24v and 538 Buick Roadmaster (1954-1960)

I sent to David my top ten list ! This Buick is my number 2 !! Kind regards Richard

I can see why this is so high on your list. it's a lovely item - are those all the colour variants which were made? I have one with very reasonable paintwork, but unfortunately one front pillar is damaged. What's your number 1?

No, they are not. On the photo there is missing one : Cream body with metallic blue roof. The red one is a paint try. It seems that there are some others 'paint try' but I never had them in my hands: Body and roof black Body and roof yellow Body and roof dark blue Red body and cream roof Ivory body and green roof. My number one in my top ten is the Ford Vedette 24Q. I will open a post on that car. Kind regards Richard

Very complete study Terry ! congratulation. And the 'UNIC' is the late version with the front concave wheels ! Friendly yours Richard

Thank you, Terry, for helping the revival of our fine DTCA website forum with contributions like this! Kind regards, Jan

Jan & Richard---Thank you both for your nice comments regarding the Buick Roadmaster; I find it a very interesting model, and I have always been partial to Buicks, so it was natural to really like that model. Here are a few more detailed photos of the Buick, showing a little better the wonderful casting details on the front and rear of the car, as well as the silver painted side trim. There is also a side by side photo showing the difference between the plain, unpainted Zamac wheel and a later polished one. Until now, I did not know that Dinky had made them both ways, although I feel it must have been for a short time. Regards, Terry


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I am surprised that there are not more comments or posts on this most wonderful model, and since I feel it is one of my all-time favorite Dinky Toys, herewith are my thoughts and notes: This model was brought out by the French Dinky factory in January of 1954, and deleted in 1959, and it appears to have been modeled after the 1952 Buick Roadmaster. The real car is very similar for 1952 and 1953, but several key points serve to differentiate between the two. First and foremost are the prominent raised areas atop each rear fender or mudguard. On the real car, these are bright chrome, while Dinky has left them painted. For the 1953 Buick, these were deleted. The hood ornament and front grill and bumper details are also from the 1952 model, whereas the silver colored side detail or sweepspears as they were called here in the states, appear to be more from the 1953 model....mainly at the lower rear area where it sweeps down. In reading all of the reference material available, it appears that this particular model was (1). always in a yellow separate box (no trade boxes) and (2). always came with white tires. Early versions did come with a smooth inside roof area, which was later changed to the grilled type, and early models also came with unpainted Zamac wheels, which were later polished or chrome plated. Another variation is the previously mentioned side trim; on most Buick models, this has been very nicely painted silver (the real car used bright stainless steel), to a very good effect, as that detail adds considerably to the look of the car. On some versions, however, this has been omitted, and the trim is simply painted the body color. This change has been noted by some of the sellers, but I could not find any documentation or even discussion of it, so I do not know if it the non-silver was an early version, later changed, or just a lapse.....maybe the mask or special equipment used broke down? Since I feel that it adds so much to the neat look of the car, I made sure and found my models with it. Another change I noticed, after my last purchase, was the yellow box. At first, it looked just like other yellow boxes from the mid-1950's, but on close inspection I noticed that the illustration of the car, on both sides, had a 'shadow' added to it. And sure enough, one of my reference books on French Dinky's does mention that both types of box exist, but again, with no information on when that occurred. In re-looking and comparing the boxes, I also noticed that the wording 'miniatures' appears above the Dinky Toys name, both on the side of box and also on both end flaps. I do not remember ever seeing this before, so maybe someone can comment on that. My own thoughts are that this last Buick I bought, the mid-blue with dark blue roof, unpainted Zamac wheels, smooth inside roof, was a very early model, and that likely, this was also an early box. There are photos below showing this. My very first experience with the Dinky Buick Roadmaster came in 1959, when another friend and I both had the grand idea of writing the French factory directly, to see is we could purchase items from them not available in the states. My friends mother spoke and wrote French, so she composed a letter from us, and a few weeks later, we got our reply.....yes, they would agree to sell directly to us, and they enclosed a 1959 French catalog. I promptly ordered one of the Buick Roadmaster's, as I had never seen one before. I was very lucky....when it arrived, it turned out to be the hard to find, somewhat expensive salmon and black color. Fortunately, I still have that model today, after buying it 56 years ago, and it is still almost mint with the box. A few years ago, I decided to try and find the other colors offered, and within a year had acquired very nice examples of the yellow and dark green, the light blue and cream, and lastly, the mid blue and dark blue. The remaining color version that I still need is the cream with metallic blue roof, which will be a challenge! Below are several images of this very nice model. The level of detail that the French Dinky factory bestowed on this car is amazing....the front grill is very intricate, and the accent/detail silver painting is superb....even the tiny rear trunk or boot handle is painted silver. The model is also very well proportioned and an very accurate rendition of the real car.Regards, Terry

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And the very hard to find :

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And now a paint try : Cheers

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Richard--Nice color combo....looks very nice. I would have liked Meccano to paint one with the body in metallic blue and a cream roof.....sort of the opposite that they produced.

A peculiar and nice colour experiment, Richard. Also from your father's 'heritage'? Remarkable that even a colour trial was packed in an official box ... Kind regards, Jan

Here are the two versions of the yellow and green Buick. Inside roof and hubs. Richard