Corgi Toys - Commercial Vehicles Models

Commercial Vehicles Models

The first light commercial modelled by Corgi Toys was the Bedford CA van in Daily Express livery (403) and in 'KLG Plugs' livery (403M) which was part of the July 1956 range that launched the brand. The CA van was later released in the yellow and black livery of AA Services in May 1957 (408), in the black and silver livery of the Evening Standard (421) in June 1960 and in the yellow and blue livery of Corgi Toys (422) in October 1960. The first large commercial vehicles in the Corgi Toys range were the Commer Dropside lorry (452) and the Commer Refrigerated van finished the livery of Walls Ice Cream (453). The same large van body was used on the ERF 88G chassis to become the Moorhouses Van (459) in March 1958. Painted red and yellow it featured paper stickers on the sides advertising Moorhouses Lemon Cheese and Raspberry jam.

The Karrier Bantam Lucozade Van (411) was introduced in August 1958 and featured a sliding plastic door, yellow paintwork and adverts for Lucozade energy drink on the side. This model was updated in May 1962 to become the Dairy Produce Van (435) now painted pale blue and white and with a 'Drive Safely on Milk' advert on the side. A Volkswagen van (433) was introduced in December 1962 finished in two tone red and white along with the Volkswagen Kombi (434) which was finished in green and white paintwork. A rare promotional version of the van was produced for the Dutch department store Vroom & Dreesman. In February 1963 the basic Volkswagen van was updated with Trans-o-lite headlamps as the Volkswagen Toblerone van (441). It was painted pale blue and finished with transfers along the sides advertising Toblerone chocolate bars. In March 1964 a Volkswagen Pick Up (432) was introduced to the range which came complete with a plastic canopy, and in December 1966 the pick up was converted to become the Volkswagen Breakdown Truck (490).

In 1963 Corgi introduced the Commer Constructor Set (GS 24), which consisted of two Commer FC van chassis units and four different rear bodies – an ambulance, milk float, panel van and pick-up. It proved very popular and remained in production until 1968. These models were also available separately as part of the normal Corgi range. The Commer Holiday Camp Special bus (508) issued in August 1968 was based on the earlier Samuelson Commer Film Unit bus, and featured bright orange and white paintwork with a decal fixed on one side on the vehicle, together with a plastic representation of luggage under cover on the roof rack.

The 'Mister Softee' Ice Cream Van (428) was introduced in March 1962 and was based on a Commer BF 1 ton van and which featured a plastic knob on the underside that allowed the ice cream salesman inside to be rotated. It also featured a sliding side window. In 1965 a Thames Wall's Ice Cream Van (447) was introduced. This was a smaller vehicle based on the Thames 5 cwt van, a commercial version of the Ford Anglia, and the bodywork featured a pointed roof design and a sliding side window. The model also came with a sheet of stickers which could be applied and also included were models of an ice cream vendor and small boy. An alternative version (474) with musical chimes operated by a handle protruding from the back of the model was introduced a year later, but without the plastic figures. A Karrier Bantam based Mobile Butchers Shop (413) was released in October 1960 and was later updated to become a Chipperfield's Circus Booking Office (426) in January 1962 and with the addition of an opening side hatch, a detailed kitchen interior and revolving chef it was re-issued in March 1965 as Joe's Diner Mobile Canteen (471). An export version to be sold in Belgium featured 'Patates Frites' stickers on the side in place of the usual 'Joe's Diner'.

There were no further additions to the commercial vehicle range until June 1979 with the Chevrolet van, first seen the previous year, issued in the livery of Coca-Cola (437). A Ford Transit Wrecker (1140) in the livery of 'Corgi 24 Hour Service' was issued in March 1981 followed by the Ford Transit Milk float (405) in February 1982 which carried the period slogan 'Milk's Gotta Lotta Bottle'.