Unknown Bantam Coca Cola truck

[Mercurysedan]

Hi,

I am new to this forum. I have been collecting diecast models for many years, but I am not a hardcore collector. I buy my models mostly on fleamarkets and on ebay.

Last Saturday I bought a box full of old model cars (Lesney, Schuco, Tekno...)
Among them was this strange Bantam Coca Cola truck. It has the same size as Lesney's version but has no base plate and is not marked. It has black wheels.

I could not find anything similar on the net. Who made this? Is it a copy of the Matchbox 37 Karrier Bantam 2 Ton ?

Thanks, Lukas

[Tinman]

Benbros IIRC

[Idris]

Benbros IIRC

The would be my guess too, although I have an idea that the inside of the cab is normally painted off-white/pale blue.

[johnboy]

Hello, welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy you time here. This does look like a Benbros version to me as well (No 49 in the Qualitoy Series - Mighty Midgets) but the axle ends look slightly different, is there a Made in England stamp underneath? I can't see one in the photo but it could be very feint under the roof of the cab.

[Mercurysedan]

Thanks for the info.

I checked the Benbros version on the net and it looks very similar. There is not much info available online on Benbros' Coke truck as it seems to be one of their rarer models.

I could not find any markings, no Made in England stamp, nothing, but I will look at it again, maybe I overlooked something.

[motorman]

Hello, welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy you time here. This does look like a Benbros version to me as well (No 49 in the Qualitoy Series - Mighty Midgets) but the axle ends look slightly different, is there a Made in England stamp underneath? I can't see one in the photo but it could be very feint under the roof of the cab.

JB,

The Benbros #49 usually does have the "Made in England" cast on the underside of the cab roof however many are found to have no cast markings at all on the underside. The underside of the model can also be found either unpainted or a grey colour .

[johnboy]

Hello, welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy you time here. This does look like a Benbros version to me as well (No 49 in the Qualitoy Series - Mighty Midgets) but the axle ends look slightly different, is there a Made in England stamp underneath? I can't see one in the photo but it could be very feint under the roof of the cab.

JB,

The Benbros #49 usually does have the "Made in England" cast on the underside of the cab roof however many are found to have no cast markings at all on the underside. The underside of the model can also be found either unpainted or a grey colour .

I did have a Robert Newson guide on these models which might have helped, but I can't lay my hands on it at the moment. What's your source for the above out of interest? I do remember there were changes to the tooling accredited to Benbros but I also remember references somewhere to the dies & tools that were used being either borrowed and/or modified. Although all of mine had the Made in England stamp and were unpainted I remember seeing one which was tan underneath.

[motorman]

Hello, welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy you time here. This does look like a Benbros version to me as well (No 49 in the Qualitoy Series - Mighty Midgets) but the axle ends look slightly different, is there a Made in England stamp underneath? I can't see one in the photo but it could be very feint under the roof of the cab.

JB,

The Benbros #49 usually does have the "Made in England" cast on the underside of the cab roof however many are found to have no cast markings at all on the underside. The underside of the model can also be found either unpainted or a grey colour .

I did have a Robert Newson guide on these models which might have helped, but I can't lay my hands on it at the moment. What's your source for the above out of interest? I do remember there were changes to the tooling accredited to Benbros but I also remember references somewhere to the dies & tools that were used being either borrowed and/or modified. Although all of mine had the Made in England stamp and were unpainted I remember seeing one which was tan underneath.

Jb my source of reference is a more recent publication called "Benbros a Collectors Guide" by Richard Humphrey, he used to work at Vectis and is a highly regarded oracle on all things Benbros.

[johnboy]

Thanks mm, does it mention anything about the tools and dies?

[motorman]

Thanks mm, does it mention anything about the tools and dies?

All the guide states is that suggestions that Benbros used or shared toy moulds from other small toy comapnies such as Timpo, Crescent, Budgie and Morestone charbens are untrue but they may have shared and or copied designs. Nothing more specific.