Dinky Toys photography specials

I agree totally Jan. Apart from the vehicles with advertising such as the Heinz, Slumberland, OXO etc etc., the colour schemes were totally a commercial decision. You would never see colours like this on trucks in the roads of Britain when I was growing up in the 1950s, but boy did they look absolutely fabulous in the toy shop window. The colours were a magnet to small boys and kept the till ringing and it wasn't just Dinky but Corgi, Crescent, Matchbox and the other manufacturers were doing exactly the same thing. Dave

Jan and Dave-- Of course you are both correct, and the rest of us should stop carping about incorrect colors on Dinky's. Meccano usually showed pretty good judgement on selecting the colors they did and you are right, those were commercial decisions, based on window appeal. The other blatant example of that was the streamlined Mercedes racing car made in white....those cars were always silver, but with the plethora of post war silver racing cars, Meccano likely wanted something new and different, and not silver.My only point with the D-Type particularly, was it was without question the most famous racing car that England produced in the 1950's and it absolutely dominated Le Mans for several years. I also still think that Mecanno did a relatively poor job with the casting; to me it is an awkward looking car and shows little of the real beauty of the prototype....especially the front fenders and the sides of the model. But the D-Type has complicated curves and lines and would not be easy to do. But none of this really matters...I am sure that the D-Type was a resounding sales success for Mecanno!! Terry

In fact Dinky Toys were that influential and iconic for many, that - at least for me that counts - without ever seen the prototype, one sometimes had the idea that the Dinky was right and the possibly deviating real world prototype was wrong, at the moment is was uncovered at last! Regards, Jan

Something amazing has happened!!!!! I put my grey 40j Somerset on a course of steroids and look what happened: Imagine how big my Tank Transporter will be if do the same to him. Dave

I think you should try this photographic experiment with your Austin Champ, Dave. it's just another logical step! Regards, Jan

The real thing at the Rutland Railway Museum near to where I live and the superb Dinky Supertoys 965 Euclid Dump Truck. As can clearly be seen the Dinky Toy is very faithful to the real thing as regards the tipping mechanism!! You should see the muscles on the guys that operate the tipping mechanism on the big truck!! Dave

Dave--Just amazing...even though the real one has some 'slight' wear going on with it, the tipping handle almost looks new, and just like the Dinky one!! Wonder of wonders, and I can imagine it taking several stout men to turn it.............these are great and so creative....keep them coming!!Terry

Thanks for the kind words Terry. Here is a warehouse scene with the 923 Big Bedford Van being loaded by the 401 Coventry Climax Fork Lift Truck, some dinky figures and crates plus a home made pallet on the fork lift. Dave

And now for something completely different. A leaflet from August 1958 printed for the Spanish market.

Three racers, as seen from behind.

Of these three the Connaught is my favourite. In reality it did not win a great deal but it just looks stunning. Dave

On a similar theme to your race car image here is a Spanish leaflet from March 1958. This features a Ferrari, Maserati and a Vanwall. Dave