521, 921 and 409 Bedford Articulated Lorry (1948-63)

The Bedford Articulated Lorry is a very lovely and attractive model with its imposing front and very detailed silver trim on the grille and headlights. It was announced in the Meccano Magazine of April 1948. It was the first big DT truck with trailer and appeared for the first time as Supertoy in Meccano price list of April 1948 and for the last time in the July 1963 UK catalogue (without images). DT 521 announced in MM of April 1948 with image. Dinky Toys 521 Bedford Articulated Lorry and 551 Trailer inMeccano Magazine June 1948. Meccano price list April 1948 (without image). DT catalogue UK July 1963 (without image). The first colour image appeared in the universal UK catalogue of May 1952 with black painted mudguards to the rear wheels of the trailer. Ever since the UK catalogue of October 1953, the mudguards of the trailer were painted yellow (see under d). Bedford and Ford were throughout DT production one of the most common models in the total range of Dinky Toys. In the literature I found the following special and general characteristics that can help us to specify the individual models because there is no number on the baseplate or cast of this model and there are much several boxes. The Great Book of Dinky Toys Mike and Sue Richardson p 136: a) 521: red or yellow with black wings; 1948-54 marked Dinky Supertoys then Dinky Toys; brown box with Supertoys label, then blue box with Dinky label. (Mike forgot the green box with label!) Dinky Supertoys on baseDinky Toys on base b) 921: yellow with black wings only; 1954-1956 marked Dinky Toys; blue & white striped Dinky box c) 409: yellow with black wings only; 1956-63 marked Dinky Toys c.1961 windows added; yellow Dinky box (Mike forgot the blue/white striped 409 box export USA?) GBDT p 196 (521-921-409) : d) 20-1-1953 mask spraying deleted from rear mudguards Black mudguards <1953 Yellow mudguards >1953 e) 3-7-1957 (20) deleted 20 (speed limit) till 1957 20 deleted 3-7-1957 f) 14-1-1960 windows added DT 409 with windows since 14-1-1960 GBDT p. 270: g) A memo issued by the US distributor, H Hudson Dobson, in 1954-which indicates tires were fitted to the models then in the range: 6676/094 11 / 16in 'large black' tires fitted: 521/921 Articulated Lorry. 7076/096 19 / 32in 'small black' tires fitted: 521/921 Articulated Lorry trailer. Ramsay's model toys catalogue 15th edition: (I think it is not quite complete and correct please add comments) h) 521: 1948-1948: red body, black wings, black or red hubs, '20' transfer, Supertoys on base, brown box. 1949-50: yellow body, black wings, black hubs, '20' transfer, Supertoys on base, brown box. 1950-54 yellow or yellowish-orange body, black wings, red hubs, '20' transfer, Supertoys or Dinky Toys on base, blue box, orange or white label. i) 921: 1954-56: yellowish-orange body, black wings, red hubs, Supertoy. j) 409: 1956-63: All have black knobbly tires. Deep yellow cab and back, black wings, red hubs, yellow box. As previous model but with window glazing. Lighter yellow box. Unfortunately I could not find a drawing of this model to date the casting changes and more details. I hope there are members who can say anything about that. I am also special interested in details about the appearance of the 409 with box and all his specifics. For instance I saw on Vectis blue/white striped 409 boxes with label for the US market, but also without US labels. Where they also sold in the common market? Is there a member with such a box? And had the 409 already knobbly tyres from the beginning? I doubt about that because I saw on Vectis much 409 models with smooth tyres. Comments are welcome. I have 4 different Bedfords Articulated Lorrys of which I add pictures of the colour- and casting variations and 4 different boxes. At the end I show pictures of a beautiful real one Bedford Articulated Lorry. Hoogvliet, 7-1-2017 Kind Regards, Jan Oldenhuis (703)








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Jan--Thanks for the very nice article on this most wonderful and attractive Dinky Toys model. I have always thought it needed to be included in any nice collection of Dinky's, and I finally acquired a nice one several years ago. In all those notes, I did not see any mention of the use of the same size, smooth rubber tires, on the articulated trailer. On those earlier models, they always used the larger Supertoys tires, which resulted in the trailer riding at the same height as the tractor or cab, but when they switched to the smaller smooth tires, the articulated trailer is definitely lower in the rear. Below are some photos of mine, and you can see that it has the yellow rear wings, smooth tires all around, 20 roundel on the rear, and came in a green Supertoys box, althought the base is labeled Dinky Toys. Of course I cannot guarantee that is the original box, but it would appear so. Both the model and the box are very nearly mint. Best regards, Terry

