36c Opel Diplomat

[nearlymint]

i dont know whether to be happy or mad at new discoveries...time to add another to the growing list to find!

Hi Dan, yes you are quite right. As soon as I fill a gap another new variation is found, these ones though I do not go out of my way to find. Just trying to remember them all seems to be getting more of a problem. J

[nearlymint]

Recently added another early baseplate model this time with the 2mm hinge pin blocks, makes me wonder wether 1mm and 2mm hinge pins were produced very close together or old bases were mixed up maybe.
J

[Idris]

This is undoubtedly one of the most interesting casting variations on the site since it clearly points towards there having been an earlier body casting (to match up with the front edge of the base).
It would be really interesting to know whether the sea green/turquoise version has this unrecorded body casting.

[Idris]

In a lucid moment, I suddenly thought to check my photo archive (culled from here, there, and everywhere). In it, I have found a photograph of the underside of what I believe to be a genuine sea green 36c. As expected, it clearly has the early baseplate casting (moulding?) but, interestingly, has the standard bodyshell.

36e(s).jpg (9.94 KiB) Viewed 2911 times

(Photograph by kind persmission of Alan Wank, aka ToyBoy, http://www.vintagediecasttoys.com/.)

[DrJeep]

I have found a photograph of the underside of what I believe to be a genuine sea green 36c. As expected, it clearly has the early baseplate casting (moulding?) but, interestingly, has the standard bodyshell.

That really is interesting. Logically, the tab would be on the base for a reason. If this is a real plastic Opel (and I don’t doubt Hugh’s judgement on this) it implies there’s an earlier body moulding. I wonder if this might even be metal?

[Idris]

Glenn, the sea green 36c his not all plastic: it as a plastic base but a metal body.

[DrJeep]

Glenn, the sea green 36c his not all plastic: it as a plastic base but a metal body.

I should have known that! I think I probably meant that the earlier body isn’t necessarily green.

[kerbside]

DSCN6671-001.JPG (79.63 KiB) Viewed 2879 times

The 1st base with-out an extension under the front bumper,, also of my four models two of them have the goldiie colour engine plus the Grey and Silver engines.

George T.

[Sebastian10]

There is a version with the engine in green plastic and with only the top portion in chrome - the chrome is on the top surfaces and extends about 1 mm downwards at the sides of the engine and the other components

I think this version has already been shown by Johnboy some time ago

The photo below has been enhanced to try to show the lower green colour of the engine - the gold body colour is not as intense as it appears in the photo

Sebastian

[DrJeep]

My shocking error about the green Opel made me go and read properly through the guide again, which was very informative but still leaves me with a few questions.

It's a model of the 1964 Opel Diplomat A. According to Nick's guide it was introduced in mid-1966, with the extremely rare green-bodied plastic base version found in the 1967 gift set. But the plastic base appears to be the same as the very earliest metal base, which would imply that these bases, if not the whole green cars, were made near the start of production. It's generally thought that this was an unsuccessful trial of plastic for car bases. I wonder about this: the 56b Fiat and the 12c Landrover Safari both have plastic bases and were introduced in 1965. Lesney already knew how to make plastic bases at least a year before the Opel was on sale.

The Opel also has a unique (?) design for the base with the interior retained in square arches, giving the appearance of holes in the base at the B-pillar of the car. It's unusual for the interior to be held onto the base: I think it's because the interior also includes the car's suspension, rather than this being a separate plastic spring.

So, my questions:

- what was the point of the plastic base trial?
- was the green body from the start of production or made later and married to the early plastic base?
- is the interior attached to the base because of the novel suspension design?

and obviously the big one:

- where's the body that matches the early base?