-552 and 1552(?) Chevrolet Corvair berline (1961-1967)

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Mon, 12/17/2018 - 20:51

Jan Oldenhuis

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-552 and 1552(?) Chevrolet Corvair berline (1961-1967)

I have 3 Chevrolet Corvairs, 2 in turquoise and 1 in red.

There are 2 casting variations: 1. with a raised fuel cap on left front mudguard and 2. with a flat fuel cap on left front mudguard, which I will show.

I also show pictures of an interesting USA issued Dinky Toys Chevrolet Corvair Monza made in Hong Kong together with a very interesting article in Meccano Magazine UK July 1966 about these Dinky Toys, made in Hong Kong of which the sales number is not included in the PDF library.

First I show how this model appeared in the Meccano Magazine France and in the various catalogues.

Introduction 552 Chevrolet Corvair in Meccano Magazine France July 1961. Note the article about a visit to the town of Eindhoven in the Netherlands with the factories of Philips lamps and electronics and DAF trucks and cars.

Dinky Toys 508 Daf variomatic. The real one made in Eindhoven The Netherlands. (Photo The Saleroom)

MM France Dinky Toys 552 Chevrolet Corvair with French garage boxes 502

Note: Meccano Magazine France changed from October 1959 to show new models in black and white instead of colour, while Meccano Magazine UK still showed new models in colour until December 1972.

Chevrolet Corvair in blue in catalogue France 1961-1. Note the never issued colour green of the Chrysler Saratoga.

Chevrolet Corvair 00552 in red in catalogue A.C. Gilbert Company USA 1963. The only catalogue in which the 552 is pictured in red.

Chevrolet Corvair in violet ? in catalogue France 1964-2.

Chevrolet Corvair in turquoise in catalogue France 1966-1. Note the white treaded tyres.

My 3 Chevrolets Corvair 552

My 552 Chevrolet Corvair turquoise with raised fuel cap on left front mudguard

My 552 Chevrolet Corvair turquoise with flat fuel cap on left front mudguard

Shiny baseplate 552 in turquoise.

Matte baseplate 552 in red.

Of my 2 turquoise ones is one with a raised fuel cap and one with a flat fuel cap. The red one is also with a raised fuel cap. Till now I only found a flat fuel cap on the turquoise ones.

There are more colour variations, special the South-African issues, but these are very hard to find.

According JM Roulet are the first ones issued with smooth white tyres and the later ones with white treaded tyres.

According Ramsay’s 15th edition model toys catalogue there must also be a

1552 Chevrolet Corvair 1964-66 (renumbered in 1964 from 552):

Raised filler cap on some. Blister pack. Turquoise blue body. Orange-red body.

Roulet refers to this model only in a table in the back of his book and on page 257 where he about these series 500 in blister package states: “Ces blisters sont rarissimes et je n'en ai vu qu'une poignée. (Coll. R. Goirand)”

Chevrolet Corvair Monza:

There is still another interesting Dinky Toys, Chevrolet Corvair Monza with an unusual sales number 57/002. This car belongs to a series of 6 American cars (The BIG 6), the so called Hong Kong Dinkies, made for Meccano Ltd in Hong Kong. These were issued by Lines Bros New York, who took over Meccano Ltd in 1964 and were intended for the American market, but 2 models 57/001 Buick Riviera and 57/003 Chevrolet Impala were also released in the UK market and included in the DT catalogue UK 1966-2. They were also advertised in colour on the back page of MM UK June 1966, later shown below.

This interesting action is described in MM UK July 1966 under the title “Made in Hong Kong” where it is described as follows:

….“In the early stages of experiment, it was never for a moment intended that the models should be marketed in this country, but, when samples arrived here, everybody was so impressed with their quality that there seemed no reason for withholding them from the U.K. market. The general opinion was that they measured up to the high standards set down for Liverpool-made models, and so supplies were accordingly imported and released. Without wishing to respect myself, the Hong Kong productions are genuine Dinky Toys and, as such, are indistinguishable from British examples. To help identify them, therefore, they have been given special Sales numbers – 57/001 for the Buick Riviera and 57/003 for the Chevrolet Impala. Produced to the now standard scale of 1:42,……”…..

In the USA were a separate leaflet issued with the BIG 6 pictured in colour. Each model costed $ 1,69, except the Corvair which costed $ 1,49, later on each model for the same price of $ 1,98.

Dinky Toys made in Hong Kong in DT & MM page 233

Leaflet Ines Bros USA: Dinky has the BIG 6.

Concertina leaflet Lines Bros USA: Dinky has the BIG 6. Outer side.

Inner side with the BIG 6 under which Dinky Toys 57/002 Chevrolet Corvair Monza.

