Desert island diecasts
Imagine you’re stranded on a remote island and had only taken a handful of your collection favourites on that fateful trip, which five would you want it to be? Trevor Lawrence is this month’s castaway hero.
Trevor Lawrence is this month's castaway.
Fortunately for me, I was born in the 1950s when Corgi, Dinky and Matchbox were in their heyday. I have always been a collector thanks to the encouragement from parents and grandparents - military badges, cigarette cards, stamps, postcards etc.When I was young, it wasn't about collecting, it was about luck and opportunity. Would I get bought a new Corgi or Dinky toy on that day trip to Brighton? Could I afford a Matchbox Kingsize out of my pocket money? By the 1990s, my interest in diecasts had long gone until, one fateful day, walking past a collectables shop in Watford, I saw a Yelloways 1/50 Burlingham Seagull Coach. I purchased the coach and once again was on the diecast collecting trail. I have many favourites, but these five have some link to my earlier life.
POLISTIL 1/15 HARLEY DAVIDSON ELECTRA GLIDE 1973
I would have one of these on my island just for the joy of motorcycling. Back in the 1970s, this was the only diecast, other than Matchbox No K-83, of a Harley Davidson Electra Glide and this crude, but heavy, casting is very accurate to the actual machine. I owned two Electra Glide motorcycles (a 1977 and a 1981) and, just like the real thing, the plastic parts on the model, panniers, guard rails, windscreen could all be removed to give that stripped down look, as seen in the film Girl On A Motorcycle.The Polistil Harley came in a police version and also a red and white tourer with sidecar. The model stood on its own conical stand, leaving the bike hanging in mid-air.Today's Maisto Harleys (1/18) covers all aspects of the brand with better detail and paint. Regrettably I sold my two Electra Glides.
THE DINKY COLLECTION 1959 CADILLAC COUPE DE VILLE
I love the packaging of this ‘59 Cadillac, and it is incredible to think that the Dinky name was still visible on toy shop shelves back in the ‘80s. I picked this one up at a steam rally for not much money. I was never keen on the bright pink versions, even on the real thing - I always thought that colour scheme looked too
cliché.There are some superb, restored examples to be seen at classic car shows and this deep red diecast looks like it came straight out of theTV series Mad Men. Other variations can be found – Maisto’s massive 1/18 version, Lone Star's simple casting, or a highly detailed Franklin Mint model represent this piece of Americana.
CORGI MAJOR SIMON SNORKEL FIRE ENGINE
A Christmas morning surprise in the 1960s! Imagine waking up and finding this beauty under the Christmas tree. Corgi Majors never made it into my toy box due to the cost, so I was lucky to get this one.As a former illustrator, the superb box art sticks in my memory, oh how I wish I had kept the box. This model has survived house moves, loft storage and garden playtimes.The three firemen went missing early on only to turn up for ‘duty’ decades later in my parents’ garden – muddy, but still intact. One day I heard those awful words “you're too old for those toys, pass them on to your cousin, you can keep one”.This is a true survivor, the one I kept from my childhood and now safely behind glass.
MATCHBOX M6 SCAMMELL
Scammells were a common sight around my hometown of Watford, that's where they were made and that's where Dad worked as a fitter/welder. On Sunday mornings, when I was young, Dad would take me down to the BusyBee Roadside Cafe on the A41 for a coffee.We would admire the gathering of British motorcycles and quite often there would be a Pickfords Scammell with a crane trailer sitting in the lay-by, usually with a large load on board. I would love Corgi to include a 1/50 Scammell 8-Wheeler Routeman with Michelotti designed cab into its range of vintage hauliers, or a flatbed, or even a tanker version.
CORGI 1/50 GREYHOUND SCENICRUISER BUS
Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, you could go to the Greyhound Travel Office in London's Regent Street and book a trip down Route 66 from NewYork to
LA - hotels and motels included, all organised by Greyhound. I did just that and Corgi's model, not unlike the one I travelled on, represents Raymond Loewy's design icon perfectly. I was torn between Corgi's 1/50 and the Ixo’s 1/43 Greyhound bus - the latter has better detailed wheels, but has no interior seating. Corgi's version is more detailed but has ‘plasticky’ wheels. I like both because they are literally a handful of bus. On the subject of 1/50 scale coaches, a BedfordVega would also be on my wish list, if Corgi ever make one. DC