The Vauxhall Velox was part of the original Corgi brand launch range in 1956. This mechanical flywheel friction motor version was released at the same time as the single-colour freewheeling version and remained in production until 1959. The two-tone cars are freewheel only and were released as part of a range refresh in 1959. The mechanical version, 203M, was available in red or orange. The orange cars are harder to find and will get a good premium on the price.

There are a number of clues to the fact that the car shown below is a sneaky repaint that the seller never bothered to mention in his eBay auction. Firstly the orange peel finish, but more than that the fact that the toy was never sold in this colour. Next the silver-painted bright work shows evidence of brushing rather than masking. That rear number plate is not from a Corgi accessory set, but the tax disc (lost in cleaning and now gone) was.

The windows are far more worn than the bodywork, as are the wheels, the rivets look wrong and - killer blow, Corgi did not start painting tail lamps red until the Vanguard a year or so later. If that was not enough they've painted the wrong bit red. Still it's a good model of the old Vauxhall and the mechanical version is not that easy to find.