Corgi Toys is the name of a range of die-cast toy vehicles produced by Mettoy Playcraft
Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Mettoy company was founded in 1933 by German
immigrant Philip Ullmann in Northampton, England, where he was later joined by South African-born
German Arthur Katz, who’d previously worked for Ullmann at his toy company Tipp and Co
in Nuremberg. They became established in Northampton and within six years of the company's founding,
the Northampton factory had 600 employees. A production plant was built at Fforestfach
in Swansea, South Wales, to manufacture the new range of Corgi Toys in 1956. This provided
many new jobs in an area of high unemployment following the scaling down of local coal mining
operations. Prior to the introduction of Corgi Toys, Mettoy
mainly produced tin plate toys. However, in the early 1950s, they began producing a few
products in cast metal. The first was a large-scale wind-up racer made with a cast aluminium body
and tin plate wheels. The body material was soon changed to die cast zinc and it was refitted
with cast wheels and moulded rubber tyres. Other models followed and the product line
was given the name "Castoys." These were the direct ancestors of Corgi Toys.
The 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. The name was short and easy to remember, further aligning the range with
their rival Dinky Toys. Corgi Toys also included plastic glazing, which lent the models a greater
authenticity, and they carried the advertising slogan "the ones with windows".
Initially, all models were issued in free-rolling form, or with friction drive motors, with
the exception of the heavy commercials which would have been too bulky and the sports cars
whose low slung bodies would not be able to accommodate the motors. The Mechanical versions,
as they were known, were indicated by an 'M' suffix to the model number and were available
in different colour schemes. They were issued with tougher die-cast bases to support the
extra weight of the motor, and in fewer numbers. Mechanical versions did not sell particularly
well, partly due to a significantly higher purchase price, and were phased out in 1960
with the Ford Thunderbird being the last of the line. One particular problem that was
not anticipated was that it was possible to lubricate the "motor" using oil through a
hole in the base, but the oil tended to splatter around inside and cloud up the windows. The
rigid die-case bases were retained and became the standard for Corgi toys.
British cars dominated the releases over the next few years reflecting the company's concentration
on the home market, but by 1957 new markets were being explored and the first European
car to be modelled was the Citroën DS19 issued in December of that year. The first American
car, the Studebaker Golden Hawk, was released in February 1958 and by the early 1960s the
Corgi 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. Models were issued on a monthly basis and
the range grew quickly to include vehicles of all types. Gradually the models became
more sophisticated with the addition of such features as 'Glidamatic' spring suspension
and a detailed interior on the Renault Floride in October 1959, and the fibre-optic style
'Trans-o-Lite' illuminating lights system first seen on the Superior Ambulance on Cadillac
Chassis in October 1962. The early type of interior which was known as 'vac-formed',
was produced by stretching a thin sheet of acetate over a mould by means of a vacuum,
and lasted for three years until being replaced by the crisper, more detailed injection-moulded
type first seen in the Thames 'Airborne' caravan in February 1962.
The Corgi design team came up with the first model with an opening feature in February
1960, the Aston Martin DB4 which had an opening bonnet. Steerable front wheels, jewelled headlights
and rear lights and an opening boot complete with spare wheel were added on the 1961 Bentley
Continental Sports Saloon, and by 1963 with the release of the Ghia L6.4 new levels of
authenticity were being reached. This model featured a number of 'firsts' with not only
an opening bonnet, but also opening doors and boot, and a detailed interior with a rear
view mirror, folding front seats, and even a model corgi dog sitting on the rear parcel
shelf. At introduction, the Ghia sold for eight shillings and sixpence – that’s
42½p, and even at this relatively high price around 1.7 million were sold. By contrast,
only twenty five examples of the real car were completed! Another popular model was
the Jaguar Mark X which sold over 1.1 million. Following the success of the Dinky Supertoys
range of die-cast trucks, Corgi decided to launch a range of heavy commercial vehicles
in October 1957 with the release of the Carrimore Car Transporter featuring a Bedford S-Type
tractor unit with full glazing in keeping with the rest of the Corgi range, and the
company's first gift set including the Carrimore Car Transporter and four cars in time for
Christmas 1957. Early models in the new 'Corgi Major' range
were issued in sturdy two piece boxes featuring the blue and yellow colour scheme that had
recently been adopted across the entire Corgi range.
The Midland Red Motor Express Coach, issued in March 1960, was a model of the latest high
speed coach for the motorway age fitted with a turbo-charged engine and capable of 100
mph, and a model of the pioneering SR.N1 hovercraft was released in June 1960.
The 1965 Ford H Cab and Detachable Trailer was a leap in quality that proved the Major
range had entered a new era, and it continued to sell well until 1972.
The 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 Proteus-Campbell Bluebird Record Car was issued in September 1960 and was modelled
on the vehicle with which Donald Campbell was to set a new Land Speed Record in 1964.
