One-off tanker at auction

C&T Auctions recently staged the first Parodi Dinky Toy sale, which they say went really well, with all 509 lots making a total of £80,500.

One star of the day was a rare French Dinky turquoise and ivory No.554 Opel Rekord, with concave hubs and white tyres. Billed as very good to excellent condition, it exhibited slight rubbing to the roof and had a small crack to one side window. Boxed, the upper estimate of £180 was easily eclipsed and it sold for £650.

A little less (at £550) was the closing bid on the No.412 powder blue Austin wagon, with lemon ridged hubs. In mint condition, with yellow picture box and blue colour spot, it also surpassed its estimate.

A Dinky Supertoy (No.934) dark blue and yellow Leyland Octopus wagon was another rarity to go under the hammer. This was fitted with red diecast hubs, and was in mint to excellent condition, with an excellent striped box. A truly hard to find variety, this settled on £1,900.

The Dinky Gift Set No.125 (Fun A’Hoy), comprising a Ford Corsair in blue and a Healey Sports boat with pilot and passenger, were in mint condition, and contained in an un-opened open fronted display box with picture top. This really generated interest and it closed on a remarkable £600.

Of interest to those who like the arcane was the Dinky experimental Army Foden S20 Tanker, mounted on a factory made wooden plinth. Finished in military green with black hatches, hoses, green hubs, heavy duty tyres, stickers to cab doors and 'army' to tanker, it was in good to excellent condition. This experimental model (using the 950 Foden S20 Burmah tanker) was never put into production, and realised £600.

Finally, TV tie-ins were not overlooked and a Stripey the Magic Mini, in white, yellow, blue and red, with Candy, Andy and the Bearandas figures, turned up in mint condition, with a correct pictorial box. In excellent condition, it was estimated to make £200-300 yet went on to achieve £500. ■