Ford Transcontinental

This was Corgi Toys' big truck version number 5. It had started in 1957 with the Big Bedford S Type then in 1962 the Bedford TK took over. The US Ford H Series and Mack Prime Mover were next and at number five came the Ford Transcontinental. Although the Ford had to share the limelight with the French Berliet which for a few years was concurrent in the Corgi Toys range with the Ford.

Even though in my terms by 1976 Corgi Toys are well into their wilderness years, there were still some products which worked well and this is one of them. The successor owners of the Corgi brand in the post Mettoy years must have agreed as there were three Corgi Classics releases of the same truck, the last being the Pollock of Musselburgh flatbed in 2000.

In April 1976 Corgi Toys released the first of the Transcontinentals, the Esso petrol tanker (1157). It's nice to find an error in the van Cleemput 'Great Book of Corgi' though; the book states that this is just a change of cab unit from the 1152 Mack on the Gloster Saro tanker from 1971. They are correct in that it is a model of the Gloster Saro tank trailer, and it is almost the same as on the Mack - but it is wider, same length, but wider. The Ford Esso tanker, 1157, was made in red & white from 1976 to 1981.

As most of the Corgi cars being released at this time were 1:36 scale a bigger transporter was required to fit them, never mind that the truck chosen for the job is 1:50 scale. The realism of the old Carrimore car transporter is sacrificed to pragmatism. The Ford Transcontinental cab is still new, the first releases being the tanker earlier in 1976. The metallic blue and white or metallic green and white truck is released in October 1976 continues until 1982 when it is replaced by a red and white version of the same truck.

This trailer gets seen quite a lot in the late years of Corgi Toys and the early years of Corgi Classics. The Ford Transcontinental Artic Tilt Truck; Michelin (1109) was released in August 1979 and was deleted in the same year.

The ubiquitous plastic containers make another appearance, these stay around for many years in the post Mettoy years in lots of different liveries, most frequently on the Superhaulers range of 1:64 scale trucks. The Ford Transcontinental container truck was released in July 1981 and remained in the catalogue up to the Mettoy bankruptcy in 1983

Here the 1976 release petrol tanker is recoloured to become the Guinness tanker. It was released in February 1982 and remained in production when the Mettoy company went into receivership the following year

This is more than a re-coloured version of the 1976 release car transporter, there is a change to the trailer casting, One of the sets of side supports has been removed to make it easier to move cars along the lower deck. The red & white transporter was released in May 1982 and remained in production when the company went into receivership in 1983.

			Still Looking
Corgi Toys 1157; Ford Transcontinental Artic Petrol Tanker; Esso	Corgi Toys 1158; Ford Transcontinental Artic Petrol Tanker; Exxon US Export Model	Corgi Toys 1160; Ford Transcontinental Artic Petrol Tanker; Gulf	Corgi Toys 1161; Ford Transcontinental Artic Petrol Tanker; Aral German Export Model	Corgi Toys 1159; Ford Transcontinental Artic Car Transporter

Corgi Toys 1109; Ford Transcontinental Artic Tilt Truck; Michelin	Corgi Toys 1108; Ford Transcontinental Artic; Container Truck, Michelin	Corgi Toys 1169; Ford Transcontinental Artic Tanker, Guinness	Corgi Toys 1170; Ford Transcontinental Artic Car Transporter; Red & White

Post Mettoy releases:

Corgi 23001; Ford Transcontinental; Artic Box Trailer, Midlands BRS	Corgi 23101; Ford Transcontinental; Artic Tilt Trailer, Eddie Stobart	Corgi 23301; Ford Transcontinental; Artic Flat Trailer, Pollock of Musselburgh