157 Jaguar XK120 Sports Coupe (1954-62)

The people in Bobigny did not need the die drawing to assemble the model. Only the drawing called 'assembly' which lists all the parts is necessary. The bi-lingual drawings may have been drawn in Bobigny or made so that the dies would be made in Bobigny. Richard's photos mean that there were two dies or a double cavity die. It would not have been possible to move the ejectors to a different location without leaving marks.

Interesting that the catalogue picture and factory schedule suggest that the XK Dinky might have appeared without centre glazing bar. On the real post war car the bar is fairly unobstrusive but the car has a distinct prow, and no doubt on balance it was felt the bar was needed to maintain the best appearance on the model albeit a bit chunky. Artistic licence decisions. Despite advances in glass technology I believe the XK didn't get a single screen until the '57 XK150, as on the Odgi Dinky style model here. Such decisions were obviously faced, for example the Hudson had its distinct spilt screen modelled, but the Fordor didn't.

Here is an official Ford press photo of the Fordor. As well as ommitting the centre pill in the front screen Dinky appear to have the roof line lower. That did not bother me in the 1950s as I loved this car then, and I still do. Dave

Thought I would throw is some old advertisements for the Jaguar XK120 Sorry - I have been unable to find one with the hardtop that Dinky modeled. Kind regards Bruce

The hardtop - but no advertisement. I made these pics in the Brummen Gallery, last summer. Kind regards, Jan

That is fabulous Jan, there are not many hard tops, most of the preserved examples are convertibles. Dave

An other hard top XK 120 at a check point of the Tour de France auto 2013. THis one is from 1951.

buzzer999 wrote: 'That is fabulous Jan, there are not many hard tops, most of the preserved examples are convertibles. Dave' Dave (and Jan) Actually there are quite a few FHC still in circulation, and surprisingly, the majority of these are in left-hand drive. FHC? Fixed Head Coupe as they were known and still are known. Here are a few of them. The black one was sold by Bonhams two years ago: Jan I am not certain about the accuracy of the red XK120 - the rear wheel covers (known as spats over here) have been altered probably to provide a better view of the 'wire' wheels. I have never seen covers with a small opening - however, having said that, I guess anything is possible! Kind regards Bruce

. I wrote in my first post that I was unable to include an advertisement from Jaguar of their XK120 Fixed Head Coupe. Well the wait is over, so the following are two advertisements that display the graceful, flowing lines of the XK120 coupe which graphically show that Meccano made the best decision to produce this version of the XK120. The advertisements also show how incredibly fast the XK120 was as well as the high quality of its construction. The beautiful lines of the 157 Dinky Toys XK120 To round-off this post with a few more photographs of the real car. How I wish I had the financial resources to buy one!! And to conclude, a colour scheme that almost matches the two-tone yellow and grey selected by Meccano: And artwork associated with the Jaguar advertisng department:

Absolutely fabulous I remember this car as a small child, it look stunning and the sporting achievements were a schoolboys dream. Thanks ever so much for posting these stunning images, I'll have the sage green one as that is version I had as a child. Dave

Hi all, an elaborate article on the Dinky 157 Jaguar XK120 Coupe by Michael Driver has just been published in Model Collector 30/2 (no. 327) of February 2015, pages 72-77 (Big Cats and Dinky Toys Part 2). Kind regards, Jan

buzzer999 wrote: 'Absolutely fabulous I remember this car as a small child, it look stunning and the sporting achievements were a schoolboys dream. Thanks ever so much for posting these stunning images, I'll have the sage green one as that is version I had as a child. Dave' Thanks Dave - actually I will have any of them! I am not fussy! Mine was the grey and yellow version, and here it is, a little the worse for wear I am afraid. Sure wish now I never played with it but left it in its box which is in better shape! Kind regards Bruce janwerner wrote: 'Hi all, an elaborate article on the Dinky 157 Jaguar XK120 Coupe by Michael Driver has just been published in Model Collector 30/2 (no. 327) of February 2015, pages 72-77 (Big Cats and Dinky Toys Part 2). Kind regards, Jan' Jan It must be grand living 'over there' - being able to pick up the latest issue of Model Collector as soon as it hits the newsstands! I have just received my copy with the Part 2 Foden article in the Christmas issue so it will be a month or two before I get to read Michael's article! All things come to he who waits, I guess!! Thanks for letting us know Jan! Kind regards Bruce