Austin A40 Mechanical

Austin A40 Mechanical - 216M

page last updated: 03 January 2012

216M

AUSTIN A40

MECHANICAL

The Austin A40 Farina was part of the 'squaring off' of the BMC car range - prior to this they were typically rounded like the Riley Pathfinder and the Austin Cambridge (from the 1956 Corgi launch range) and organic in shape. The Farina cars all had pointed tail lamps with little pointed vertical fins and roughly square grilles with headlamps in the top corners forming the wing line which follows through the body - they also have very squared-off roof lines.

The A40 was added to the Corgi range in 1959. It was available as either a freewheeling car or as a 'Mechanical', that is with a friction flywheel motor which picked up momentum as the car was pushed along making it continue under its own power when it was released. A number of Corgis around this time were offered with this feature but it was dropped after a short time as it was not that popular and sales were low. Consequently the mechanical versions are often scarcer and more valuable.

With the A40 the mechanical car is always red with or without a black roof and the freewheeling car is usually two-tone blue although you will find it in red and black occasionally. The mechanical car is always more highly priced than the freewheeling car and the car with the black roof is the one to look for.
These are very hard to find at a sensible price, mine is worn and has a window pillar is broken, but the model is just about acceptable overall - as was the price.


		The Austin A40 Farina was part of the 'squaring off' of the BMC car range - prior to this they were typically rounded like the Riley Pathfinder and the Austin Cambridge (from the 1956 Corgi launch range) and organic in shape. The Farina cars all had pointed tail lamps with little pointed vertical fins and roughly square grilles with headlamps in the top corners forming the wing line which follows through the body - they also have very squared-off roof lines. The A40 was added to the Corgi range in 1959. It was available as either a freewheeling car or as a 'Mechanical', that is with a friction flywheel motor which picked up momentum as the car was pushed along making it continue under its own power when it was released. A number of Corgis around this time were offered with this feature but it was dropped after a short time as it was not that popular and sales were low. Consequently the mechanical versions are often scarcer and more valuable.
With the A40 the mechanical car is always red with or without a black roof and the freewheeling car is usually two-tone blue although you will find it in red and black occasionally. The mechanical car is always more highly priced than the freewheeling car and the car with the black roof is the one to look for. These are very hard to find at a sensible price, mine is worn and has a window pillar is broken, but the model is just about acceptable overall - as was the price.