Models following themes were released over the years. In January 1964, Corgi updated
the existing Citroën 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.
The Monte Carlo Rally, held annually in January, provided a rich source of model cars between
1964 and 1967. By following the event closely, Corgi Toys were able to issue a model of the
winning car shortly after the end of the rally Often there was not even enough time to produce
a unique box for the new model, which had to make do with a hastily produced sticker
applied to a standard issue box for a similar model.
In 1964, Mettoy introduced a range of smaller scale vehicles called Husky Toys. These retailed
at a lower retail price than the larger Corgi Toys, and competed with Matchbox Toys.
In the same year Corgi diversified into the adult collector market and released a range
of highly detailed models of vintage cars called 'Corgi Classics'. Marketed at a higher
price point than Lesney's Matchbox 'Models of Yesteryear', they met with mixed success.
The Corgi Classics range had been discontinued by 1969, although the name was later revived
for a range of adult collectable models in the 1980s.
Throughout the company's history, Corgi Toys have been closely associated with modelling
Grand Prix and Formula 1 racing cars. The first issued was the Vanwall Grand Prix car
issued in July 1957. Finished in green and carrying racing number 3, it was a scale model
of the car driven by Stirling Moss. In 1972 Corgi worked with the newly formed
Grand Prix Association to produce a series of 1/36 scale Formula 1 racing cars. These
were the first models produced in the larger 1/36 scale instead of the familiar O scale
preferred by Dinky and Corgi up to this date. Within the following five years virtually
the complete Corgi range would be replaced by vehicles in 1/36 scale, much to the dismay
of adult collectors. Corgi produced many cars that tied in with
film and TV, including The Saint’s Volvo P1800, the Oldsmobile Super 88 from “The
Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, Thunderbirds vehicles, the Batmobile from the 60’s TV show, the
Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, The Monkees Monkeemobile, and of course James Bond’s iconic DB5 from
Goldfinger. Many of these were an update to the car Corgi already sold and minor modifications
such as the TV show’s logo on the car. A big seller was the flying car Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang from the film of the same name, which featured plastic wings that popped out
from the car's side skirts when the hand brake was pushed.
Corgi would continue to produce tie-ins into the 1970s with more James Bond cars, including
the iconic submarine Lotus Esprit and the Space Shuttle from “Moonraker”, and the
silver Ford Capri from the popular British television crime drama The Professionals featuring
models of 'Bodie', 'Doyle' and 'Cowley'. They also produced tie-ins to kids cartoons such
as Wacky Races. This would continue with Harry Potter vehicles, Mr. Bean’s Mini, and Eddie
Stobart lorries. In the early 1970s Corgi Toys issued a range
of dragsters in response not only to the increased interest in this form of motorsport in the
UK, focused on the Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire, but also the attention brought to these vehicles
by Mattel's Hot Wheels. By the late sixties the British toy car market
had changed with the arrival from the U.S. of Mattel's Hot Wheels range and their associated
track sets. 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. Even one of the company's cleverest innovations, the Golden Jacks 'Take-Off
Wheels' system, which first appeared in March 1968 did little to halt the slide.
In 1969 low friction wheels known as 'Whizzwheels' were introduced to keep up with the competition.
The first incarnation (known to collectors as 'Red Spots') featured rubber tyres and
brass hubs with low friction red nylon centres, which although attractive and effective, were
expensive to produce and were soon replaced by plastic wheels. Although giving more 'play
value', Whizzwheels models are less popular with collectors today as they take away some
of the character and realism of the earlier regular wheeled models fitted with rubber
tyres. After the success of the range during the
late 1950s and 1960s, sales remained buoyant in the 1970s, and the company made its biggest
profit of £3.5 million in 1978. In an attempt to keep its products contemporary Mettoy began
production of the Dragon home computer. The expense of this project proved a drain on
the company's resources, and profits were hit hard. In October 1983, Corgi Toys were
forced to call in the Official Receiver. But the Corgi story didn’t end in the mid-1980s.
A management buy-out saw the company re-formed as Corgi Toys Limited in March 1984. This
company continued to produce model vehicles, but in smaller numbers than before. The workforce
grew but the costs of running the factory at the Fforestfach site had become higher.
Competition was now wholly in the form of products that were being manufactured overseas
leading to management moving some of the moulds to China and setting up a joint venture company
with a Hong Kong company called Flying Dragon. At the same time it took on contract work
producing non-toy items. In 1989 the management sold the Corgi brand to Mattel and the factory
was retained under the name of Microlink Industries Ltd. The products of the Mettoy owned company
continue to be prized by collectors worldwide. In recent years the internet has allowed a
far wider collector-base than in the past when swapmeets and antique markets were the
only places they could be found. A management buyout in 1995 saw the end of
Mattel ownership and a new company was created, Corgi Classics Limited. On 1 May 2008, Corgi
Classics was bought by the international models and collectables group Hornby.