Hi Jan, thank you very much for all the valuable information in your contribution. If we could fill all Dinky topics this way As the drawings is concerned, the image of the assy/complete drawing 12876 for this model is known and shown in an over 20 years old Classic Toys issue, the final one of May/June 1996, on page 8. In fact this makes part of a very interesting article written by Stewart Orr and Graham Bridges about this fascinating model. It is a well-illustrated article about the Bedford Trucks, all of them: the Articulated Lorry, the Bedford Truck, the Bedford End Tipper and the Pullmore Car Transporter. It does not mention the green label box either, but it shows besides the ones you demonstrate also the red artic with red hubs and the yellow one with windows and all silver radiator. The illustration of the assy of the Articulated Lorry is small and full of spots, but crisp. For the research into my favourite never made Articulated Petrol Tanker, also in that period, I restored that drawing for my own use by enlarging it and cleaning it digitally. The Tanker was to be a contemporary companion to the Lorry. I used the 'complete' drawing for the Lorry as a basis for my reconstruction of the unknown 13130 assy of the Articulated Tanker, the upper half. As we have seen on many occasions, the Richardsons mention the significant and easily understandable changes only. The drawing itself, however, shows more changes. When you trace the codes used, they are understandable too, and give more information about other details. One should keep in mind that casting changes for big body parts, or bodies as a whole, will only be found on the (mostly large) 4:1 design drawings. And these do not exist for this specific articulated lorry (see the GBofDT page 196), but make part of the sets of drawings to be found under the other Bedford vehicles. For instance, changes on the body of the semi trailer will have to be found on the large drawing of the Large Trailer (which unfortunately is not known). Some features have not been mentioned yet here. That is the widening of the casting where the rear mudguards and the main body of the (semi-) trailer meet. That should be/have been visible on the Large Trailer drawing. I can find no mention at all about the change from the small to the large towing hook. That change must have taken place approximately 1952. In short: all sequences of changes that took place on the Large Trailers body (and I have quite some variations) are likely to show as well in the sequence of versions of the Bedford Articulated Lorry. By the way, my 409 has smooth medium large tyres. Lateron these changed over to treaded tyres. So both do occur. The assy/complete drawing shows that change - as well as the previous change of the rear tyres. It should be noted that the record of these changes necessarily exactly coincided with the actual change, but its well-known that the majority of the Dinky Toys got treaded tyres in the course of (August) 1957. See also the illustrations added below. Kind regards, Jan W

Thanks Terry for the photo with the beautiful green box. it's a beautiful combination. It is not always easy to determine the model number, but yours is a wonderful combination and indeed it may not be missed in a DT collection. Best regards, Jan O.

Jan- Many thanks for the very detailed supplement with table and drawing. Very valuable. What strikes me is comment # 4 on the drawing: Mask spraying deleted from platform mudguards. Be meant the rear or the front mudguards of the truck? For there is indeed clear difference in the spraying of the front mudguards of the truck. My two first Bedfords (red / black and yellow / black with Supertoys base) the mudguards are neatly painted black till the yellow bonnet. Of my last two Bedfords the mudguards are painted black and there is a yellow border visible between the black mudguards and the yellow bonnet, which is clearly shown in the attached photos. Perhaps this change had already taken place on 29-10-1948? Now I have better studied the drawing, I see that the front mudguards of the truck on the drawing are shaded as being to be Hand-painted or Mask-sprayed. So we can conclude that 29-10-1948 were changed from Mask-sprayed to Hand-painted the front mudguards. Now I discover how valuable a drawing is. it's me now also become clear by your table that in the end of the production a 409 was issued with entirely silver-colored grille and headlights. Proof of this is found in the book with pictures of the collection Gerard Dulin (see attached photo). Such one was sold by Vectis on 29-09-2009 for 400 !!! I always thought this was manipulated. Personally I do not like the whole silver grille and headlights. And it is easy to manipulate. I find the first painting of the grille nicer and it also looks exactly like the grille of the original genuine Bedfords. In the table lacks the mention of (my 2nd) 521: Yellow black, red ridged hubs, red ridged hubs on trailer, 20 sign yes, with Dinky Supertoys base plate (see photo). I don't think that the second 521 in the table: yellow/black, black/ridged hubs on cab had black Supertoy hubs on the trailer. I think it should be black ridged hubs (see last picture). It also lacks the mention of the blue/white striped 409 box. So this question is not yet solved. Kind regards, Jan O

