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Today I received my first Dinky. One of its axles is bent, and there is an area of far greater concern: the body has a crack around the rear PTO unit. (In the attached photo, the crack is visible underneath the right tailgate hinge.) Can this crack be fixed, or is this model suitable only as a parts donor?

Waiting for a Dinky expert to come along and give their opinion

You have a couple of choices. JB Weld or baking soda and super glue. Either way, there will be a need for fine files to shape the repair to match the original shape.
Edited to add a link to a repair of the same Dinky ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Ivm3KRK2_uc

Thanks for sharing the video...it will be most helpful when it comes time to restore mine. I'll have to keep an eye on the crack and make sure it doesn't spread. I'm glad it's not consigned to the fate of parts donor!

Not knowing anything about the age of this particular model, my worry would be Is it metal fatigue or just damage from abuse?

I think this is far too late in the Dinky timeline for fatigue to be an issue.

Research tells me that this model was made between 1950 and 1971, mine being an earlier example.

DGinBC wrote:You have a couple of choices. JB Weld or baking soda and super glue. Either way, there will be a need for fine files to shape the repair to match the original shape.

I would (and do) take a different approach. This advice is for for hairline or fine cracks, not metal fatigue or if a part has separated and must be glued back in place.  Fill the crack with a low viscosity air dry glue. Any excess can be wiped away and once dry the crack is filled.  If shrinkage causes the crack to still be noticeable, make a second application.  When dry, put the model in primer and make an assessment of the crack's appearance.  With this method, no sanding needed, no details are obscured and it's fast by comparison.

This model still seems worth restoring, but that could be a ways off. More immediately (as soon as Steve Flowers is allowed to resume operations), I'll order up a windshield and tires for it. Thinking very far ahead, I wonder how difficult it would be to do a left-hand-drive conversion.

On the other hand, the Corgi Ghia that was part of that lot may be broken up for parts. It's been apart previously, and both A-pillars are cracked (the left at the cowl, the right at the roof). Other parts are broken and missing, too.

Are you leaving it in distressed state or totally restoring and repainting?
I'd go with the low viscosity industrial superglue method without accellerator and be careful with the paint stripper,
You don't want paint stripper seeping into the crack.