550 Chrysler Saratoga (1961-1965)

Ragnar-Thank you for your photo of your Saratoga with black treaded tyres. According to Jean-Michel Roulet (page 130), this model is normaly issued with white tyres of large diameter, first smooth and then with profile. So your black tyres indeed are replacement tyres. But ... take note at a added picture of Jan Werner of TMT with the end flaps of the yellow 550 box. There is stated in the French language that tyres with number 835 or 836 can be used as a replacement for this model. If you look at my added picture of the French Dinky Toys catalogue 1961-1, tyres of number 835 are black and tyres of number 836 are white. I am not a specialist to conclude if your Saratoga has these 835 black tyres, but you may conclude that your Saratoga with black tyres is a correct combination. Nothing wrong with it. Kind regards, 26-5-2017 Jan Oldenhuis

Hi all. I discovered today, that the die was modified during the Saratoga's life. Have a look on the photos bellow Kind regards Richard

Richard Well noticed! Interesting to see that the Saratoga received this amendment due to an ejecting problem that was encountered. Is the same modification carried out with the interior of the roof and boot/trunk also? I have never added the Saratoga to my French collection but looking at some of the images above, the hubs are very similar to those used with the Mercedes Benz 186, Holden 196, and other Liverpool models of that vintage, or am I mistaken. Cheers Bruce H. (150) 20172905/1113/1037

Bruce This modification is due to an injection problem not ejection.A die has to be polished very well, with wear of the die the polishing goes and the metal does not flow so well leaving spiral marks on large surfaces. Castings with such marks are recycled and cost time and energy. When too many models are cast with such marks, cross hatch is added to the mould or the mould is scraped. All the best. Jacques (100)

Dear Jacques, this is one of your familiar specialist technical kind of answers that have been wanting here for such a long time! Thank you, and kind regards, Jan

Right Jacques. Bruce : same modification for the ceiling only. To complete the post, the photos below show my models and the white shades. On some items the coat of white paint is so thin that it does'nt cover enough the pink and the result is a pale pink. Kind regards to all. Richard

Richard After reading the Post from Jacques, Post #16 above, and the comment from Jan W. my apologies for dabbling in the area of technical expertise. I am reminded of what Jaques wrote in the Interior Cross Hatching Topic that can be found in the Dinky Toys Technical Discussions forum. Unfortunately what Jacques wrote then was severely cut during or before the transfer from the old website to the new which provided details on adjustments such as cross hatching, checkering or some other variation. This what Jacques wrote on 17 September 2014: I have answered this question several times on various forums. 'checkering' or 'cross hatching'is applied to large flat surfaces to facilitate the flow of metal in the die and reduce the weight of the toy but also to save on the metal. If you save 10 gr. on 1 000 000 models you have saved 1 ton of zamac. The main reason is that large flat surfaces such as car roofs, tippers etc For the information of our readers, the above is all that was transferred from the old website to the new website. It appeared to me last year, that nobody had taken the time to examine that Topic and complete the comments, so 19 months later I conducted my own investigation, as I did with many of my own Posts as well as those from other authors that were incomplete and subsequently the following was graciously provided by Al Keeling that completes what Jacques had originally written: Posted by me on 4 April 2016 which follows from - The main reason is that large flat surfaces such as car roofs, tippers etc, are kept thin and the metal does not fill the die completely or makes a turbulence leaving a nasty pattern or depression on the casting which has to be rejected and re-cast. The dies are highly polished when new, this eases the flow of metal but with aging, the surfaces are not so smooth and this slows the flow of metal. This is the reason why the cross hatching is usually not found on early models. Some models such as the 24D Plymouth Belvedere, 25C Citron H type van or 32E Berliet fire engine have also had flow channels added to the ceilings. I agree that this technique started in 1956 or maybe 1955 with the 24N Traction. It would be interesting to make a list of the models with cross hatching to know when this stopped. Did any of the models with windows have it? In future I will refer questions of this nature to the Dinky Toys Technical Discussions and to the Interior Cross Hatching topic. However, it is to be noted that my last paragraph Post #15 has NOT been answered with the sole comments being directed to the casting variation. It would be nice if a specialist or someone else can provide an answer. Bruce H. (150) 20173005/1114/1425

Bruce, I supose that te spun concave wheel hubs were made from the same drawing in Bobigny and Liverpool. They may have been subcontracted. Jacques (100)

With my new arrival, I could not do anything else that to add a new photo We can see the variations of pink ! Kind regards Richard

Richard, The paint manufacturer was not very good.

... and probably that the buyer in Meccano received nice gift for Christmas !