Interesting to see the smooth hubs on the light Blue Vanguard, more evidence of old stock components being used up!
Ghosthunter.
Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
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GHOSTHUNTER
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Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
40g Morris Oxford.
Introduced 1950.
Deleted 1959 / 60.
Re Numbered 159 in 1954.
Trade boxes to 1953/4 then individual boxes.
Main variations are:
Two Tone colours after 1956.
For some reason there are far fewer colours / variations on the Oxford. There are however some very rare issues.
Light Brown / Grey Hubs.
Green / Light Green Hubs.
Two Tone / Green & Cream.
Two Tone / Brown - Maroon & Cream.
Variations not shown:
Very rare, Light Blue as per Vanguard:
Very rare, Dark Tan as per Minx:
Also :Two Tone / Turquoise & Green. Beware, the normal green fades to a shade very close to the turquoise, check all over for uniform colour!
Light Brown (As per Vanguard.)
Very Dark "Bottle" Green.
Many of these shades are virtually impossible to tell apart on Ebay pics, be careful, or you'll end up with loads the same (like me).
Cheers
Chris Warr.
PS...How rare are the Blue and Dark Tan Oxfords? I've had two each of the Maroon Vanguard, and Black Triumph, but never one of these, so in my personal experience, they are at least twice as rare.
Introduced 1950.
Deleted 1959 / 60.
Re Numbered 159 in 1954.
Trade boxes to 1953/4 then individual boxes.
Main variations are:
Two Tone colours after 1956.
For some reason there are far fewer colours / variations on the Oxford. There are however some very rare issues.
Light Brown / Grey Hubs.
Green / Light Green Hubs.
Two Tone / Green & Cream.
Two Tone / Brown - Maroon & Cream.
Variations not shown:
Very rare, Light Blue as per Vanguard:
Very rare, Dark Tan as per Minx:
Also :Two Tone / Turquoise & Green. Beware, the normal green fades to a shade very close to the turquoise, check all over for uniform colour!
Light Brown (As per Vanguard.)
Very Dark "Bottle" Green.
Many of these shades are virtually impossible to tell apart on Ebay pics, be careful, or you'll end up with loads the same (like me).
Cheers
Chris Warr.
PS...How rare are the Blue and Dark Tan Oxfords? I've had two each of the Maroon Vanguard, and Black Triumph, but never one of these, so in my personal experience, they are at least twice as rare.
Last edited by starni999 on Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
40h Austin FX3 Taxi.
A strange choice to be included in this series, it's a commercial, and it's construction is different, having a diecast base/interior unit, instead of the normal 40 series tinplate base. Why wasn't the perfectly matching 140b Rover 75 included in the 40 series, and the odd Taxi numbered as a single item? No idea.
Introduced 1952.
Deleted 1959 / 60.
Re Numbered 254 in 1954. (Marking it out as different from the other 15X /16X re numbered 40's?)
Trade box to 1953/4, then individual box.
Main Variations:
Base / int colours varied from brown, to black,(early) & from grey, to blue (late).
40h number was cast on early bases, then no number was cast, then 254.
Two Tone colour intro in 1956.
The only 40 to be fitted with spun hubs (?).
Yellow / Brown Int.
Yellow / Black Int.
Blue / Black Int.
Yellow & Green.
Black, Grey int, Spun Hubs.
Baseplates:
Black, no 40h. Cast 40h.
Brown 40h. Black 254. (Butchered rivet.)
Grey 254.
Others not shown:
Mid Blue, you are looking for the FX3 in the Devon blue:
Violet shades on this one too, think Trojan OXO van.
Black, spun hubs, blue int.
Cheers
CW.
A strange choice to be included in this series, it's a commercial, and it's construction is different, having a diecast base/interior unit, instead of the normal 40 series tinplate base. Why wasn't the perfectly matching 140b Rover 75 included in the 40 series, and the odd Taxi numbered as a single item? No idea.
Introduced 1952.
Deleted 1959 / 60.
Re Numbered 254 in 1954. (Marking it out as different from the other 15X /16X re numbered 40's?)
Trade box to 1953/4, then individual box.
Main Variations:
Base / int colours varied from brown, to black,(early) & from grey, to blue (late).
40h number was cast on early bases, then no number was cast, then 254.
Two Tone colour intro in 1956.
The only 40 to be fitted with spun hubs (?).
Yellow / Brown Int.
Yellow / Black Int.
Blue / Black Int.
Yellow & Green.
Black, Grey int, Spun Hubs.
Baseplates:
Black, no 40h. Cast 40h.
Brown 40h. Black 254. (Butchered rivet.)
Grey 254.
Others not shown:
Mid Blue, you are looking for the FX3 in the Devon blue:
Violet shades on this one too, think Trojan OXO van.
Black, spun hubs, blue int.
Cheers
CW.
Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
40j Austin Somerset.
Introduced 1953.
Deleted 1959 / 60.
Re Numbered 161 in 1954.
Trade box to 53/ 54, then individual.
Main Variations,
Two Tone Colour Scheme intro 1956.
Light Blue / Mid Blue Hubs.
