Polistil Rolls-Royce Corniche.

[Fox]

Nice pictures, accurate explanations as usual.

Thanks Kevin.

[Fred7A]

The "go faster" stripes on the white Politoys one are very undignified, I wonder what Rolls Royce would have made of that? At least they didn't add a black bonnet, like on some of their Silver Clouds!

Off topic I know, but it reminds me of this Matchbox Roller which a previous owner had embellished with a sticker from the Dodge Charger Dragster. It only has a label on one side, so when I'm feeling sensible I can turn it round.


What are the differences between the Polistils in the box?

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Thank's Fred for the picture of the Semi Customised #69, that sticker could have been made for this model, such a good fit...!

The differences on those Polistil models in the box are as follows...

Version 1, Course metallic Silver-Grey paint finish and Satin tyres.
Version 2, Darker fine metallic Silver-Grey paint finish and gloss tyres.
Version 3, Darker fine metallic Silver-Grey paint finish, gloss tyres and modified steering wheel spokes.

The steering wheel spokes have had some extra plastic added to the rear as shown in my diagram below.

Polistil steering wheel designs..jpg (19.09 KiB) Viewed 1714 times

GHOSTHUNTER.

[cOO7rgi]

Unlike SF69, at least Politoys didnt put a Silver Shadow rear end on this convertable! It is highly unlikely that this toy was created WITHOUT permission & plans or motor show photos from Rolls so I see no problem whatsoever in Politoys releasing what looks like a Corniche before the factory 1:1 reached showrooms.

Is there a difference in the rear end bodywork of a Corniche vs Silver Shadow convertible? I thought this was just a name change? And I guess all were made by Mulliner Park Ward regardless of name and year?


Here a double spread from the 1979 Polistil catalogue (sorry for the crappy photo) which shows the two distinct series 'CE' with speedwheels and 'OC' with rubber tyres, aimed more at older children and collectors. The numbers are OC 2, 3, and 6 - not sure if and when the other missing numbers were produced.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Hello c007rgi.

The difference between Silver Shadow and Corniche is only in the detail for the 2 door cars.
Silver Shadow has round reversing lamps each side of the rear index plate, Corniche has rectangle lamps and a 'CORNICHE' boot mounted badge. The basic body design is the same.

What Lesney did with their #69 Silver Shadow 'Drop Top' was to borrow the boot casting from their #24 Silver Shadow 4 door saloon, which is totally different to the 2 door cars, so by no stretch of the imagination can the Lesney model 'Drop Top' be considered accurate!

It is unfortunate the 'POLITOYS' model was introduced so close to the real Corniche (1971), causing much confusion as to it's true identity, but because it came to market before the real Corniche, the model can only ever be classed as a Silver Shadow 2 door convertible and it was the re-issue under the 'POLISTIL' brand name that it finally was called a Corniche from 1977 onwards in catalogues and box printing, but a delay meant it was a Year late in coming to market.

If only they had waited for a while they could have correctly marketed the model from Day One as a Corniche and all the above information would not be necessary...!!

GHOSTHUNTER.

[cOO7rgi]

Ah, I see, thank you for explaining. So the Matchbox has the rear end of the Silver Shadow saloon - does the 4-door have a shorter boot lid or where are the differences?

And did Polistil change the reversing lamps, or did they just add the Corniche name to the baseplate? How long was the 'OC' series produced?

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Here are the Two boot designs...

Boot designs.jpg (115.08 KiB) Viewed 1704 times

...the 4 door saloon car has a very low loading sill, it goes right down to the top of the rear bumper but the coachbuilt 2 door cars had a much higher loading sill, above the rear index plate.

No, Polistil did not change the reversing lamp design, so it is correct for the 'POLITOYS' version of Silver Shadow, but incorrect for the 'POLISTIL' version, they should be rectangle for a Corniche. They did add Corniche to the baseplate and the basic wheel design almost looks like a Corniche wheel trim.

There does not seem to many more if any other models in the 'OC' range, I don't think the series was taken much further into the 1980's past 1982 or 83, it is a very short-lived range.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[SMS88]

Hello c007rgi.

The difference between Silver Shadow and Corniche is only in the detail for the 2 door cars.
Silver Shadow has round reversing lamps each side of the rear index plate, Corniche has rectangle lamps and a 'CORNICHE' boot mounted badge. The basic body design is the same.

What Lesney did with their #69 Silver Shadow 'Drop Top' was to borrow the boot casting from their #24 Silver Shadow 4 door saloon, which is totally different to the 2 door cars, so by no stretch of the imagination can the Lesney model 'Drop Top' be considered accurate!

It is unfortunate the 'POLITOYS' model was introduced so close to the real Corniche (1971), causing much confusion as to it's true identity, but because it came to market before the real Corniche, the model can only ever be classed as a Silver Shadow 2 door convertible and it was the re-issue under the 'POLISTIL' brand name that it finally was called a Corniche from 1977 onwards in catalogues and box printing, but a delay meant it was a Year late in coming to market.

If only they had waited for a while they could have correctly marketed the model from Day One as a Corniche and all the above information would not be necessary...!!

GHOSTHUNTER.

The fact that Politoys did NOT use the Silver shadow name implies that they knew when they made the model that it wasnt applicable - perhaps the timing of official permission, design, tooling was during the period when Rolls were searching for a new name and requested Politoys NOT use the obsolete name!

[GHOSTHUNTER]

...yes, but if that is the case, they have put the wrong reversing lamps on the back of the model...

Ghosty.

[Fred7A]

Thanks for the variation details, you are certainly very dedicated! I'm not certain which silver shade mine is, but it is a close match to my Politoys example.

There are 2 lines cast into the top of the bootlid. Presumably these are for locating the racing stripes, together with the lack of door handles.

I bet you have a lot of variations on the Corgi Silver Shadow. Do you have any pictures of these?

I was just looking in my Photobucket folder for something else and found these photos of my Politoys and Polistil Rollers. Interesting that the later model with plastic base has an extra screw to hold it together. I haven't taken them apart to investigate this further.