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nearlymint wrote:Hi Alex, base is not loose at all. The rivets do not look normal so maybe the base was loose or maybe it has been
Taken off at some time. Amazing considering the paint damage that the tow hook is intact, roof rivet is hardly
Flared making the roof plastics loose, perhaps it was a Friday special.J

My thoughts as well, that the level of playware shown on the body with several dents in the casting, does not match the condition of the tow hook or the treads on the tyres. I also don't like the rivets with evidence of a new attempt to drill a hole in the front rivet.

Ghosty.

A very interesting piece. On the plus side:

• Unpainted baseplate,
  Flash on the baseplate indicating that it has not been tumbled,
  Non-standard colour,
  Evidence of spray painting,
  No trim whatoever, and
  Early (clear) windows.

On the minus side:

• Poor glazing rivet, and
  Poor baseplate rivet

I think the use of an untumbled baseplate must be the clincher: a lunchbox special would use a baseplate from stock (i.e. tumbled and painted), not one straight out of the diecasting machine. I would therefore be prepared to accept this as a very late pre-production.

Hugh, you forgot one other 'Plus' point...
...Jason has it, that has got to be the clincher for me, that the model is a bit special, that's all he collects...

Ghosty.

the rivets look suspect...i think it was taken apart and repainted and they prolly got lucky with the green matching another models green hue...but it has those wheels which i wouldve bought just for those no matter what the condition

Thankyou all for the comments it really is much appreciated, I do feel it could be an early colour trial but I am
Happy that the base and wheels make it a little bit special.
j

I hate to even post a negative on this one Jason, but no one here has mentioned that these GPW axle ends do not look factory on either front or rear of this Chevrolet. In 1961, I would say that any color trial would have had crimped axle ends on it that would have been done in the prototype shop, not just a crude hand peening as is visible on these two. Those, along with both re-peened base rivets (With the original round limits of the factory peening still showing) are very negative for this one being a factory original pre-production for me. The combination of components still make this one a very interesting model to display. I would have to keep this one on my 'specials' shelf rather than call it a straight repaint fake because of this one's two positives you have shown us very well Jason.
The two Positives we can all see from your great pictures are the almost unheard of factory untumbled rough base casting used on this model, along with the body casting used on it with it's factory unspun window rivet.
The GPW all look unused on this Chevrolet, while the tougher early clear window unit as well as the green paint make those parts of this model look very well used. All of the above points create interest while defying any logical conclusions on the originality of any part of this Model Jason. Thanks for showing this one to us for our varying comments and views on it........ kwakers

Hi Kwakers yes you are correct with your observations, thankyou for your comments. still makes for an interesting discussion and one that may get dug out again in he future.j

Not sure how I overlooked this but the body casting on this one predates all my others.
If you look into the corners of the casting at the front all my others show a curve where there is more metal, on this recent model it has a definite corner making this a very early casting.
I would assume there will be early production versions with clear windows that also have this corner, another variation to look out for. Very hard to photograph and I will apologise for the blurry pictures. Anyone that has a clear window model could they check this feature, many thanks. J

Gets more interesting by the minute Jason!
numi

numi wrote:Gets more interesting by the minute Jason!
numi

Yes its nice to find models like this one, makes you look even more. Amazing what can keep turning up out there. J