23d Auto Union auto de course (1950-1953)

The French Auto Union and the British one, a comparison.French: green body colour only - British: silver, red, blue and yellow. French: post-war issue only - British: both pre- and postwar issues.French: smooth black 18 mm M tyres only - British: black or white 20 mm herringbone tread tyres. French: ridged red wheel hubs only - British: smooth or ridged black wheel hubs. French: racing numbers none or 1-6 - body colour in red roundel - British: none or 2 only, body colour in black, white or yellow roundel . French: smooth rear wheels caps - British: rear wheel caps with protruding axle ends. French: 'radiator cap' - British: no radiator cap present. French: individual French black base plate - British: individual British base plate, coloursblack or same as body colour. French: no driver - British: with or without driver. French: packed in trade box only - British: packed in trade box or (pre-war only) 23 Racing Cars presentation box.Please add and/or correct, kind regards, Jan

Jan---Very interesting comparison that nicely illustrates how similar these two versions are, but also how much they vary in the actual execution. One other, very small difference to me, is the difference in the black finish of the baseplates: the English one is smooth, shiny black, while your French one appears to have the 'mottled' black finish so typical of 1950's Dinky's. It is also interesting to note how nice those rear wheel spats are on the French version without the axle ends protruding.....it just looks nicer. Your French model is just superb...... a lovely Dinky! Best regards, Terry

As the finish of the base plate is concerned, Terry, I have the strong impression that the French one is painted, sprayed too, and not chemically finished (brunofix). Indeed, the surface is slightly less smooth, but that does not necessarily contradict this. The finish is also real deep black, not the very slightly brownish shade of black of the familiar finish in most of 1950s Dinky Toys. By the way, the spraying hole seems to be superfluous for examples like this, with differently finished base plates than the rest of the body. How will they have mounted the loose bodies during the spraying procedure? A cast in hole inside? Kind regards, Jan

Hello Jan, I have some addition to your excellent comparison of the Auto Union. First I want to mention the Binns Road gazette Vol 1/6 with a very nice article from Keith Harvey on the 23d, a must for every pre war Dinky collector. The drawing for the British 23d was made 21-11-35 and first change order 4-5-36, slots for driver added. So the very first models had no slots and no driver of course. After slots were added to the body, a driver could be found inside. However you can find many pre war models with slots but no driver. A lot of models pre war can be found with racing numbers. This is the list I could made so far. Red: no number, 1 and 2. Green: no number, 4 and 5. Blue: no number, 3,4, and 5. Dark blue number 3. Silver: no number, 2,3 and 6. Yellow no number. And finally a very rare turquoise with number 4. Post war for a very limited time there was a model with driver. Colours: silver and red. All models had the special herringbone tyres, black or white.John.

... underlining that the British one shows even more variations than the French one does! Thanks John, and kind regards, Jan

My contribution ! Unfortunately, they are not mine Richard

Dear Jan, To complete your above informations : French models received two hubs colour variations : 1st version in red and second in light green. Both with racing number 1 to 6 (+ 1 red version without racing number) Radiator cap : three different looks : in hollow, in relief and without any mark on the bonnet (smooth bonnet) Here under a new photo of the english versions Friendly yours Richard

Thank you Richard, in cooperation we'll get the scheme correct and complete! Kind regards, Jan

It was a pleasure Jan. And an advice for all the books writers : before to publish your works, consult your collectors friends ! they have perhaps interesting complementary informations ! Richard