"Other items"

[Bonzothecat]

I don´t know if anyone have found the maker of the mystery-car on the home page under "Other items"? Here is a qualified guess, though:
I had one of those myself, and recently got the opportunity to buy another one from the Swedish eBay. At the same time I bought, what the seller called, a Jowett Javelin. This was very similar as the "Austin", and I have no doubt that they are made at the same factory. This, however, was marked with "BETAL" on the inside. I read somewhere that Betal was a small firm that made cheap toys, like cars and other things. I am sure some of you knows more about this.
Have a look at the pictures:






Images resized by Ghosthunter.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

The little Austin is a rather strange model as it looks more like a cartoon car but is generally accepted by Austin collectors as representing an Austin car. We have seen this on the forum before...viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5937&hilit=betal

Another oddity is the lack of any brand name or logo which we know Betal used on other diecast vehicles and because of this the model often comes up as a 'Mystery Model' found by other collectors.

Ghosthunter.

[Bonzothecat]

However, "mystery cars" are quite an exciting topic! And just because the makers name is on the car, doesn't always mean I get much wiser.
I found this little pick-up, just marked "Made in England". Shortly after I found the lorry and it said "Arbur Products" underneath. I have searched the internet but can't find anything about it. Can someone help me with that?

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Yes, have a look in here...http://www.robertnewson.co.uk/articles/Arbur.html

Ghosthunter.

[fixer]

why have I always thought the "Austin" was a DCMT creation

[Bonzothecat]

Thank you, Ghosthunter! A fascinating article. I would never have found that myself on the net! And how true, as he says in the first part, that we use the "flimsiest of evidence" to decide what car it is. Looks like I will have to move the pick-up to the Tempo-room, instead.
However, even if it is a jungle, I have a few more I would like an expert opinion about.
The first is a small truck (I am missing the trailer), just a bit over the 11a tanker in size. Its quite a nice model with a separate frame. There is no text on it, at all, but it looks British to me.

[lionel-honda]

The small green truck is a Benbros from the TV Series of toys. It originally came with a yellow or red logging trailer and one wooden log (dowel actually).

Beautiful little toy.

Scott

[johnboy]

I think they're nice models, there's a link with more details here:

https://www.diecastvintagetoys.co.uk/be ... er-tractor

[DrJeep]

It's a really nice little model, though the casting quality wasn't always the best...

[GHOSTHUNTER]