257 Canadian Fire Chief's Car (1960-69)

Terry I looked at your photograph of the 257 that you have just received (and congratulations on a worthy addition to your collection !) but it DOES have the same casting variation that shows on both of mine with the cast silver hubs, more so with the better of the two. The one that better matches yours is the less chipped version. However the interesting thing is yours has the normal aluminum spun hubs. It is also great seeing an example in the late gold export box, one of the rarest box type as well as the uncommon matt base plate. A truly fine example of model and box. Here once again are close-ups of the base of both models. Kind regards Bruce (150) 19 January 2016 #754

Bruce--Thanks for your nice comments, and alas, you are quite correct in that mine does also have that very slight line across that front member. I guess when I hurriedly looked at it, I was expecting to see more of a significant line or change there. I just took it out of the case and re-examined it, and sure enough, it is there....ever so slight! You wonder just what that was about..... Another point I did not mention was an apparent casting or die flaw that must have occured late in production. If you look closely at the far forward part of the upper front fender, so will see that it is not real smooth, and in fact is slightly 'rumpled' there. The model is mint and well painted, but that is surely some form of flaw from the casting process. I did see some mention of it on PlanetDiecast, where it had been pointed out previously, but not mentioned in these earlier posts. I am very surprised that Meccano did not choose to fix or address that, as in earlier days, that would have been a QC issue for sure. I am guessing that by this time, Meccano was deep into all sorts of problems, and had stopped trying to fix such issues. But it does make me wonder just what had happened to the die to cause that. I was not aware of the issue until after I purchased this, and it was not easy to spot in the photos posted. Has anyone else seen or heard of this? And it is on both sides of the model...... Best regards, Terry

Terry This section of the 257 appears to have experienced a number of casting issues. Below is an image of two of my previous acquisitions photographed in September 2007 with the model on the left obviously an early production having a 'clean' casting with the one on the right a little later. One can see the problem starting in the area of which you wrote as well as the small circular 'side light'. I will check through my photo album covering all the models that have passed through my hands and see if there is a pattern forming as to when this casting issue first became apparent. I have recently obtained a 257 in a red and yellow sided box from an auction in Australia and it has the price of 6/-, an Australian price applicable from the model launch in 1959 to January 1961 when the price increased to 6/3. As soon as I have photographed this one I will post it here. Kind regards Bruce(150) 20 January 2016 #755

Bruce--It will be interesting to see what others may say; one the other website, they made it sound like common knowledge what had happened. I just can't imagine what must have happened to the die to allow that, especially so bad. And they must have known about it, and decided not to make die repairs, or to spend any time on the cast models to help with it. A little hand work with a file could have cleaned up some of it, but not very practical in mass production. I have just never heard of such a problem before, and on both sides of the model. Regards, Terry

Sirs: I have a question about this model. Does anyone know what characteristics makes this model a CANADIAN Fire Chief car? Dinky did offer about the same time the 265 1958 Plymouth USA and 266 1958 Plymouth CANADIAN taxicabs. Both taxi models were painted the same but they differed with the door decals. Was this the 'plan' with this model? Was there supposed to be a US Fire Chief car with different door decals? I have never understood why Dinky Catalogs were clear in identifying the Dinky 257 Nash Rambler Fire Chief as Canadian; I just wonder 'why?' Best regards, Steve (new to DTCA)

Steve--First off, I want to extend a hearty welcome to the DTCA site! It is wonderful to have a new member onboard, and hopefully we can look forward to contributions and comments from you. Please tell us something about yourself and your Dinky interests. I am from the US, am 71 years young, and have collected Dinky's in some manner since I was about 6 years old. My main interest is the 'Golden Era' of Dinky, roughly from the end of WWII through about 1959, although I do have some nice pre-war examples and also a few later models. As to this model, I have no idea where the Canadian designation came from, and it is very possible that Meccano did it purely for marketing reasons, aimed at the Canadian market at that time. I searched through some of my references and could find no explanation, and, in fact, I read an article in a Toyman column, in the Meccano Magazine at the time, where it was listed simply as a 'Fire Chiefs' car.....no mention whatsoever about being Canadian. With no logo or other distinctive feature it appears to be Canadian in name only. Possibly others can shed some light on this.....another little Meccano mystery! And once again, welcome and look forward to hearing more about you and your Dinky's.Best regards, Terry

Terry, I think you are right about a Canadian marketing campaign. Around the same time, in addition to the Plymouth Taxi mentioned came the RCMP Police car, and I seem to remember that the announcement of the Guy Snow Plough also contained some reference to Canada - a rather odd choice of truck for that market since I have no record of actual Guys being exported there. Perhaps a better one would have been the Leyland Comet, sold in reasonable numbers and more familiar to Canadian boys.

Terry: I apologize for not responding sooner. I work full time and I barely have time to look up the DTCA website (or any website for that matter). But I very much enjoy being a member. I am now in my 60s and I have been collecting Dinky Toys my whole life. Or maybe as far back as age 5? Any way, I grew up in New York City, New York, USA so there were (at one time) a fair number of Dinky retail outlets; however, they did start to decline starting around 1966 and there were fewer and fewer going into the 1970s. Sometimes you would see a display around the holiday season, but once they were sold there was no re-stocking. I grew my collection once I became an adult and had both resources and the drive to collect. As for the Canadian Fire Chief and what makes it Canadian, I have a theory. Back in the 1960s, Dinky fire trucks were sourced from the UK. There were no Dinky US fire trucks. When Dinky added a Fire Cheif's car and they selected the Nash, a kid building his or her Dinky fre department would had to have had British sourced equipemnt. When I visited Victoria, BC a few years ago, I spotted a fire station that had a Dennis fire truck. I guess Canada purcahsed fire vehicles from the UK. So, I guess calling the fire cheif's car 'Canadian' made sense to the marketing team. A Canadian fire department might consist of bouth UK and (US) North American sourced vehicles. Just an idea...