New variation SF19 F1 Lotus

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Where on the production run would these fit in as they all have 4 spiro type wheels (when did the front wheels change) it may narrow down the year that they were made

I notice the boxes have the little 'TM' just ahead of the half-wheel of the main SUPERFAST name (see photo below), this was added to this area during 1971, pretty close to when many models in the range were having the wider 'Superfast' wheels fitted. This 'TM' stayed on these until the box was changed again so the 'Yum Yum' Lotus could have come out in 1971 or any time during the next few years.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[zBret]

Definitely not!
The SF 19d was deleted very quickly, being replaced by the (horrible) 19e Road Dragster in late 1970. However, the "Yum Yum Yellow" report was only published in 1974.

Interesting Hugh , I noticed though in "that" report though, it states;

"To shark researchers, the term "Yum Yum Yellow" stands for International
Orange and the related bright yellow and orange-yellow colors most often
employed in connection with such sea survival equipment as life jackets, rafts,
etc." - "Dr. Scott Johnson of the Navy and Ernest McFadden of the Federal Aviation
Administration (1971) observed such effects during their studies on
color and reflectivity of sea survival equipment as related to shark attack"

According to that info seems the testing was done in 1971 . Still after the date of production of the 19d, although a little closer. Wonder if these ones could have been painted as color trials and then possibly found some years later laying around in the factory. It just seems odd that with such a short production run that these would have been made specifically in the factory for a special order customer. Did Lesney ever do that? I'm thinking Lesney was in the business to make money and wouldn't spend time or resources on small limited productions runs. I would think that any colors trials were done with the intent to have them considered for a possible production run-thousands of models- from which they could make a profit.

zBret

[SMS88]

Definitely not!
The SF 19d was deleted very quickly, being replaced by the (horrible) 19e Road Dragster in late 1970. However, the "Yum Yum Yellow" report was only published in 1974.

Interesting Hugh , I noticed though in "that" report though, it states;

"To shark researchers, the term "Yum Yum Yellow" stands for International
Orange and the related bright yellow and orange-yellow colors most often
employed in connection with such sea survival equipment as life jackets, rafts,
etc." - "Dr. Scott Johnson of the Navy and Ernest McFadden of the Federal Aviation
Administration (1971) observed such effects during their studies on
color and reflectivity of sea survival equipment as related to shark attack"

According to that info seems the testing was done in 1971 . Still after the date of production of the 19d, although a little closer. Wonder if these ones could have been painted as color trials and then possibly found some years later laying around in the factory. It just seems odd that with such a short production run that these would have been made specifically in the factory for a special order customer. Did Lesney ever do that? I'm thinking Lesney was in the business to make money and wouldn't spend time or resources on small limited productions runs. I would think that any colors trials were done with the intent to have them considered for a possible production run-thousands of models- from which they could make a profit.

zBret

Dont worry about production dates for the 19d - we know that at least 100 fully assembled hookless SF63c Dodges were part of the stocks sold off during the 1980s factory clearouts so finding a few dozens unpainted race winner SF19 Lotus bodies even after the deletion of the model would probably have been childs play for R&D. I think zBret has come up with a convincing explanation why Lesney used this yellow candy over white colour and the rest of the drum(s) was used to paint a run of Setra coach bodies /1972 most likely but could be 1971 if runs went back to gold after using up the yellow!!!) which are well known but the only other use of candy yellow that I can find to match these SF19 Lotuses. This if true would point to the actual promotors of YUM YUM yellow ordering these SF19 and perhaps even giving Lesney the drums of yellow candy paint free of charge in return for the toys.

[Idris]

If we assume that the Yum Yum SF 19d paint was the same as that used for the 12d Setra, then it should be possible to date the Yum Yum promotionals from information on new variations contained in the pages of e.g. AIM, NAMC. Can anyone help with this?
Another dating route is formed by the wheel mould numbers, but I don't think we have enough hard and fast information for this to be viable (yet).
I think the yellow colour, being non-standard for Lesney at the time, must be the key to these models, and I like the idea of the residual 99%+ of the paint being used up on the 12d Setra after the deal fell through. Personally, If that is the case (and it seems plausible), then Lesney must have had high expectations of this promotional before the deal went pear-shaped, otherwise they would not have bought in such large amounts of non-standard paint. (I don't subscribe to the idea that the recipient of the Yum Yum 19d promotionals paid for the paint and then gave the remaining paint stock to Lesney as some kind of payment.)

[SMS88]

If we assume that the Yum Yum SF 19d paint was the same as that used for the 12d Setra, then it should be possible to date the Yum Yum promotionals from information on new variations contained in the pages of e.g. AIM, NAMC. Can anyone help with this?
Another dating route is formed by the wheel mould numbers, but I don't think we have enough hard and fast information for this to be viable (yet).
I think the yellow colour, being non-standard for Lesney at the time, must be the key to these models, and I like the idea of the residual 99%+ of the paint being used up on the 12d Setra after the deal fell through. Personally, If that is the case (and it seems plausible), then Lesney must have had high expectations of this promotional before the deal went pear-shaped, otherwise they would not have bought in such large amounts of non-standard paint. (I don't subscribe to the idea that the recipient of the Yum Yum 19d promotionals paid for the paint and then gave the remaining paint stock to Lesney as some kind of payment.)

Consider what sort of business would be seeking to benefit from promoting YUM YUM yellow paint and that may just point to the client - a business that expects to profit from increased demand for YUM YUM yellow is likely to be a business that has stocks of YUM YUM yellow. We know Lesney started experimenting with candy coats over primers with the #42 Stude , 12 Safari and 32 E type but dropped/phased out these in favour of very fine metallics 1971-73. This YUM YUM yellow is a candidate for the final NEW 2 part colour used by Lesney at a time when they were already on the way out due to cost cutting.Looking at wheel mould numbers on my example may show whether or not it was early or late in timeline of SF19 Lotus

[Idris]

I think that the "Yum Yum Yellow" idea is a red herring (if yellow can be red!).

[SMS88]

To me the YUM YUM yellow idea today seems like an old April fool until you actually look at the other daft names given to colours by manufacturers in the 1970s particularly in new car catalogues with strong yellows, caramel browns and aubergine greens in particular being chosen by makers of just about all coloured products
Wheel mould numbers on my yellow SF19 are B1 B4 B8 B39 and compared to a random SF19 which i have B16 B36 B49 B51 - conclusion these wheels were fitted to axles at the same time as normal SF19s

[Idris]

To me the YUM YUM yellow idea today seems like an old April fool until you actually look at the other daft names given to colours by manufacturers in the 1970s particularly in new car catalogues with strong yellows, caramel browns and aubergine greens in particular being chosen by makers of just about all coloured products
Wheel mould numbers on my yellow SF19 are B1 B4 B8 B39 and compared to a random SF19 which i have B16 B36 B49 B51 - conclusion these wheels were fitted to axles at the same time as normal SF19s

Sorry, but I remain unconvinced by the “Yum Yum Yellow” idea.
Quite apart from anything else, I consider it unlikely that the phrase would have made it into the public consciousness as early as 1971 (which would seem to be the date we’re now looking at). Certainly I’d never heard of it prior to it being mentioned as part of this discussion and it doesn’t seem to ring any bells with any of the friends and colleagues I’ve asked either.
Looking online, the earliest use of the phrase I can find is as an American book title in December 1973 which does indeed show that it predates the 1974 report (although in what context the book title was being used, I don’t know).
Can other forum members comment on how well known this phrase is and perhaps even offer some pointers as to when it came into use in the UK? (With four models having been found here, plus one in Denmark, it seems almost certain that the customer was a European, and most likely a UK company.)

[SMS88]

To me the YUM YUM yellow idea today seems like an old April fool until you actually look at the other daft names given to colours by manufacturers in the 1970s particularly in new car catalogues with strong yellows, caramel browns and aubergine greens in particular being chosen by makers of just about all coloured products
Wheel mould numbers on my yellow SF19 are B1 B4 B8 B39 and compared to a random SF19 which i have B16 B36 B49 B51 - conclusion these wheels were fitted to axles at the same time as normal SF19s

Sorry, but I remain unconvinced by the “Yum Yum Yellow” idea.
Quite apart from anything else, I consider it unlikely that the phrase would have made it into the public consciousness as early as 1971 (which would seem to be the date we’re now looking at). Certainly I’d never heard of it prior to it being mentioned as part of this discussion and it doesn’t seem to ring any bells with any of the friends and colleagues I’ve asked either.
Looking online, the earliest use of the phrase I can find is as an American book title in December 1973 which does indeed show that it predates the 1974 report (although in what context the book title was being used, I don’t know).
Can other forum members comment on how well known this phrase is and perhaps even offer some pointers as to when it came into use in the UK? (With four models having been found here, plus one in Denmark, it seems almost certain that the customer was a European, and most likely a UK company.)

This would most likely be a trade name for safety paint colour rather than for public consumption. Today we have 3 standard safety colours which are generally known as dayglo yellow (actually a very greenish shade of yellow) , dayglo orange and dayglo pink but oddly no proper dayglo yellow or dayglo blue

[Idris]

This would most likely be a trade name for safety paint colour rather than for public consumption.

You've lost me.
If "Yum Yum Yellow" was a trade name for a safety paint colour, why weren't these SF 19d painted with that safety paint rather than a two-coat system?