27 Facts About Corgi Toys

Corgi Toys is the brand name of a range of die-cast toy vehicles created by Mettoy and currently owned by Hornby.

In 1995, Corgi Toys regained its independence as a new company, Corgi Toys Classics Limited, and moved to new premises in Leicester.

Name 'Corgi Toys' was chosen by Philip Ullmann in honour of the company's new home, taken from the Welsh breed of dog, the Corgi, and the iconic Corgi dog logo branded the new range.

Corgi Toys included plastic glazing, which lent the models a greater authenticity, and they carried the advertising slogan "the ones with windows".

The first American car, the Studebaker Golden Hawk, was released in February 1958 and by the early 1960s the Corgi Toys range was being exported widely, finding particular popularity in Europe, Australia, Canada, the United States of America and areas of southeast Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and gradually more foreign vehicles were included to appeal to these new markets.

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Corgi Toys model featured operational ramps, a sliding door revealing the workshop complete with a miniature lathe, operational steering, and was finished in authentic dark blue.

Major range continued into the 1970s but along with the Corgi Toys range suffered somewhat from the constraints on development budgets that the company was forced to make.

The Pathfinder Airport Crash Truck released in September 1974 had won the Design Council Engineering Award for its manufacturer Chubb, and the Corgi Toys miniature included an internal water tank allowing water to be squirted through die-cast water cannons by pumping a rubber bulb.

Land Rover, which had been adapted as a 'Vote For Corgi Toys' campaigning vehicle as a tie-in with the 1964 UK General Election, was re-issued in September 1965 in the red and blue colours of Chipperfield's as the Chipperfield's Circus Parade Vehicle with a clown and chimpanzee replacing the political canvassers of the original, and a 'The Circus is Here' banner across the bonnet.

In January 1964, Corgi Toys updated the existing Citroen DS Safari to become a promotional vehicle for the 1964 Winter Olympics, complete with a skier figure, four model skis and two model ski poles.

Three years later, in July 1969, Corgi Toys issued the winning Hillman Hunter from the 1968 London to Sydney Marathon, complete with Take-Off Wheels, roof mounted tool box and a plastic kangaroo guard across the front of the car.

Corgi Toys introduced the first of the many film and television tie-in models that made the company famous in March 1965, with The Saint's Volvo P1800 from the British television series The Saint starring Roger Moore.

The Corgi Toys executives were impressed by how The Saint version sold in much larger numbers than the regular version, despite the fact that on the TV there was no Saint's logo on the car.

The model was released in time for the 1965 Christmas market and the Corgi Toys factory found it was unable to keep up with demand, leading to coverage in the British press of stories of toy shop shelves being cleared of this new must-have toy in minutes.

However, this Corgi offering was a toy-like race car from the 'Qualitoys' range, and was a far cry from the famous "00-zero" car that 'Dick Dastardly' drove in the cartoon series.

The first American emergency vehicle to be produced by Corgi Toys was the Chevrolet Impala State Patrol car introduced in December 1959.

The first large commercial vehicles in the Corgi Toys range were the Commer Dropside lorry and the Commer Refrigerated van finished the livery of Walls Ice Cream.

In 1963 Corgi Toys introduced the Commer Constructor Set, which consisted of two Commer FC van chassis units and four different rear bodies – an ambulance, milk float, panel van and pick-up.

Corgi Toys produced a sizeable range of military vehicles during the 1950s and early 1960s, and they proved very popular.

Sales of Corgi Toys began to fall away and matters were not helped by a disastrous fire at the Swansea factory in March 1969 which destroyed a warehouse full of models awaiting delivery.

The Rover 2000 TC issued a month later in April 1968 and finished in metallic green was a new casting despite Corgi Toys having previously issued a model of the Rover 2000, and was fitted with a clear roof panel as featured on a Rover 2000 displayed on the Triplex stand at the 1965 Earls Court Motor Show, and a plastic spare wheel holder attached to the boot lid which was a popular period extra on the real car.

Oldsmobile Toronado released in June 1968 was an updated version of the earlier 1967 Corgi Toys release of the same model but re-coloured metallic red or metallic yellow, but the metallic gold coloured Chevrolet Camaro SS350 issued in August 1968 was a new model of one of the latest generation 'pony' cars from America.

Corgi Toys introduced the Corgi Comics range in 1969 as a range of character based toys aimed at younger children.

In December 1959 Corgi Toys produced packs of stickers which could be affixed to personalise Corgi models.

Corgi Toys catalogues are notable for their illustrations and art work that are evocative of the period, and they are now collectable in their own right.

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In October 1983, Corgi Toys were forced to call in the Official Receiver, just three years after the demise of Dinky Toys and one year after Lesney Products, the creators of the Matchbox brand.

On 1 May 2008, Corgi Toys Classics was bought by the international models and collectables group Hornby.