K28A Drag Pack

[charliep]

K28A Drag Pack - K23A Mercury Commuter & trailer with K21B Cougar Dragster.
Issued in 1971; All England casts.
Mercury body: Lime green, dark lime green, metallic green.
Base: Unpainted K23 .
Interior & roof rack: Red or dark red.
Windows: Clear
Wheels: Spiro.

Trailers: Type A large front frame; type A smaller.
Trailer colors: Yellow, yellow & orange.
Trailer base: K28-1 or K28-2.

1. Lime green Mercury/ unpainted K23 England base/dark red interior & roof rack/clear windows/yellow trailer K28-1/type A/ metallic purple Cougar.
2. Lime green Mercury/ unpainted K23 England base/red interior & roof rack/clear windows/yellow trailer K28-2/type A/ metallic purple Cougar.
3. Dark lime green Mercury/unpainted K23 England base/red interior & roof rack/clear windows/yellow trailer K28-2/type B/ metallic purple Cougar.
4. Dark lime green Mercury/unpainted K23 England base/dark red interior & roof rack/clear windows/yellow trailer K28-2/type B/ metallic purple Cougar.
5. Dark lime green Mercury/unpainted K23 England base/dark red interior & roof rack/clear windows/yellow trailer K28-1/type B/ hot pink Cougar.
6. Metallic green Mercury/unpainted K23 England base/dark red interior & roof rack/clear windows/yellow trailer K28-2/type B/ hot pink Cougar.
7. Metallic green Mercury/unpainted K23 England base/dark red interior & roof rack/clear windows/yellow trailer K28-1/type B/ metallic purple Cougar.
8. Metallic green Mercury/unpainted K23 England base/dark red interior & roof rack/clear windows/yellow & orange trailer K28-1/type B/ metallic purple Cougar.

[PaulS69]

Thanks for posting this. I have also been in a mission to collect Drag pack variations and also the Cougar and Charger variations. Not got quite as many as you, but getting there. I have 2 mint metallic wagons and then other very good versions of the other green shades from what I call light “apple” green to a very dark lime. Cougars I have from light pink solid thru to dark magenta metallic and seemingly variations in between which is obv down to paint mix control. My MIB DP has a mid lime wagon and purple Cougar but with what I call the later trailer also found with the Javelin drag pack; this later version being the one with the extra vertical bar. I do believe this version is a later trailer and seen less with the Mercury and Cougar DP. I would be interested in your views on the variants and what came first or any sort of chronology re the colour variants etc. From the catalogues both the Cougar and Charger cars disappeared after 1973 although the DP with Cougar in the catalogue until 1975.

Of the Chargers, these are definitely harder to find in good to great condition and I have found patience is the name of the game. Pink also being the harder colour to find a nice version of. I currently have 3 in varying orange shades, the lightest being more like a light orange/dark yellow.

[PaulS69]

Also, forgot to say there has been discussion on this very topic and posts on lots of other MB related stuff on the Twitter site @DiecastAddicts if you are interested in sharing your collections.

[charliep]

Hi Paul,

Interesting comments. I did some research to help me with the response though not much is written on the subject.

So, based on the information I have and after checking several collector & dealer catalogs, the station wagon was
originally released in metallic lime green and eventually lime green.
WRT the trailer, you are right, the version without the extra vertical bar was released first.
The last time it was shown in the catalogs without the extra vertical bar was 1975, though I suspect that both versions were
being used during the mid seventies until stock of the first version was exhausted.

The cougar was first released in the lighter pink colors (hot pink) and eventually changed into magenta and darker shades.
Once in a while you find an original cougar still with tacky hot pink paint.

The following is information from the dealer catalogs:
1972, 1973 & 1974 Dealer catalogs show the K28A Drag Pack.
Station wagon in metallic lime green; cougar in magenta and trailer without the extra vertical bar.

1975 Dealer catalog shows the K28A Drag Pack on page 15
Station wagon is in mid lime green, cougar in magenta and the trailer without the extra vertical bar.

1976 Dealer catalog shows the K28A Drag Pack on page 20.
Station wagon is in lime green, cougar is in magenta and the trailer is with the extra vertical bar.

Hope this helps.
Charlie

[nearlymint]

K23 in Lime Green with Blue windows.

K23

K23 blue windows.JPG (76.49 KiB) Viewed 785 times

J

[charliep]

Hi Jason,
Very nice find. It is amazing the amount of variations that are out there. Thanks for posting.
Charlie