Miniatures news, September 1965

One of Corgi’s latest models is a Lotus Elan, 3 1/2 in. long, and complete with folding seats, brown facia to contrast with the authentic black interior trim, gear-lever, steering wheel, and openable bonnet revealing a dummy twin-cam power unit with “Lotus” clearly picked out on the valve covers—there is even a miniature battery behind the driver’s seat, as on the real Elan. The windows slide up and down in the doors. This metallic-blue Lotus has the Correct “Elan S2” lettering at the rear of the front wings but we could do without the driver in racing overalls and crash-bat and even more so without a too-big full-colour replica of the Esso “I’ve Got a Tiger . . .” poster which covers the entire top of the boot-lid. This little Elan retails for 55. 6d. in the U.K.

Another recent Corgi is a Dolphin 20 cabin cruiser on a trailer, a 5 1/2-in.-long miniature selling for 6s. 6d. Lesney offer a tiny replica, 2 3/4 in. in length, of a Fiat 1500 salon with roof-rack and luggage (New Matchbox Series No. 56) at 2s., and a fascinating little miniature of the World Championship G.P. Lotus-Climax, 2 3/4 in. long (New Matchbox Series No. 19), also costing 2s. The respective scales are 64 : 1 and 54 : 1.—W. B.