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I don't have a Fiat with roofrack in my collection, so can anyone post a photo of how it looks without the luggage please?

Martin

Most of my supposition is guess work, I think that it looks like the finished article of a very high quality, therefore why go so far and then not produce it ?.....

I think, as Martin said before, the old die from 75a Ford Thunderbird has served for testing purposes. It was necessary to check the fluidity of the metal into a narrow square structure "at the end of the casting mold." It is not essential if there were created the holes to the retain the luggage. The holes have small influence on the fluidity of the metal in the die. It should be tested in high quality, because semi-solution would be for nothing.
Antonin

Could one assume that the characteristics of the molten zinc were pretty much done by that time...

also is there a precedence for this type of procedure

Hi Battersea (what's your real name, by the way?),

The casting that you have shared with us is fascinating and a very welcome new find in our hobby.

I get the impression from your posts that you are a little disappointed with our conjectures, but please don't be. It is the way of this forum to discuss possibilities and to try to fit new finds and oddities like this into what seems to us a logical timeline. We may be entirely wrong, of course, but we do try to begin with the available evidence.

So whether your model is a pre-pro or a very unique post-pro, doesn't really matter. What matters is that it is an absolutely wonderful piece of the history of Matchbox, which we are all very grateful to you for sharing.

I hope others will offer ideas or insights.

Best wishes,

Martin

I wonder if it's coincidence that the Land Rover Safari and the Fiat were newly introduced with luggage at the time the Thunderbird was finishing it's run. Could it be that towards the end of the Thunderbird's life, the team were looking at options to include luggage/roof racks in the range or maybe they had designs on a vacation giftset or possibly they were looking at models for inclusion in something like the Motorway Giftset. Perhaps the Thunderbird was getting dated in their eyes, even in a modified form, and they shelved the idea. (Just thinking outloud)

Martin Avis wrote:I don't have a Fiat with roofrack in my collection, so can anyone post a photo of how it looks without the luggage please?

Yes I can.
Stephan

Thank's Stephan.

It looks like all Four sides on the Fiat's are flatter and lower than the Thunderbird's but, then the Thunderbird's looks like it has Three additional cross-bars inside.

Ghosthunter.

Hi,
I have always had an interest in 1-75 series, I have a small collection. this casting took my interest as I said earlier and i thought it had merit.
I wish I had bought more from the stall because as I remember there was a lot of very rare pieces .


Milton