(This one has been painted. It's my original toy from 50 years ago, so that's allowed.)
Dark Blue / Mid Blue Hubs.
Red / Red Hubs.
Two Tone Red & Yellow.
Two Tone Black & Cream.
Like the A40 Devon there were two distinct types of mask spray used, one where the whole of the boot was in upper body colour, and one where lower body colour cut into the boot sides.
As far as I know, the two different masks were only ever used on the Red & Yellow. The Black & Cream shown being the sole variant.
Not Shown:
Light Blue / Cream Hubs.
Two Tone Red & Yellow / All boot yellow.
That's all on the 40 Series. So lets see some more.....
Cheers
CW.
Introduced 1953.
Deleted 1959 / 60.
Re Numbered 161 in 1954.
Trade box to 53/ 54, then individual.
Main Variations,
Two Tone Colour Scheme intro 1956.
Light Blue / Mid Blue Hubs.
(This one has been painted. It's my original toy from 50 years ago, so that's allowed.)
Dark Blue / Mid Blue Hubs.
Red / Red Hubs.
Two Tone Red & Yellow.
Two Tone Black & Cream.
Like the A40 Devon there were two distinct types of mask spray used, one where the whole of the boot was in upper body colour, and one where lower body colour cut into the boot sides.
As far as I know, the two different masks were only ever used on the Red & Yellow. The Black & Cream shown being the sole variant.
Not Shown:
Light Blue / Cream Hubs.
Two Tone Red & Yellow / All boot yellow.
That's all on the 40 Series. So lets see some more.....
Cheers
CW.
Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
Well done, that's a great summary of the 40 series, with lots of the colours pictured. You've covered all the colours I have, but I shall take a few pictures when I get a spare moment.
The green and yellow taxi is one of my favourite Dinkies. It's a stupid colour scheme for an FX3, but it just makes a really attractive toy. Here are a couple more diorama shots including my FX3 ( a bit of a tenuous link I know).
As advertised in Meccano Magazine:
A couple of Vanguards. I no longer have the blue one, and need to get a closed-arch Vanguard for my collection.
Many years ago I was setting up a diorama with repainted old toys. I found this Minx with a damaged bodyshell and painted it as a scrapper. Also with windows!
The green and yellow taxi is one of my favourite Dinkies. It's a stupid colour scheme for an FX3, but it just makes a really attractive toy. Here are a couple more diorama shots including my FX3 ( a bit of a tenuous link I know).
As advertised in Meccano Magazine:
A couple of Vanguards. I no longer have the blue one, and need to get a closed-arch Vanguard for my collection.
Many years ago I was setting up a diorama with repainted old toys. I found this Minx with a damaged bodyshell and painted it as a scrapper. Also with windows!
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GHOSTHUNTER
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Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
Love your dioramas Fred, are they set out as shown in the pictures or did you have to build them up just for the pictures. The banger Minx is great, I did something similar with a Rolls-Royce but I dare not show it here on the forum, I'll be hung, drawn and quartered by my fellow Rolls-Royce collectors... 
Ghosthunter.
Ghosthunter.
Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
Chris, first of all, thank you very much for an extremely informative series of posts. Dinky Toys are something I am sadly ignorant of, but have always wanted to learn about. Your detailed, illustrated posting are finally making this possible, so thank you again.
One question if I may. Are the lists of colour variations you have posted exhaustive (to the best of your knowledge)?
One question if I may. Are the lists of colour variations you have posted exhaustive (to the best of your knowledge)?
Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
By chance, does anybody know if this Yellow & Green taxi livery existed in real life, or was it just a color combination that Dinky made?starni999 wrote: Yellow & Green.
And if it really existed, which Taxi Company was it?
By coinfidence, a collecting friend just asked me about that Dinky taxi livery!
Kay
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GHOSTHUNTER
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Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
My understanding is there were privately owned FX3 TAXI cabs that could not be finished in the same Black as the main company running the Black cabs in and around the London area, whoever that was, I don't know. It seems Dinky had the wisdom to release their models in as many colours as possible and by chance there were these other coloured examples on the streets of the suburbs.
I would like to know more about this, like were these coloured cabs running around in Liverpool maybe!
Ghosthunter.
I would like to know more about this, like were these coloured cabs running around in Liverpool maybe!
Ghosthunter.
Re: Dinky Toys "40" Series Cars.
Thanks Hugh!Idris wrote:Chris, first of all, thank you very much for an extremely informative series of posts. Dinky Toys are something I am sadly ignorant of, but have always wanted to learn about. Your detailed, illustrated posting are finally making this possible, so thank you again.
One question if I may. Are the lists of colour variations you have posted exhaustive (to the best of your knowledge)?
The colours listed are from my wants list, so they are ones I have seen for real, or had verified in photos from trusted collectors, but never managed to actually own.
It's pretty complete I think, if you allow for all the different shades of blue / green / tan etc out there, where I have said "light blue" there's probably at least three or four shades covered by that description.
I've no idea how many other hub colour combinations will turn up, they still do, and it still amazes me.
Cheers
CW.