The latest addition to my Minic collection a 1/32 scale approximately, Ford Monarch/Tudor Sedan in blue plastic.  Originally marketed under the Penguin brand with a rubber band drive, later models had a clockwork motor.

My posting earlier showing my latest addition to the plastic Minic’s seemed to create a fair amount of interest so have decided to share with you some more of the larger scale models from my collection.

The first one I will mention is the Ford 100e Squire as it does not appear to have been documented in my Tri-ang Minic catalogues or in Sue Richardson book on the same subject. The real thing was produced as part of the Prefect range from 1955 until 1959 so surely this means it was produced by Tri-ang within this time scale. The early models came with the “woody effect” so this must be based on the later examples, some of which were called “Escorts” which had a cheaper specification and no chrome, so hence the simplified grill and these were produced until 1961. The model is 5 inches long and has a Push & Go motor on the rear wheels, with some rudimentary steering on the front wheels, it is most often seen in red plastic, but I have also seen a blue plastic version.

Next comes the No 2 Musical Car 205M which has a wind-up clockwork motor and a built-in musical box which plays as the car goes along, it is 7 inches long with steerable front wheels.

The blue open Sports Car is a Jaguar XK120 the early models had a clockwork motor, but this example with the Push & Go type motor still has the keyhole in the nearside mudguard. Both versions may well have come with a separate lift off hood which always seems to be missing from unboxed models.

The green car is a Riley Saloon with a wind-up clockwork motor with what I believe is a brake which is shown just below the front bumper, there is also a police car version.

The red car is 3128 a Push & Go Armstrong Siddeley, again this was originally with a clockwork motor as can be seen from the keyhole in the rear offside, just behind the door.

I will now share with you a few more of the larger Minic Push & Go models. These models were described as being the OO range which would suggest being suitable for 1/76 scale, but they are however much closer to 1/32. The OOO range are the ones suitable for OO/HO gauge 1/76 railways, which causes much confusion for some modellers. At first these models had an “M” prefix in line with the earlier tinplate models, but by 1957 these had been changed to a four-figure number only reference.

The FX3 Taxi is model number 3181 but is also shown in the same catalogue as London Taxi 3459 and the only visible difference is chrome hubcaps to the wheels, I have this model in red, yellow and white plastic and do believe it also exist in green and blue plastic but for some reason it was never seems to have been produced in the iconic black plastic.

The LCC ambulance is model number 3129 and is based on the 1949 Daimler model of which 499 were built with a top speed of 75mph, I have only ever seen this model produced in the creamy white plastic.

The Delivery Van is model number 3182 and appears to be generic, but some lines from classic vehicles is recognisable. It usually comes with the transfer as depicted on the red model, the transfer on the blue model was almost totally gone and I made a suitable replacement. It is quite likely that this model also exist in other colours of plastic.

The final model in this posting is the 3177 Petrol Tanker, based on a forward control vehicle of a generic type. It generally comes with the Fuel Oil transfer which seems to have been well used by Tri-ang. It was in first use as long ago as 1936 when it was part of a longer item reading “Shell BP Fuel Oil” used on the articulated tinplate petrol tanker. It has obviously been shortened for use on this model whilst other parts of this transfer can be found on other models including the rubber oil tank in the Tri-ang Railways range and the smaller OOO range of Push & Go vehicles suitable for use with the OO/HO railways range. The yellow plastic coloured model with Shell transfer appears to have been an export model for north America as it seldom turns up here in the UK

I am continuing the sharing of the Tri-ang Minic Push & Go models with their versions of Grand Prix and Le Mans cars. All these models date from the early to mid-1950s and are made in acetate and very prone to “age related” warping. As far as scale goes, they are quite similar in size to the early Scalextric models so somewhere around 1/32 scale.

The first two pictures are of the catalogue number 3112 Ferrar Racing Car, which I have in red, green, blue and white plastic, the model is 4 inches (about 10cm) long and has “Tri-ang” under the exhaust on the offside rear and “Made in England” on the nearside. It has a separate driver and clear cellophane windshield that is only present on the red model, and this appears to be the most common of the 4 models shown.

The other 3 models are collectively known as “Le Mans Racers” and are catalogue number 3111 but you will see they are all different mouldings. Tri-ang did not bother to identify any specific car, but if you look closely, you will see they have characteristics normally associated with the makes of Jaguars, Porsches, Mercedes, Ferrari and others, perhaps one of our motor sport experts would like to speculate on the particular model that the Tri-ang designers had in mind. The bulges on the bonnets of the red and green models is to accommodate the flywheel of the friction motor that is located on the front axle, whilst the blue one has rear wheel drive and the flywheel is below the hump behind the drivers head.

My final picture is taken from the 1957 catalogue and is catalogue number 3531 the “Grand Prix Collector’s Set” two of which are the Ferrari, whilst the other two are obviously the Le Mans cars, Tri-ang was not always consistent with their accuracy on descriptions. Like most of the other models in the Minic Push & Go series by the end of the 1950s they had been phased out, but stock may have remained on warehouse or shop shelves for a few years, I have said earlier that I was still finding these models as new in the early 1970s.

It’s worth noting that the blue and green Le Mans cars both have “made in England & New Zealand” on the base so were obviously available for export.