12d Citroen CX with and without towhooks

[Rob]

Back in September at Sandown Toyfair I met a guy called Richard who commented on a mint Blue 12d Citroen CX I had with red interior. He was interested in it because he said he had one as well and that his also was without towhook like mine and had a flush finish to it, also like mine. He agreed to bring his along to the November toyfair and he did, so we were then able to compare them side by side. What was also interesting apart from the towhooks being identical was that one had a black base and one had a charcoal-gray base. By chance we also had a third variation to add to the mix which David Henson owned and had on his stall, this variation was with yellow interior but again had the same smooth finish to it without towhook.

Richard said he purchased his model with Blue body and red interior in 1980-1981 and it was contained within a power boost set with another model. He is very fastidious with his record keeping and showed me a copy of the receipt of purchase which showed he paid £1.99 at the time for the set. This time period fits in with the change over from blue to the yellow and the white body versions and hence the introduction of the red interiors.

The CX was included in the Power Boost set and in order for it to function correctly with that set it needed to be without a towhook, therefore it is the conclusion that a quantity of CXs that were sent out in these sets had the towhooks nipped off flush at the factory so that they would function in the sets. To find two mint blue bodies with red interiors and no towhooks is highly unusual, plus we also had the third model available as mentioned above.

It would be interesting to hear others opinions concerning the above.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Hi Rob.

That sounds like a very plausable reason for the cutting off of the tow hook. This also suggests a tow hookless Citreon should never be found in it's own box totally away from the booster set, unless any leftovers found their way into a box for normal retail.

Do you not have the pictures you were taking at the toy fair due to a technical reason, I was hoping to see them.

Ghosthunter.

[Rob]

Hi Rob.

That sounds like a very plausable reason for the cutting off of the tow hook. This also suggests a tow hookless Citreon should never be found in it's own box totally away from the booster set, unless any leftovers found their way into a box for normal retail.

Do you not have the pictures you were taking at the toy fair due to a technical reason, I was hoping to see them.

Ghosthunter.

Hi Kev

I used my mobile to take the photos but due to the type of light in the hall the photos did not turn out 100% perfect and I hate looking at blurry photos, this one is the best of them and hopefully it does show the different bases as well as the towhooks. As mentioned I was not aware before this that blue bodies with red interiors also could be found with charcoal-grey bases so it was a doubly good discussion.

[motorman]

Hi Rob, this is a very interesting topic and i am learning greatly from it. Curiously i notice from the image that the red interiors appear to be different shades (at least from what i can see of the cut off tow hooks) Did you take any other comparison shots?

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Thank's Rob. A blurry picture is better than no picture at all...

I agree with Alex about the Red shades. The model on the right looks more of a light Plum colour compaired to the brighter Red of the left model. We need more of these to come forward now in the same shades or additional shades.

Ghosthunter.

[Rob]

Hi Rob, this is a very interesting topic and i am learning greatly from it. Curiously i notice from the image that the red interiors appear to be different shades (at least from what i can see of the cut off tow hooks) Did you take any other comparison shots?

Hi Al

The reds do look slightly different from the photos but without having both models side by side again I cannot say for sure. It may well be the hall lighting or mixture of that and any camera flash etc. Now you have raised this interesting aspect I will see if I can get a photo of both models interiors at a future fair, the photo below does seem to indicate different shades and we only took photos of the models upside down as we were only focusing on base shots to show the lack of towhooks and base colours.

cheers
Rob

[vetrad]

The blue one I used to have had a SILVER painted base and had an intact tow hook (I think I got it from Dave E?). When I was collecting, I passed up on 2 blue body models with black base because of "broken" tow hooks. Certainly seems plausible if the black issued ones were issued in that set, the tow hooks would be removed? My experience would support Rob's conclusion.

I suspect some Brazil issue models were sometimes modified in a similar way, because they are so frequently found without toe hooks, but this is difficult to be sure of as they could have just broken off.

-David

[Idris]

"...and what did you do at work today, Daddy?"
"Well son, I sat at a table with a sharp knife and spent all day cutting the tow hooks off plastic car interiors1"

[Rob]

We know that other models left the factory also with and without towhooks, borrowed some photos below from Christians website to illustrate this...

[ChFalkensteiner]

The fact that the metallic blue CX with red interior usually comes with the tow hook missing because of its inclusion in that launcher pack has been known for several decades. It was mentioned in Nigel Cooper's article about the Matchbox Citroëns in MICA Vol.5 No.5 (January 1990).

In that article Nigel listed it with a charcoal base, not black, but the only one I have in my own collection has a gloss black base (tow hook missing as well), so I suppose both variations exist.

The two shades of red interiors are well known on the yellow and white CX versions, so it is not a surprise that both also exist on the metallic blue versions, although I had not had confirmation for that until now.





Regarding metallic blue CX examples with red interior and intact tow hook (regardless of base colour), I am not sure if genuine ones exist at all. I do not recall seeing a genuine one, only some fakes (often identifiable by the earlier body casting with the tailgate bar still present, which most fakers are not aware of). The metallic blue example with silver-grey base and red interior shown on my website is - unfortunately - a fake which I was stupid enough to purchase some years ago. It is now in my Citroën model collection which is generally open to customs.

I see that I have to adjust my own variation listing of this model. Will do so a.s.a.p.