Red Mercedes 450 SEL and Yellow Ford GT

[RacingFreak]

Hello everyone,

Last year I've got some interesting models and oddities, but lately having trouble authenticating them, so I'm posting here hoping I could know more.





I've never seen anything like this. Except on cfalkensteiner's where he listed a pre-production version, but that one has plastic base, chrome siren and decal. The one I have standard(?) grey base with some paint loss. So I have no idea, but the rivets have never been spun. The body has some paint chips, but I don't think it has been repainted.







I've seen posts about yellow Ford GT's appearing in italian multi packs, but can't find anything about one with unspun rivets. Could it have been a test issue? Large chunks of paint have fallen, the rear axle housing is broken, wheels' chrome too. I have another one like this, but the body is unpainted, so it is not that interesting I think.

Thanks in advance for any input!! I will post more photos if needed.

PS
I've listed both on ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253396966155 and http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253397013641

[nearlymint]

Are these castings made in Bulgaria with England bases added later? J

[motorman]

The damaged paintwork around the rivet hole on the base plate on the #41 is not consistent for an unspun model, furthermore the black made in England baseplate with dot dash wheels can be found on late Japanese issue white #41 models, sometimes found with the cat head label from the #1 modrod. I don’t think this is a rare Italian MP1 issued model, the body work could be Bulgarian as suggested by Jason, imho. More likely two different models combined to look like a rare issue, sorry.

[leonty24]

Could the Merc. be a import to Bulgaria as a trial before going ahead ?

[RacingFreak]

Hi, thanks for your replies.

Whether they are bulgarian castings or not, I can't know. I've got these models when I was in vacation in Taiwan last year (which in itself was extremely odd find because people collect mostly Tomica there). Perhaps that could make sense why the base is from japanese issue, if that was what was done? Sadly, in order to compare the castings in more detailed way, I don't have any "legit" 450 SEL or Ford GT, except these unspun versions.

The rivet hole in fact doesn't have damaged paintwork. It was rather dirty and after I cleaned it up I've taken a closer look and I can't find any signs of it being tampered with:


If indeed proven to be a fake, I will pull it from sale. Thanks.

Image resized and very slightly enhanced by Ghosthunter.

[nearlymint]

Sadly because the model has unspun rivets and the base comes off you will never know if these were originally together. For me the unspun castings are great and something i would love to have in the collection.
Thanks for showing them.
Jason

[RacingFreak]

I'm starting to suspect that they were indeed swapped. Just took a closer look at an unpainted one and found a tiny number below the hood - 2. Yellow body has 1. I didn't notice it at all because it looks more like I… The base has number 2, but the base of the unpainted one has number 1… can someone confirm that this is a correct way of checking this?

[motorman]

I'm starting to suspect that they were indeed swapped. Just took a closer look at an unpainted one and found a tiny number below the hood - 2. Yellow body has 1. I didn't notice it at all because it looks more like I… The base has number 2, but the base of the unpainted one has number 1… can someone confirm that this is a correct way of checking this?

The numbers that you refer to are simply the die/mould numbers used when these were cast. it was a means for the factory to be able to identify any die/moulds that are damaged or wearing, I would not put any significance on opposing mould numbers for base and body.

[Miller]

I got these the 450 SEL, all bulgarian models. They have the same bad paint with dust and dirt. AFAIK the 450 SEL never came with this horn and lights from England, so your body should definitely be a Bulgarian.

450SELBulg1.jpg (46.8 KiB) Viewed 3384 times

The painted bases clearly state Bulgaria. The right one seems to be a good gut used one. Both left models rivets look like new, i´ve never seen something so glossy and fresh like this.

450SELBulg2.jpg (191.58 KiB) Viewed 3384 times

I also bought a bunch of 350 SLs in unsusual colors, all in blisters. they have the same glossy rivets. As the seller offers some more variations with prints on the door i think, there is someone doing some homemade models. What do you think?

22406521_1135551706576172_2071031938436718474_n.jpg (98.64 KiB) Viewed 3384 times

[RacingFreak]

I have only two other bulgarian models in red (also another cortina, but the color is exactly the same):

The paint looks different to me~

Regarding the rivets: the ones on the left are a more recent "production". The right one is from the old series. I don't know exact details, but I have heard that they changed the tooling due to broken machine or something like that.