Matching pictures

Who knows anything about the real things ?

39c LINCOLN ZEPHYR COUPE Meccano almost got the shape right, apart from the grille, no bumper over-riders, and the shape of the door windows but considering the working drawings were carried out from photographs, and the time between the launch of the prototype and the release of the Dinky Toys model, I think Meccano did a reasonable job! But of course I will be open to criticism.

townie54 wrote: 'Just noticed the mismatched real '59 El Camino to the Dinky 1960. Other great matches though, especially the BBC van.' 1960 CHEVROLET EL CAMINO Hopefully setting the record straight!

The Zephyr is also the wrong year. The Dinky Toys is of 1938 and the picture shows a 1939 model. The grill is different. Meccano could not cast the over riders, they would have been separate parts but much too small. Remember, this model was tooled in 1939 to be issued in July 1940 and the technology was not what it is today.

dinkycollect wrote: 'The Zephyr is also the wrong year. The Dinky Toys is of 1938 and the picture shows a 1939 model. The grill is different. Meccano could not cast the over riders, they would have been separate parts but much too small. Remember, this model was tooled in 1939 to be issued in July 1940 and the technology was not what it is today.' One can argue about the year model, however, the radiator bars on the 1938 Lincoln Zephyr were horizontal, with the bars going vertical for the 1939 model. The Dinky has vertical bars on the grille making it a 1939 model. The following quote may be of interest to you. 'Somewhat oddly, the rather mediocre and troublesome little flathead V12 engine in the Zephyr had its radiator fan mounted very low in the engine bay, directly at the end of the crankshaft. Complaints about the 36 and 37 Zephyrs tendency to overheat were pouring in to Ford. So according to a later interview with 'Bob' Gregoire, the designer of the Zephyr, he measured the space between the front frame rails, and decided that the radiator would just fit between them, if mounted horizontally (cross-flow), and quickly had it cobbled up, along with cut-outs on both sides of the front sheet metal. A quick run in a crude air-tunnel proved its effectiveness, so Gregoire designed the delicately ribbed grille over the openings. Voil; the first modern horizontally-oriented grille. The new grille was expanded, and the bars turned vertically for the 1939 Zephyr, and of course, that front end was adopted on what has become one of the great classics, the 1939 Lincoln Continental.' So there it is, horizontal bars for the radiator grille on the 1938 Zephyr and vertical for the 1939 model. I chose the 1939 model to keep the comparison logical with the Dinky model as both had vertical radiator grilles. Here is a picture of a 1938 Lincoln Zephyr coupe: Finally I am somewhat surprised it took another member, 'townie54' to notice the mismatch with the El Camino which was posted one year and seven months ago. :blush:

Bruce, The 1938 grills are much lower than the 1939 and the top corner is curved when the 1939 is a sharp angle. The increased size of the 1939 models confirms the overheating problem and Meccano must has made a hybrid model with the small grill and vertical bars. The front bumpers are also different.

I need some information about the real life prototypes ofthese Dinky Toys.

Hi, If you paste 'Berliet GBO images' into Google, you will find plenty of pictures of the Berliet GBO which is the French Equivalent to the Thornicroft Mighty Antar. The following link will give you it's history and technical data in French. www.fondationberliet.org/dev/ressources-...o15p-algerie-sahara/ Dave Busfield will certainly come up with interesting data about the Leyland Martian artillery tractor. Jacques.

During my time as the editor of the DTCA Journal I started a theme which ran in every edition of the Journal titled 'Where it Came From'. This linked a Dinky Toy with its real world equivalent and gave some background history of the real world vehicle. After I stood down as the editor I continued to produce these items here on the DTCA Website and the articles were still under the thread of 'Where it Came From' For some inextricable reason a new thread called 'Matching Pictures' which is identical to what I originally started was generated. Can all these threads be brought together under the original thread please? Dave

First time I looked at this thread, and it was obviously wrong.

I agree with you David, Duplicate threads are one of the many problems with this software. I am sorry but I will not transfer the 11 pages of this thread to the 14 pages of 'Where it Came From' or vice versa, it would take me more than a days very boring work. You should have told me at page one. Every block of text and every picture have to be copied and pasted separately. I have just done so for the 255 Mersey police van thread. Jacques.