TERRY SMITH looks back at some of the early Police cars offered by Corgi in the 1960s - You will have to rob a bank to buy them today!
One of my earliest memories of a diecast Police car must be the Corgi 419 Ford Zephyr Estate patrol car. As a young child, it looked fabulous to me with its large blue light and the bell on the grille.
Released in 1960, when I was four years old, I never got one; perhaps the 4/6 price tag was a little steep for my mum to justify when we were just out to pick up the weekly shop. The price for one today - a cool £225 plus! Later, it was available in black with white Police lettering on the sides as well as on the bonnet, but it is the cream version that I always fondly remember. One Corgi Police car I did own was the 1959 Chevrolet Impala. First introduced in 1960 as model 223, the model, like the real car, was very wide and became a favourite for racing across the primary school playground! During the mid-1960s, Corgi re-tooled the Impala which now featured separate chromed plastic side trim mouldings. All mint boxed versions of this Chevrolet are currently around the £175 mark.
As the 1960s, progressed Corgi introduced the charming little Mini Van as Police a dog handler unit. To be fair, I can’t actually recall this model from the time - maybe I didn’t think it was very suitable for the playground Grand Prix? From 1965 to 1969 the Corgi model 448 had opening rear doors and came with a dog handler figure and an Alsatian tracker dog. You can expect to pay just under £200 for a mint boxed one today.
Another small Police car offered by Corgi was one of the first versions of the Panda Car which was based on the Hillman Imp. I say Hillman, but Corgi decided to name the model after the Sunbeam version of the tiny car manufactured by the Rootes Group. Offered between 1968 and 1969, mainly in black and white with Police stickers on the doors, 506 was also available in the light blue and white finish as well. Perhaps due to their scarcity over desirability, models that are in mint and boxed condition are rapidly pushing the £100 barrier.
Like other service vehicles, police cars can be a popular choice for collectors, but can collecting diecast models of them ever been seen as an investment? Well looking at these prices, for the modest outlay of around £1 for all four of the above models in their day, they are now worth a staggering £700. It’s just taken up to 60 years to do that!
While I never owned one of these, I wish had - especially now!
The 1960 advertisement for the Zephyr Police car.
This I did have - but my Chevy was raced to destruction on the school playground!
How cool is this Minivan? It’s just that I don’t remember it from the period.
The Imp Panda Car from 1968 was mostly made in black and white like the box art.