62c Mercury Cougar

[Idris]

Idris was not very clear in the fact that the Cream Cougar did not appear in either of these comprehensive U.S. publications at all. kwakers

That is correct. The first mention in collectors' circles (that I am aware of) is a request by Ray Bush in a U.K. Matchbox magazine requesting additional information following Phil Bowdidge's discovery of this model at a swapmeet. (I'll see if I can find the article and post the date.)

[SMS88]

Interesting comments from Numi about sanctions - an enterprising SA business got around them by painting and assembling Dinkys in the late 1960s - I dont know if they imported UK made components or actually borrowed or bought the tooling!
Photographic proof rather than hazy recollections or dodgy notes should be the minimum standard of proof required for any variation to be more than a speculative footnote!

[matchboxkiwi]

Numi,
Interesting read about the cream cougars. I've seen mint ones at MICA conventions but most of the ones I've seen including my own are battered and play worn.
Mine was bought in a junk lot here in New Zealand for $5 plus four other models.
You talk about Wolfie and his cream cougar and it coming from South Africa. I know many models came in from Kenya and Tanzania and many years latter warehouses were found with lots of old shop stock. I wonder if their source was through these two countries.

Cheers Steve
Matchboxkiwi

[numi]

Interesting comments from Numi about sanctions - an enterprising SA business got around them by painting and assembling Dinkys in the late 1960s - I dont know if they imported UK made components or actually borrowed or bought the tooling!

I just found some interesting read about South African Dinkys which i was not aware of until now,below:

South Africa

Meccano Ltd exported Dinky Toys to all of the United Kingdom's old colonies relatively cheaply because of existing Commonwealth trade agreements. South Africa was one of its big importers.
A limited edition set of Dinky Toys from the mid-1950s shipped to the South African Defence Force.

In the mid-1950s, Meccano Ltd shipped to South Africa a limited edition set of military vehicles for the South African Defence Force. They were all painted military green and included a Motor Truck, a Covered Wagon, an Ambulance, a Dispatch Rider and a Van.

When South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1961, it imposed a luxury goods import tax, making Dinky Toys very expensive – a potential loss for Meccano Ltd. To resolve this problem, Meccano Ltd began shipping Dinky Toy parts to South Africa in 1962 where models were assembled and painted locally. The import of unfinished goods was not subject to the tax. These models were sold in South Africa between 1962 and 1963 and it is believed that only one batch of each model was produced, making South African Dinky Toys very rare. South Africa also imported Dinky Toys parts from the French factory in 1966 and six models were assembled and painted locally (Binns Road website).

Some of the distinguishing features of South African Dinky Toys are :

The boxes have Afrikaans lettering at the one end and "Printed in South Africa" on the side.
The colours are often different from those on the same models assembled in the UK.
The base plates have a glossy finish, whereas the same models released in the UK have matt black base plates.

South African Dinky Toys from Liverpool.

112 Austin Healey Sprite Mk. II
113 MG B
139 Ford Cortina
140 Morris 1100*
141 Vauxhall Victor Estate car
142 Jaguar Mk. X.
144 Volkswagen 1500
148 Ford Fairlane
155 Ford Anglia
172 Fiat 2300 station wageon
177 Opel Kapitan
181 Volkawagen
183 Mini Minor Automatic
184 Volvo 122S saloon
186 Mercedes 220
193 Rambler cross country station wagon
194 Bentley Serie S coupe
196 Holden special sedan
198 Rolls-Royce Phantom V
240 Cooper
241 Lotus
242 Ferrari
242 B.R.M.
300 Massey Harris tractor
405 Universal Jeep
449 Chevrolet El-Camino pick-up

South African Dinky Toys from Bobigny.

519 Simca 1000
548 Fiat 1800 familiale
552 Chevrolet Corvair
553 Peugeot 404
554 Opel Rekord
555 Ford Thunderbird

[SMS88]

Thankyou Numi for the extra details - nice to know Dinky tried the same solution Lesney chose to penetrate the protected Brazil market - exporting components! Dinky made money selling unpainted kits of diecasts to kids 1970-75 so its surprising there are more examples of major brands being assembled from components in protected markets outside Latin America. New Zealand did run at least half a dozen Spot On models in limited numbers after the Northern Ireland factory burned in Dinky ownership

[motorman]

Thanks Numi for that very helpful info. It always amazed me the kind of money S.A. Dinky models commanded at auction......now i understand why!

Still way outside my budget unfortunately.

[numi]

Thanks Numi for that very helpful info. It always amazed me the kind of money S.A. Dinky models commanded at auction......now i understand why!

Still way outside my budget unfortunately.

Hi MM,i had no idea that short-runs of Dinkys were assembled & finished right here in Sa. It was 24yrs before my time,hence my ignorance to the facts.I Googled and found this write-up in Wikipedia.How embarrassing for me yet Dad knew this all along.... but i guess we learn all the time!
numi

[numi]

Numi,
Interesting read about the cream cougars. I've seen mint ones at MICA conventions but most of the ones I've seen including my own are battered and play worn.
Mine was bought in a junk lot here in New Zealand for $5 plus four other models.
You talk about Wolfie and his cream cougar and it coming from South Africa. I know many models came in from Kenya and Tanzania and many years latter warehouses were found with lots of old shop stock. I wonder if their source was through these two countries.

Cheers Steve
Matchboxkiwi

Hi Steve,i have no idea about Cream Cougars being found in Kenya & Tanzania although it is/was possible cos they were British Colonies.
I do remember u showing us your "played with" specimen and that was a nice find indeed and thanks for showing.
When next u come across a "mint" specimen at shows or other,please do inspect them with a loupe and u will see what i mean when i say that i have yet to come across a Dead-Mint cream Cougar.These Cream Cougars were negligently or hurriedly sprayed over metal dust and which caused flecks/chips & micro-chips on the thinly coated castings.I am conservative when it comes to grading models yet grading differs from person to person and i am still trying to find out if this phenomenon is art,science or the art of science .
numi

[starni999]

Hi all,
Really really sorry but how could I miss a chance to post a Dinky picture in the Lesney area

195 Jag was assembled and painted in SA too, here is mine, it's light blue / grey. The other two are normal UK issues........



Chris Warr.

PS A cream Cougar is still very much missing from my humble Reg Wheels collection, maybe one day?

[Idris]

The first mention in collectors' circles (that I am aware of) is a request by Ray Bush in a U.K. Matchbox magazine requesting additional information following Phil Bowdidge's discovery of this model at a swapmeet. (I'll see if I can find the article and post the date.)

October 1983 (p125)