VBD2 is closed. Please go to https://vbd3.co.uk instead.

I think some extra photos of the front left axle end would help.

I suggest that this model may have been wheeled by someone unfamiliar with the task, hence the assembly mistake, the poor peening of the front axle, and the bite out of the rear hubcap.

Hi,

I can confirm that all 4 hubs are alike, and yes the rear left does look concave in my original photo, it's so difficult to take photos of chrome without something looking warped (including the reflection of my hand)

Bear with me about the chipped hub - needs a closer look.

Cheers

John

Hello John and all! That red Ferrari looks very nice to me with everything as it should be. Axle end quality was never perfect at Lesney, but the body Colour is the key to the rarity on this one. The base rivets are nice on it, looking quite proper, so I can see no problem with your model at all. We East Coast Yanks call this one RARE Hugh, because they were never shipped to, or seen here in the Northeast U.S.A. stores. I have to believe our importer Fred Bronner never received any of these red bodied regular wheeled Ferraris at his N.J./N.Y. warehouses because only a few select collectors in his own area such as Bob Brennen had examples of it in their huge early RW collections. Our own example was sourced originally from Veteran Yank collector Pat Lamagna out of New York City. Pat had bought 8 Matchbox Race Tracks while in Canada that all contained these RARE red Ferraris inside them, so only 7 of us were given the opportunity to pay a large sum of $$ for a Mint example of that "NEW" but unknown RW model for our own collections. Were they also found in Canada sealed in Canadian blister packs? I doubt it, based on the fact that I have never seen even one of these red Ferraris offered for sale in any type of blister.
It has always been my belief that orders for Christmas 1969 Race Tracks exceeded the inventory of remaining green bodied RW Ferarris left at the factory. Because of those large orders, the soon to be released Superfast red coloured bodies in the factory at that time had to be mated with leftover RW bases in order to satisfy those 1969 RW Holiday Race Track orders. When sealed, we collectors were unable to see what body colours the 2 cars were that had been included inside these sets. For that reason, any thought of Lesney intentionally changing to the much brighter red bodies to promote sales of these RW Race sets at the end of the Regular Wheel era has never made any sense to me. Cheers! Kwakers

Thanks Kwakers, I enjoy reading about the history of models I own, the production run must have been pretty short for it not to appear in a blister. I wonder if anyone has production schedules from Lesney? I don't suppose they kept much paperwork going back that far.

Cheers

DrJeep wrote:I still don’t like the axle peening on the front!

but here's a green Ferrari I've had from new, with peening as bad - if not worse - on the front left wheel. I think it's all looking good for the red Ferrari. Great find, John!

Very nice example of a factory Ferrari with a very poorly done axle end Dr. Jeep, making yet another point to we collectors. If we were to buy a rare wheel variation with both axle ends like yours shown here, we ourselves would always question whether that model left the Lesney factory with those rare wheels. If that axle end were to be shown here on our Forum for authentication, most experts would scream FAKE! But, as the original owner of your Ferrari, you know this one is indeed an axle end that had been poorly peened right at the factory. Many years ago I believe it was John "Tractorboy" (?) who was brave enough to show us dozens of his Lesney axles right out of his collection that proved a point I had made about these early "Factory" axle ends being less than consistent in their "as delivered to our stores" appearance. He himself was quite shocked at his own detailed pictures, just as you probably were on this axle end of your own Dr. Jeep. To loosely quote Tinman, 'These were just Toys that were produced in the millions'....... Cheers, Kwakers

kwakers wrote:Very nice example of a factory Ferrari with a very poorly done axle end Dr. Jeep ...To loosely quote Tinman, 'These were just Toys that were produced in the millions'... Kwakers

Yes, it’s easy to forget! Mine was a much-loved toy, though I’m certain I never saw a real Ferrari of this type as a child. E-type Jaguars were the most exotic cars around.

Sandown Park toy fair this Saturday the 26th.

Are the usual suspects attending and meeting in the cafe around 10:30am.

I am intending to be there so will see you guys in the cafe.

Ghosthunter.

See you there mate.