GITANES MINIATURES

For most people the name Gitanes is more likely to bring to mind cigarettes than cars. Whether or not there was any connection with the cigarette brand isn’t known, but circa-1957 a range of small diecast model vehicles went on sale in France in blue-andyellow boxes marked Gitanes.

The inspiration obviously came from the Matchbox series and perhaps was an extension of the idea of boxes of matches – but naming the toys after the cigarettes they were used to light. There were even two subjects in the Gitanes range that look very similar to their Matchbox rivals: a Berkeley caravan and a Massey Harris tractor.

Otherwise, Gitanes followed most French toy car makers of the time by sticking with indigenous subjects. Practically all the others modelled the 2CV and the DS19, so it was only to be expected that Gitanes would too. Nor is it any surprise that, given its cult status, the DS is the most sought-after now.

There were also two Renaults: a Dauphine saloon and a 1000kg van, in plain grey or in Gaz de France, Postes and Ambulance liveries. A Simca Versailles, three racing cars – Gordini, Mercedes W196 and Le Mans Aston Martin – along with a trailer for the tractor made up the rest of the range.

Their tiny metal wheels and method of construction are very similar to their Matchbox counterparts but, as the scale of the Gitanes series is said to be 1:100 (the same as TT gauge model railways), most of them are even smaller in size. Gitanes never reached the level of popularity of its British contemporaries and disappeared from the market after a few years.