Britain's Toy Car Wars: The War of Wheels Between Dinky, Corgi and Matchbox

by Giles Chapman

Overview

For fifty years, Britain made the best toy cars in the world, expertly shrinking every kind of reallife vehicle and producing them in their countless, die-cast millions. Dinky Toys were the 1930s pioneers, then in the 1950s came the pocket-money Matchbox series, followed by Corgi Toys bristling with ingenious features and movie stardust.

But who were the driving forces behind this phenomenon? And how did they keep putting the latest, most exciting cars into the palm of your hand year after year?

In this illustrated and expanded edition of Britain’s Toy Car Wars, Giles Chapman reveals the extraordinary battle to dominate Britain’s toy car industry, and the dramas and disasters that finally saw the tiny wheels come off …

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780750997133
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	01/01/2022
Edition description:	Second Edition,New edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

GILES CHAPMAN is an award-winning writer and commentator on the industry, history and culture of cars. He has been editor of Classic & Sports Car, the world’s best-selling classic car magazine, and since 1994, he’s worked freelance across a huge variety of media. His books include Worst Cars, Cars We Loved in the 1960s, 1970s, 80s and 90s, and 100 Cars Britain Can Be Proud Of. He lives in Kent.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

1 Die-casting and Modelled Miniatures 17

2 Runaway Success 26

3 Dinky's Post-War Resurgence 39

4 New Pocket-Sized Thinking 45

5 Feature-packed Corgi Toys 58

6 A Universe of Miniature Dinky Transport Rolling out of Binns Road 85

7 Matchbox 1-75 Series and the Industrial Juggernaut of Hackney's Star Enterprise 102

8 Designed in Northampton, Built in Swansea: Corgi Toys Fed the Imagination 115

9 Home-grown Rivals who Chased the Big Three 133

10 Hot Wheels Barges in and Causes Mayhem 142

11 Struggle of the 1970s: Fighting Back against Star Wars and Teenage Indifference 157

12 Sad Endings as Britain's Little Wheels Come Off 185

13 Destiny for the Greatest Names in Die-casts 195

14 Celebrity Status: Icons Inspired by the Big and Small Screen 208

15 Collecting: A Personal View on Survival and Big Money 224

Bibliography and Acknowledgements 236