GHOSTHUNTER wrote:I want to mention here the previously mentioned notion of Corgi verses Dinky in launching a TR7 model. Upto the point of the Corgi Juniors version being introduced, they had very few previous Triumph models in their ranges, Dinky however had several and its possible their License was still valid allowing them to make a regular size model leaving Corgi only able to make a smaller version, so one was added to the 'JUNIORS' range.
GHOSTHUNTER.
I don't think this was the way it worked back then. This whole licencing thing started later, until then they just made what they thought would sell well, and the car companies gave their approval quite easily (with the possible exception of Rolls-Royce) without getting any fees for the use of their trademarks. It was not like today that you got a licence for a 1:43 model only, and another for the 3-inch version, and have to pay the car maker for doing so.
E.g. both Dinky and Corgi had made the Triumph Herald earlier and in the 70's both produced the Rover SD1 and Jaguar XJ coupé in 1:35/36; Corgi and Matchbox both made the SD1 or Lotus Europa in small scale etc. I guess it was just common sense that Corgi only did the Juniors version, as Dinky had collaborated with Triumph and had their model out already but didn't make 3-inch models (anymore), and Matchbox did not release a TR7 either. But maybe Triumph was more difficult to work with - it is quite surprising that neither of the well-known models TR4/5/6 or Stag were made by Matchbox/Corgi/Dinky at the time (as far as I know).
Idris wrote:SMS88 wrote:It is…almost certainly the one sent to BL for approval …
Pure, unadulterated speculation (for a change).
What do the Forum's
other (i.e. people who do not post under the name SMS88) Corgi collectors think of this model? Is it a genuine pre-pro, something painted by a hobbyist, or is the jury still out?
I've said before already that I am sceptical regarding the painted interior although I can imagine that the screws on this example are authentic. We don't know how many prepros exist of this variation, we only have the information in the book that 250 were made. But who knows if this is correct? The other info regarding this promo ("Promotional model for British Leyland at product launch of real car.") proved to be incorrect, so maybe there wasn't even a 250-model run but only a few prepros for a planned promotional that was cancelled? Or maybe the complete run of 250 were screwed together as maybe the first examples got scratches in their gold-plating (which is only a few 1/1000th mm thick, much less than normal paint) when put in the riveting machine, and it was decided that the remaining examples should be screwed instead of riveted. This if of course pure speculation from my side.
I would open the model carefully - we haven't yet seen the interior properly, we don't even know if the paint is supposed to look like the "tartan contrasting interior". Maybe it was just a worker with greasy fingers which caused plastic discolouration ...
I think that the painted seats were done at a later time, not by a Corgi modelmaker, not for the approval of British Leyland.
Prepros are made to show how the finished product will look like. So if you have a chunk of wood or resin, you paint details like windows, lights, grille, bumpers, make hand-drawn labels, when you know that these parts will be either separate pieces or will be painted or tampoprinted on a production example. You do not paint details that will not be on the finished product, except when in the planning stage you are still thinking that the finished model will show those details. It's not realistic that 250 Juniors models would get a treatment of hand-painted seat patterns - it would be possible if the seats were separate parts (like the Corgi 1:36 Ferrari 308) that the prepro would show hand-painted seats to simulate the different moulded parts used later.
But I have yet to see one Corgi prepro (especially a Junior but this also applies to the large scale) where Corgi modelmakers have detailed the interior similar to Birdy's TR7. The prepro examples in the Great Book do not have any interior detailing, except for the Mercedes W196 racing car (in the photo with the Marlboro Lancia Stratos) - but here the tartan seat pattern was obviously added with the thought that a production example would be decorated (decalled/tampoprinted) similarly. And this proposed W196 was an open car in the large scale, not a closed Juniors where you can't see much of the interior anyway.