Retro diecasts – Corgi Toys F1
While flicking through some old 1970’s Marvel comics (1972 issue of Black Panther Jungle Action to be exact), I stumbled across an old print advertisement for Corgi Toy’s F1 diecasts which included the Ferrari 312B, Lotus 72 and Surtees Ts9. These were Corgi’s first diecast series in 1:36 scale which was a very unusual scale at the time (although Corgi seemed to convert all their diecasts to this scale later).
Corgi Toys have a long history as a model car diecast brand being most known, like Matchbox for their diecast saloon cars and models of famous TV cars like the 1960’s Batmobile.
You can still pickup these Corgi F1 diecasts in hobby antique stores and marketplaces like ebay.
Because these were originally marketed to the younger end of the market, most of these Corgi diecasts generally have extensive wear and tear from being played by children, so unopened mint models are rarer. Models that within their original box that are in good condition will still attract interest (and decent price) from vintage toy car collectors.
The models as pictured in the advertisement is reasonably accurate to the shape of the actual models, although there is more moulded plastic than is obvious from the ad.
The Corgi brand itself has changed several times since the 1970’s and is currently owned by Hornby (UK model train company). Of all the F1 teams, its is Lotus that has featured the most from Corgi Toys from Emerson Fittipaldi’s JPS Lotus Ford 72 in 1:18 to Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus E20 and E21 in 1:43 scale.
Corgi UK have also done a 1:43 scale re-issue of several of their vintage model cars complete with retro boxing including the Lotus Climax (pictured) and the famous ultra cool Bond Aston Martin DB5.
Part of Corgi’s retro Re-issue collection
