I had no idea these existed, although I
think I may have a baksheesh axle and tyres combo' in the spares box somewhere, so
when Adrian Little sent me images I was very interested and managed to grab
some more shots at a subsequent Toy Show.
Jaguar MkII 3.4 litre
We had a maroon one of these when we were
kids (it even gets a mention in Charlie Beckwith's Delta Force memoirs!)* and
Dad used to screech the tyres on every roundabout between the North Circular
and Retford on the old A1 'Great North Road'! Back in the day - there were a
lot of roundabouts!
It ended its life as a glider-tug at
Farnborough, sans roof. I don't know if it was cut off as a safety measure or
ripped-off by the slipstream on the runway after rust set in, but I like to
imagine the latter - the roof skidding away into the mown-grass like a demented
umbrella!
You could still see it down the back of the
water treatment works, behind the old hangers' until only a few years ago,
where - if visual-memory serves - it had a Scammell wreaker and an old AEC
tanker as companions!
Kit is simple, with white rubber (not
plastic-melting PVC) tyres to be fitted over the wheel-stubs of two clip-in
axles which are placed in a belly-pan already attached to the upper-bodywork.
All found in a heat-sealed polyethylene bag.
* "...Major Walter jumped into his flashy maroon Jaguar and took off for
London..."
Citroen DS
Scale is largish; around 1:24/25th or 1:30th
which would make them compatible with a lot of figures? And presumably it was a
range of sporty types, or 'sports-saloons'?
That Jaguar had plenty of room in the back
for two small boys, but the polished leather seats combined with those corduroy
shorts which were de rigueur for small boys back in the 1960's meant that as Dad
screeched the tyres, my brother and I would slid about like corks in a storm,
the fold-down arm-rest saving us from each-other! We - of course - would over-emphasis
the movements until giggling set-in and we were shouted-at to "Behave yourselves!" by some
miserable 'grown-up' in the front!
So, there you go; plastic car premiums from
Fairy Snow, blurb rather replaced by
reminiscing, as the pictures tell you as much as I can, and thanks to Adrian
for sharing them with the rest of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment