Y7-3 1912 Rolls-Royce

[GHOSTHUNTER]

First and Last..JPG (25.18 KiB) Viewed 1797 times

This thread is for the Y7-3 1912 Rolls-Royce. It is not intended to overrule the information contained in Nick's 'Yesteryear' guide, but somewhere for me to rest pictures of models from my own collection.

The first picture shows 19 models in a 'Time-Line' from the first issue in August 1968 upto 1973. The second picture shows the last examples that would not fit on the same shelf, models 20 to 26.

The numbers you see on the little labels do not correspond to any code numbers used in any published reference media, they are simply to show how many models are in this line-up and to tell me quickly I have 26 versions of this particular Rolls-Royce model.



GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Here is the very first version from August 1968, It was issued as model number Y-7 (Y7-3, the Third model to use this catalogue number), It was based on an actual car, but Lesney decided it would look better as a Landaulette, something the real car is not! This may have been due to the difficulty in casting a large one-piece body, so 'Artistic License' came into play for this model. When this was first in the shops it was priced at just 6/6 (Six shillings and Six pence in old money), but rose to a staggering 7/2 in 1969!

The scale has been stated as 1/48th and came about by the size restrictions made to many Lesney models, often to fit a certain sized box, but in an earlier model newsletter I produced, I have it listed as being closer to 1/50.6, suggesting I have actually measured the wheelbase against the real car and worked-out it's correct scale!

This was the second vintage Rolls-Royce made by Lesney for the 'Yesteryear' range, the first being their No.15, the 1907 Silver Ghost, but for no logical reason this Y-7 was not called Silver Ghost, just Rolls-Royce. If Lesney wanted to be more accurate they could have added '40-50 H.P.' after the name, as this was the correct way to describe the real cars made between 1907 to 1925.

This was the first 'Yesteryear' model to be painted in a metallic Silver paint, after unsuccessful attempts to paint the earlier Silver Ghost model (No15), forced that model to be issued in a pale metallic Green colour!

1968, Y-7, VERY FIRST VERSION..JPG (52.52 KiB) Viewed 1766 times

GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

The most outstanding feature of these first versions was the totally smooth roof surface. The first Four models in my 'Time-Line' picture has this, the first model has a Maroon coloured roof, but this was quickly re-coloured to metallic Grey in varying shades.



In 1970, a modification to the tooling for this roof component, added 11, 24mm long lines towards the rear section. In most cases this sort of modification is done because of large smooth surfaces tend to stick to the moulds making it difficult to remove them. 'CORGI TOYS' did this to the underside of the bonnet on their Bentley 'Continental', adding a series of 'Cross-Hatching' lines to break up the previous smooth surface.



Another rather discreet modification took place on the roof that would become a talking point for many years among collectors, creating one of the most wanted versions of the Y-7 Rolls-Royce.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

The 'Ribbed Grey' roof model was first introduced into the range in America, but in the U.K. it was introduced as part of the 'Giftware' range, so was plated with the 'Chrome' effect finish and mounted on various trinket boxes or ashtrays. It was also pointed out that the rear side window frames were being damaged with the top corners being bent inwards.


Note the top corner of the side window frame, it is bent inwards.

A modification was done to the inner side rail of the roof component that added a small lug (collectively now called a 'PIP'), and by putting one of these 'PIPS' each side on the roof, it helped prevent the top of the window frame bending inwards. The drawings below show where the 'PIP' was added.


No 'PIP' and with the 'PIP' added.

Because of this modification, the story of the Y-7 Rolls-Royce gets confusing, because it was discovered the models without roof 'PIPS' only appeared in America for a very short period before models with roof 'PIPS' started to appear and models without the 'PIPS' suddenly bacame very collectible and scarce.

Examples without roof 'PIPS' started to fetch some serious money and of course, the fakers got in on the act by faking such models. The clever fakers found out that 'Chromed' models from the 'Giftware' range could be found with the roof 'PIPS', so all they had to do is remove the roof from this and transplant it onto a normal painted model! What the fakers did not know, even the clever ones, the genuine NO 'PIP' model, had other identifying details around the baseplate and chassis and if as a collector you knew what the difference was, you could tell the genuine model from the faked model.

The not-so clever fakers just used roofs of any old Y-7 Rolls-Royce and ground away the side rail 'PIPS' and repainted the roof in what they thought was a matching metallic Silver-Grey and often just glued this onto the model and when one of these turns up at a toy fair or in a shop, it is quite alarming when inspecting the model and the roof suddenly gives way and snaps off from the body!!

GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Collecting the 'Grey-Ribbed' roof models has been quite a challenge and an achievement. It is believed the model with the roof 'PIPS' does not exist on a normal painted body, except the MICA magazine carried a small item about a collector in America said he had one, on a Blister Card and it was still sealed. I do not remember seeing a picture of that example with the story, but I may be wrong and would like to see one.



Shown above is my earliest model with the 'Grey-Ribbed' roof, without the roof 'PIPS', and the very model discovered in America to be in short supply so was faked many times. This model in the 'Time-Line' picture has the Green label number '5' (resting on the roof), but several more examples exist before an actual example with roof 'PIPS' is seen and it is a 'Chromed' version from the 'Giftware' range, Green label number '11' and is my very first example of a 'Grey-Ribbed' roof model, with the roof 'PIPS'.


The RED arrow shows my first example with the roof 'PIPS'.

So, I believe I have all versions of 'Grey-Ribbed' roof models, with and without the inner side rail roof 'PIPS', however, as soon as this goes public, several more versions will turn up...!

GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

As far as I can tell, models with the roof 'PIPS' first appear during 1972, but more exciting things are to happen with these models in this year, because Lesney were considering stopping the 'Yesteryear' range in favour of their '1-75 Series' range and the continued conversion of models needing 'Superfast' wheels and the introduction of new models.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[mike]

Hello Rolls-Ghosty.

We are not a collector of these models.
We have no idea of these models.
But we have this model in our collection
Purchased from a convoluted.

But it's nice to see in our showcase.

Greetings Mike & Nico

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Thank you Mike. You don't need to be a collector of this model to appreciate the engineering required to achieve the level of detail applied to it. On it's own, it is an excellent model, and a favourite of many non-Matchbox collectors.

You have a really nice example in excellent condition, thank you for showing here.

Ghosty.

[mike]

Thank you Mike. You don't need to be a collector of this model to appreciate the engineering required to achieve the level of detail applied to it. On it's own, it is an excellent model, and a favourite of many non-Matchbox collectors.

You have a really nice example in excellent condition, thank you for showing here.

Ghosty.

Thank you Ghosty.
The model gets a good place
in my showcase collection.

Prost Mike

[Moyboy]

Ghosty
I have both pipped and un-pipped on my plated models. I have never seen a painted one with pips yet. The ones that did show up with painted body and pips was presumed to have been swapped from the plated version but almost all were fakes I've seen. It was always presumed the plated never had a no pip roof but many have been found so there was no need for grinding down pips or resprays as these were a great swap to make the rare grey ribbed roof painted version. Most of the un-pipped plated versions I've seen have a peculiar purple shade to the dark red seats for some reason although all are easily interchangeable.
These models are not really in the rare class now since the opening up of the net and would only class as scarce nowadays. Back in the good old days I had to swap one of these plus a small amount of cash to get a Shand Mason which back then sold for around the GBP 250 mark - phew glad those days are gone !