Alfa Romeo P2 by CIJ

From the 1930s until its demise in the ’60s, French toy company CIJ (Compagnie Industrielle du Jouet) was closely associated with Renault, for which it made promotional models before and after World War Two.

Yet CIJ’s pièce de resistance was not a Renault but an Alfa Romeo: the 1925 Championship-winning P2 racing car. Produced from 1927 to ’39, the CIJ Alfa had a level of realism that is impressive even by today’s standards. Made in what is usually called tinplate but more accurately described as pressed steel, the 53cm-long Alfa had fine details such as a mesh radiator grille, opening filler caps for water, oil and fuel, external handbrake and side exhaust pipe.

It wasn’t only an accurate model, though: it was meant to be played with, and had a clockwork motor that propelled it along the floor, as well as steerable front wheels. Between 1935 and ’39 a luxury version was available, finished in metallic paint and fitted with electric lights and driver and passenger figures. An electricpowered version with cable-linked control box also exists.

The P2 was produced in a vast range of colours to match the racing liveries of different countries, and was certainly available in the UK, albeit at a substantial price.

The same is true today. Solid but used and unboxed examples can sell for up to £2000. A CIJ Alfa in white fetched more than £5000 at a Paris Rétromobile auction last year, while an exceptional example in the rare colour option of yellow, complete with some of the original straw packaging and its original box, sold for a record £14,000 last November.