1930 Packard Victoria

Another model with few variations. The most noticeable one is the raised coach line around the rear of the body. First issues were in a thin line but this was thickened just before the introduction of the black and red model. There were two small raised panels under the rear axle and these were subsequently deleted. Another small variant concerns the 2 small raised triangular lugs either side of the steering wheel. These started out finishing below the dials on the dash but were eventually lengthened.
The run in beige threw up some changes in the roof colours and the hardest is probably the rusty brown colour to find. The white roof is an easy swap so I only bought as from a major retail chain and was on the shelf as is. Models have been seen with other colours such as the one in pic.7 from Bob Tutt but were probably the result of plastics trials, but certainly a very nice, sedate looking version with this grey roof.

1937 Mercedes Benz 540K

Only the second car in the range to have an opening 'dickey seat' (the Y8 Morris being the other). Many prepro's were run on this model and they featured an opening in the fender for the exhaust to pass through but this was soon omitted. First early runs in silver livery had a seat that was slightly to small and moved from side to side and this was rectified by adding another 2mm to the seat width. The seat colour ranges from an orangey red to a dark red on this version. No casting variants have been found on this model except the wheels which may be 24 spoke chrome or red and solid wheels. A version with 12 spoke red has been noted but seems a strange choice.
In a few short runs the livery changed to white then red and finally a longer run in black. The model was enhanced with superior detail for the US market and became part of the 'Chinese 6' set on sale there with no screw holes in the bases.

1930 Bugatti Royale Napoleon

Bugatti Royale

From Wikipedia,
Bugatti Type 41 (Royale) Coupé Napoleon
Manufacturer Bugatti
Also called Bugatti Royale
Production 1927-1933 (6 produced)
Class Luxury car
Layout FR layout
Engine(s) 12,763 cc (12.7 L) (779 cu in.).straight-8
Transmission(s) 3-speed manual
Wheelbase ~4.3 metres (169.3 in)
Length ~6.4 metres (252.0 in)
Curb weight ~3,175 kg (7,000 lb)

The Bugatti Type 41, better known as the Royale, was a large luxury car with a 4.3 m (169.3 in) wheelbase and 6.4 m (21 ft) overall length. It weighed approximately 3175 kg (7000 lb) and used a 12.7 L (12763 cc/778 in³) straight-8 engine.

For comparison, the Royale is about as heavy as a large modern commercial pickup truck, such as a Ford Super Duty F-450, but it is about 10% longer. When compared to the modern Rolls-Royce Phantom, it is about 20% longer, and more than 25% heavier.

Ettore Bugatti planned to build twenty-five of these cars, and sell them to royalty. But even European royalty was not buying such things during the Great Depression, and Bugatti was able to sell only three of the six made. Today a Bugatti Royale is both one of the largest and rarest cars in the world.

LLedo

My newest hauls are al Lledo. The other brand who make classic era diecast. In my opinion, Lledo models are exceptionaly very good. The details are very pronounced, very balanced and accurate. One drawback though, is that there are no name(s) or description on the car. Only code (i.e. SP001 or DG-6, etc..).

Here are some information about the LLEDO brand:

Lledo

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John Cobb's 'Railton Mobil Special'
1935 Blue Bird land speed record carLledo was a brand of die cast toys, founded in 1982 by Matchbox co-founder Jack Odell and Burt Russell.

Lledo was a reversal of Odell's own surname, which set out to specialise in replicating early Matchbox series styles. Odell and Russell bought machinery from the Universal company of Hong Kong, who had brought and shipped the Matchbox manufacturing plant to Hong Kong. Odell and Russell re-shipped the machinery back to a factory in Enfield, England where in April 1983 a new range called "Days Gone" was launched.

The favourite model of collectors of the company's products was a Ford Model T van, which then became the basis for the start of a series of limited edition models for gifts, product launches and special promotions; most commonly produced in limited edition runs of 500 or 1000 models. The company later launched the "Vanguards" range, which specialised in replica classic cars.

Although shipping high volumes of product, the company could not compete against low cost producers from both Hong Kong and China, who also entered the special promotions market with high quality products. As a result, Lledo went bankrupt in 1999, and the naming right and model range bought by Corgi. Corgi continued producing the range of models in China until 2005, when the remaining models were merged into the Corgi Classics range.

Jack Odell died on 8 July 2007 at the age of 87.

Model T part 5 and a Model A Police car

More stuff from my latest haul, the last Model T and a Police car.

Model T part 4

And some more...

Model T part 3

Finally got a chance to add some Model T in my collection. These are Lledo's from a good friend.