did happen to have original black herringbone style tires, in good condition. Fortunately, they were not hard and came off fairly easily. I then removed those ugly, strangely deformed front tires on my new model, and replaced them. So now it looks as it should.....with proper and nice front tires. Below are a few new photos showing the 'new look'. I think I was very lucky in trusting my intuition in purchasing this model.....it ended up being much nicer than I thought, and at a very reasonable price.Regards,Terry

Terry,these tyres are the best you could possibly find ! It makes such a difference.Kind regards Jan

Hello All I can ' t compete with the quality of the models in this thread,nor with the quality of the photography but I hope that some of you will give me the benefit of your opinion.Some time ago I won an auction lot of a pre - war 23d that was lacking its base plate.It had also been repainted dark green at some point though most of the paint had worn off.Inspection under a magnifying glass showed that it had originally been pale green.As can be seen,the casting is in great shape with no evidence of fatigue,and the model still retains three original tyres.The base plate was originally fixed at four points rather than six that I ' ve seen on other examples.The intention was to stripand repaint itand,if posible,to find a replacement base plate.As luck would have it I found that base plate last week.The problem is that it ' s still attached to its casting.It wouldn ' t be difficult to remove itand swap it to the repainted model but I ' m now in two minds as to whether I should.The second casting is obviously damaged in a prominent place but should I leave the base plate attached to the orange model,which again has all its original tyres,albeit they are shapeless blobs.It wouldn ' t be difficult to repair the cockpitand otherwise keep it as original as possible.This is my dilemma.The green one has a very good casting but poor paintand no base plate.The orange one is damagedand has some fatigue though it has original paint,tyres,and base plate.What should I do ? Make one very good example fromtwo ?Or keep two not so good examples ? I would welcome your thoughts ! John