Very rare pre pro 75 thunderbird

[Tinman]

Colour I,m sure could still have been two tone

Not without creating an entirely new molding to cast the new mask that would be required to continue the model in two-tone. I can't see lesney going to that expense for a model at the end of it's life. Point in fact, it was at this time that Lesney was getting rid of all the models that used the cast mask for two tone painting. The entire process was too labor intensive. When these mask sprayed two-tone models all ended in the mid 60's, every future model in two or three colors (including some already being made) would have individual parts that would be painted and assembled to produce multi colored models.

I do not remember any roof top luggage rack, of this style & size, for any american automobile back in the 1960-1961 time period.

[Batterseaboy]

Colour I,m sure could still have been two tone

Not without creating an entirely new molding to cast the new mask that would be required to continue the model in two-tone. I can't see lesney going to that expense for a model at the end of it's life. Point in fact, it was at this time that Lesney was getting rid of all the models that used the cast mask for two tone painting. The entire process was too labor intensive. When these mask sprayed two-tone models all ended in the mid 60's, every future model in two or three colors (including some already being made) would have individual parts that would be painted and assembled to produce multi colored models.

I do not remember any roof top luggage rack, of this style & size, for any american automobile back in the 1960-1961 time period.

So it's easy to make a roof rack mold but hard to make a two tone spray mold sounds convienant.
The car was probably modelled in the UK, more than likely at Lincoln cars or Simpsons of Wembley these were the Ford connsesionaires here in the fifties and roof racks were very common hence in my original post the possibility of a mix up

[Tinman]

So it's easy to make a roof rack mold but hard to make a two tone spray mold sounds convienant.

The use of an old mold as a test bed for the new Fiat roof rack is using something about to be discarded instead of making something new. All that's needed is to remove metal from the T-Bird mold. The mold for the mask was pretty small and I doubt it could have been reworked very easily. I'm suspecting a new mold would have to be made for a new mask.

The car was probably modelled in the UK, more than likely at Lincoln cars or Simpsons of Wembley these were the Ford connsesionaires here in the fifties and roof racks were very common hence in my original post the possibility of a mix up

That brings us full circle and back to your guess of a re-issue. At the time when this body casting was altered (with the roof rack), it was at the end of it's life. First, the actual car had seen two more generations by the time Lesney pulled the plug on this model. It had a labor intensive paint job involving too many steps (not even counting front and rear mask spraying). All the new models were getting suspensions. Any kind of detail painting was being done away with. The old metal tow hitches (that broke off so easily) were all being replaced by plastic hitches. The cars were all transitioning towards the new chrome hubs with tires and this model was too small for that conversion.

If it were intended to be pared with something which it towed (an idea that didn't come about until the twin packs of the 70's), it was too small for the 9d cabin cruiser or the 23d caravan. Since the luggage rack would have been very out of place on a real USA car, I can't see Fred Bronner requesting such a thing.

Re-release makes no logical sense. But the cost efficient use of the old mold for test purposes makes lots of sense and would be a "very Lesney" thing to do.

[Batterseaboy]

All you have said only works if it was done at the end, it could have been done much earlier. It could of been done before the 75 came out in 1960 for all we know. And then never used...

[Batterseaboy]

A very Lesney thing to do, show other examples of this type of mold test

[Idris]

A very Lesney thing to do, show other examples of this type of mold test

What Tinman means is that Lesney had a 'waste not, want not' mentality. They did not spend money unless they absolutely had to. The use of a shortly to be obsolete mould as a test bed for product development fits very neatly with that approach and would be typical of what might be expected of the Company.
It seems likely that other tooling was similarly modified for development work but, unfortunately, those castings have either not survived or have not yet been shown to the collecting community.

[Batterseaboy]

You would not need to make a whole model to test the roof rack, you make several roof racks in different styles and evaluate how they look, that is what an R&D department does. You don,t just do one on a current model because if you ruin it you have shot yourself in the foot, Tinman your going in the wrong direction.

[Batterseaboy]

Of course it could have been done later but the very waste not theory kicks in, why waste time and resources on something you will never use

[Idris]

You would not need to make a whole model to test the roof rack, you make several roof racks in different styles and evaluate how they look...

You are forgetting the molten metal flow and, to a certain extent, the residual stress arguments. Whilst a roof-rack could be designed, and tested, in isolation, it would also be necessary to i) prove that the roof-rack could be completely and perfectly formed by metal passing though the narrow channels formed by the roof pillars and ii) confirm that the resultant large block of mazak neither warps the roof nor weakens or stresses it such that it deforms during tumbling.
It may well be that a combination of approaches was used: first a stand-alone development, then the modification of the 75a tooling. Either way, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and far better to butcher an almost obsolete die than to ruin a brand new one!

[Batterseaboy]

You would not need to make a whole model to test the roof rack, you make several roof racks in different styles and evaluate how they look...

You are forgetting the molten metal flow and, to a certain extent, the residual stress arguments. Whilst a roof-rack could be designed, and tested, in isolation, it would also be necessary to i) prove that the roof-rack could be completely and perfectly formed by metal passing though the narrow channels formed by the roof pillars and ii) confirm that the resultant large block of mazak neither warps the roof nor weakens or stresses it such that it deforms during tumbling.
It may well be that a combination of approaches was used: first a stand-alone development, then the modification of the 75a tooling. Either way, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and far better to butcher an almost obsolete die than to ruin a brand new one!

You are forgetting the size of Lesney what you are both suggesting doesn't make financial sense think about it, It's the sort of thing a one man band might do. No you are both guessing to tie it up, put on your thinking caps again and burn some grey matter