If you can say it - this is as iconic as it gets. When I think Corgi it is this gift set that that says Corgi as loud and as clear as it is possible. The Racing Car Transporter is so hard core Corgi, is almost the defining model for the brand. It is certainly in the top 5 that they ever produced. In addition, racing cars were always so key to the brand. There were always tractors, Land Rovers, police cars, racing cars, etc those bases were always covered and here we are at the apogee of the racing car thread. There has to be a slight apology in that I'm not sure which version of the Lotus XI we have here.
The models which made up the Racing Car Transporter Gift Set - GS16 were:
Now, I do have a proviso. I think the Ferrari 156 was the defining Corgi racing car and that the Cooper Maserati and the Lotus Climax were better models but this set was never produced with that trio. The old Commer transporter and those fine F1 racers belonged to different eras, but if we are being picky we should load this truck with Dinky Jag D Types.
No matter, there was no danger at all of the 6 year old me ever getting my hands on a set that cost almost £2 (£1, 19s, 11d). The Corgis I was given were priced at a fraction of that, usually less than 5s. Eight times that and then some was dream territory. Please enjoy these pictures and understand that here we have a towering quality brand working at the absolute height of their powers. The best of the very best.
Early releases of the set will have the non-suspension Vanwall & BRM and the first release Lotus XI, when the revised versions of these cars came into the range they were replaced in the set. There was a further revision in 1964 when the Lotus was replaced by the Ferrari 156, some of the later sets also have the transporter in light metallic blue. Early sets with this set of cars are valued more highly than the later set with the Ferrari