Dinky Toys 57/002 Corvair Monza

The Big 6 in Dinky Toys leaflet Lines Bros USA 1965 front page with unusual number 002 Corvair Monza in green.

552 Chevrolet Corvair in turquoise in the same leaflet Lines Bros USA 1965 inner page.

Price list Lines Bros USA 1965 with the BIG 6: 001 till 006 together with 552 !!!

Hong Kong Dinky Toys 57/001 and 57/003 on prices list catalogue UK 1966-2. Not illustrated.

Advertisement back page MM UK June 1966 with 57/001 Buick Riviera and 57/003 Chevrolet Impala.

MM UK July 1966. Very interesting article about Hong Kong Dinky Toys 57/001 and 57/003 released in the UK.

Dinky Toys 57/002 Corvair Monza made in Hong Kong. Photo Ebay.

Technical details Chevrolet Corvair.

Chevrolet Corvair engine: (Wikipedia)

The Chevrolet Corvair engine is a flat-six boxer piston engine that was used in the 1960s Chevrolet Corvair automobile. It is a highly unusual engine for General Motors: It has overhead valves, air-cooling, uses a flat design, with aluminum heads (incorporating integral intake manifolds and crankcase, with individual iron cylinder barrels.

Pro Composites Personal Cruiser with Corvair engine

Aircraft Use:

Corvair engines, being air-cooled, have been widely used in homebuilt aircraft. Some aircraft, such as the Pro-Composites Personal Cruiser have been specifically designed for them. The defunct American company Hegy Propellers, which was based in Marfa, Texas, produced propellers specifically for Corvair engines.

Jan Oldenhuis 17 december 2018

Tue, 12/18/2018 - 08:18

janwerner

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Wonderful documentation in text and pictures, Jan, of this 'small Chevrolet', as we called it in the sixties, with its engine in the back. My brother bought his example in 1963 or 1964 in Haarlem (NL), and it has the treaded tyres, which seems to be the practice for export models only. A nice childhood survivor, now added to my collection. Far from gracious - in fact horrible - those Hong Kong issues, that is, in my opinion. Thanks for your detailed information. Kind regards, Jan

Tue, 12/18/2018 - 22:04

fodenway

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I have to agree with Jan about the quality of the Hong Kong American car series. I never accepted them as "Dinkies" at the time of their release - they were always teamed with my few Spot-On models, being of identical scale and method of construction. I always thought that they had originally been intended to be Spot-On toys rather than Dinkies. Although I did not particularly like them, being American cars I had to have them, and was delighted to find large tubs full of the entire series in our local Tesco supermarket. This was in the run-up to Christmas 1975, and they were priced at thirty seven and a half pence each, or seven shillings and sixpence in our 'old money' (pre-decimalisation). Unfortunately at that time there were other, more pressing demands on my wage, and I missed them. I do have a complete set now, but most of them have been restored from cheaply- bought wrecks and leave much to be desired.

Wed, 12/19/2018 - 16:37

dinkycollect

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An other excellent revue by Jan.

May I add something ?

This model has been sold by QDT. Is this a colour sample ? I have never seen an other one.

The 15xx series is for the blister packed models. I have only seen two of them, the Renault 8 and the Citroën AMI 6.
The blister card does not show any reference number;

The Corvair was a badly designed car, when it was hit at the back it often cought fire.

Thu, 12/20/2018 - 07:27

Jan Oldenhuis

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Jacques, thank you for your very welcome addition.

The safety of the car was indeed a point of discussion. Wikipedia says the following about this: "The Corvair's reputation and legacy were impacted by a controversy surrounding its handling: the car was scrutinized in Ralph Nader's 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed, GM's top management resorted to unethical measures in response to its accuser, and a 1972 Texas A&M University safety commission report for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that the 1960–1963 Corvair possessed no greater potential for loss of control in extreme situations than its contemporaries."

Indeed a special color that can not be found in existing documentation. It was not sold by QDT, but auctioned by Vectis on 18-11-2008 for GBP 35. Vectis describes the color as "pale tan body". It is, I think, also original and no home work or an existing color that has changed through fading by the sun.

Maybe Jan Werner has documentation about this color in the Remy-Meeus catalogue of Chrtie's auction on 19 December 2001, featuring French made Dinky cars, many South African colour variants. He wrote about that something in TMT.

A very special color. The person who bought this car did get a very special find in his possession.

I add some photos of a sales brochure of 1960.

Kind regards, Jan O

Fri, 12/21/2018 - 17:39

Townie54

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Ralph Nader condemned it as unsafe at any speed. Of course later Ford tried to get in on the act with their unsafe Ford Pinto. This year the “ crown” goes to Jeep.