Corgi got some value out of this old casting over the years, however this was its first trip out as a military 'Tow Truck' with a 6x6 chassis. It looks more like a cargo truck or a troop carrier to me but its role in the Corgi range was to tow the Corporal Missile launch pad. The original truck was produced from 1959 to 1964 and is found in three versions with UK, Dutch and US markings. UK & Dutch markings getting a premium over US. In 1965 it was re-released as 'Troop Transporter' having US markings with 'US7811332' on a decal and under model number 1133.
Of course its more familiar turnout is that of a Chipperfields Circus crane truck. Officially it is an International Harvesters M35 2½ ton 6x6 truck.
This example is in remarkably original condition with the addition of a CD sticker from the Accessory packs - not sure how the Foreign Office would react if one of the London embassies started to run one of these as diplomatic transport... Sadly the accessory stickers have suffered in the cleaning process.
There have been two interesting outcomes of cleaning all the models, beginning with these 1950s items. Firstly in most cases the insides of the windows are filthy. As there are no seats or interior detail anything thrown off the tyres in play goes into the car and tends to coat the windows, this is worse in the case of the mechanicals where oil has been applied as requested on the base plate. The oil flies of the flywheel (as it would) and makes the mess worse. The other issue is the colour of the cotton wool after it has been used for cleaning. Even cars that appear pristine can give off a yellow material as they are cleaned, presumably cigarette smoke. We forget these days how our lives were filled with smoke back then and the fact that these children's' toys were covered in it suggests that passive smoking was a real issue, as would have been coal fire smoke and smog in general. TS Eliot describes it thus, albeit earlier in the 20th century:
| The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, | |
| The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes | |
| Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening, | |
| Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains, | |
| Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys, |
Now I'm cleaning it off toy cars!
