Flower power Mini makes almost £5k!

Corgi and Dinky featured prominantly in the run up to Christmas at one auction house. The Specialist Sale held at Vectis on 6 December had over 770 lots going under the hammer. The sale contained seven private owners’ collections, including the Nostalgia Toys Dinky Collection, The Dorset Collection and The Warwickshire Collection.

A popular lot was a Dinky No.501 Foden diesel 8-wheel wagon with blue cab and chassis, a mid-blue back and Supertoy hubs with grey treaded tyres and tow hook. Billed as near mint in a good blue lift-off lid box, it carried an estimate of £280-£320 but sold for well beyond that, achieving £720.

The same money bought the Dinky No.145 Singer Vogue in metallic light green with a factory sprayed cream roof, a red interior and chrome hubs. Virtually mint (apart from a minor mark to the front bumper), this was a superb example of a rare factory issue in a yellow carded picture box. Its modest estimate of £190-220 proved far too low on the day. But the big spending didn’t end there: a whopping £1,080 was bid on the French Dinky No.24v Buick Roadmaster. This came with a very pale grey body, a metallic silvery blue roof, silver flashes, chrome convex hubs and white smooth tyres. It was described as excellent plus and came in a yellow and red carded picture box.

The heavy hitters were still to come, though: Corgi’s Morris Mini Minor "Mostest Pop Art" is a well-known scarcity in its psychedelic orangey red paint. With lemon interior, cast hubs and flower power decals, this hip transport was mint in a fresh crisp blue and yellow carded picture box. Vectis reckoned it was amongst the best it had seen, accounting for the £4,080 paid, perhaps. The other Corgi of note was No.1110, the Bedford Type S Tanker with "Shell Benzeen Tolueen Xyleen" decals. In blue and white, with a silver gantry and chrome spun hubs, this was near mint. A rare promotional issue, it was contained in a correct carded presentation box with a colour folded leaflet. It eventually sold for £4,800.

Healthy breakfasts are still in vogue, it seems. A Dinky No.514 Guy "Weetabix" Van in traditional yellow with ridged hubs was estimated at £700-800 but the van drove off to achieve a creditable £1,440. As for London transport, how about the Corgi No.468 Routemaster Bus "New South Wales"? An Australian promotional issue, seldom sighted over here, it was finished in green, cream and brown and carried an “Outspan” decal. Forget the estimate (£800-1,000): this made £1,200 when the hammer fell.

Finally, two oddballs: The Mercury (Chilean) No.24 Maserati 3500GT in yellow whizzed past its £60 guideline to make £504 whilst a stablemate, a Chilean Lancia Fulvia in blue (ref No.33) achieved £744 against a similar estimate. ■