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Hi,

I was going through my collection, and I have a couple of the 56b Fiats, one green and one red - nothing rare or unusual about them, but I wondered why Lesney chose to use a black plastic base for this model, and why they didn't carry on using plastic bases afterwards? - A backlash from customers perhaps?

Cheers
John

The Fiat wasn’t alone with a plastic base. The 12c Landrover (1965) retained its plastic base even as a Superfast, as did the 1966 57c Landrover fire engine. The 1966 37c Cattle truck started with a chromed plastic base but was changed to metal early in production. Preproduction 36c Opels from 1966 had a grey plastic base. Many Leyland, Mercedes and Daf trucks, horse boxes and tankers had plastic bases too. But you’re right - most vehicles didn’t and I’ve no idea why! Perhaps it was something to do with weight - Husky cars and trucks with plastic bases feel flimsy, even though they’re excellent castings.

DrJeep wrote:Perhaps it was something to do with weight - Husky cars and trucks with plastic bases feel flimsy...

I agree. Something to do with a perceived lack of quality amongst customers.

DrJeep wrote:Perhaps it was something to do with weight - Husky cars and trucks with plastic bases feel flimsy.

That's always been my understanding as well.