Hi Jan, I agree that the article and table by Orr & Bridges are not perfect, but I think it was the first and best illustrated article one could produce in the 1990s. That's the nice thing about this forum, that we can continuously improve and update the knowledge we have. Nice examples of mask spraying and hand-painting you have. I believe the 'platform mudguards' are meant to be the ones on the semi-trailer, but our native English speaking and writing colleagues can perhaps comment on that. These schemes of alterations on the drawings are very interesting. Still, we will always have to be aware that the documentation of these do not always exactly coincide with the actual execution. It may have been documented either before or after introduction of these alterations. Kind regards, Jan W

Hi Jan, Your photos are superb and I envy your ability to produce them. You mention about the deletion of spraying of the platform mudguards and the correct interpretation of which mudguards these are. My instinct was to say those on the tractor rear and this I subsequently noticed is confirmed by the drawing above the list of jobs. If you read beneath the trailer there is an indication of where the platform pin is situated. Also, below and to the right is a centre line drawing of the 'body, platform, etc.' Cheers John

Hi John. Thank you for your kind compliments and explanations. I must confess that I have insufficient technical knowledge and lack of English language know how to explain a drawing of the Dinky Toys technicians. I base my conclusion on the cross shading on the drawing and commentary which means that cross shading. The only place where this cross shading on the drawing prevents is the front mudguard. That's why I conclude that the front mudguards must be the place what is referred to # 4 of the job list. You can also turn around this question and ask: What does the cross shading of the front mudguards on the drawing mean? Beyond that is listed under 7 of the Job list: Mask spraying on rear mudguard deleted (according GBDT p 196= trailer), but is not shaded in this drawing. Kind Regards, Jan O.

Hello,this is my first post here. I don't actively collect Dinky Toys but my interest in Dublo and Meccano Ltd products in general overlaps here. My main interest is paperwork from Binns Road. I have scanned thousands of catalogues, price lists etc and shared them on the Hornby Railway Collectors Association website. I have also got over 6000 factory drawings scanned by Chris Graebe which will also be on the HRCA website soon. Attached is one of the drawings, not listed in the Great Book of Dinky, reduced resolution to 72dpi from 300dpi to fit here. Job No 13630 is the wheel hub. I would be very interested to get copies of any other drawings and catalogues etc. I haven't seen, to add to the archive. Andrew Porthmadog

Jan, in my opinion you will look for the cross shading of the rear mudguards in vain, because it was removed from the drawing when it was decided to delete that job. Andrew, so nice that you have scanned so many paper documents as sources of Meccano history! Would you consider to make (some of) them available for the publications corner of this website? It would be a valuable aid for many of us in studying the history of Meccano, Dinky Toys etc. Kind regards, Jan W

Hi all,A small contribution to this nice thread: the first and last variation of the yellow Bedford alongside each other. The first with black hubs and the last with the unpainted radiator and windows. The color difference is striking as well, a dull yellow for the first and a much more orange yellow for the last. Both models are scarce. The unpainted radiator is a feature shared with the last issue 410 Bedford Tipper. I quite like the unpainted radiator, but perhaps its rarity enhances my feeling. I like rare Dinky Toys! The 409 with unpainted radiator was bought by me on eBay last year for GBP 115. The GBP 400 paid at Vectis for this model seems high. Kind regards, Rob

For a better view. Here are my close pictures of the 3 casting variations of the platform of the Bedford Articulated Lorry that I found till now. When there are more, I ask members to add pictures of these variations. And ... I ask members to post pictures of a blue/orange labeled 521 box and of a blue/white striped 409 box. These are missing in this topic till now. I have a question about the 921 blue white striped box. My 921 box is a so called dual numbered box with both numbers 921 and 521 on the box. This was during the time of transition to the new numbers around 1954. Has anyone a 921 box without dual numbers? I wonder if this box exists. Kind regards, Jan O