Volkswagen Transporter

 

Confusingly the VW van was originally known as the Type 2 Volkswagen, Type 1 being the car, the Beetle. These days this one is known as the T1 Transporter, being the first of many versions of the VW light commercial Transporter.

Corgi got good value from this excellent casting; there are two vans - the plain version & the Toblerone version with Trans-o-lites, the minibus, the pick-up and the wrecker. These are all the ones from the catalogue but Corgi made specials in company livery, I saw one with a Scandinavian department store logo on the side at a toy fair for £18. The decals were good on one side and worn on the other. I must have returned to it 10 times and in the end did not buy it. I seriously wish I had.

433 Delivery Van

The VW Transporter van was released in December 1962. It remained in production for three years being deleted in 1965. It is usually white over red. I've seen reference to a factory error piece in metallic green which sold at a premium and the grey Vroom & Dreesman code 2 version referred to above gets a very significant premium.

434 Kombi

The VW Kombi minibus was released in December 1962. It remained in production for four years being deleted in 1966. It is always very pale green over jade green. Sometimes the upper body colour is referred to as grey or cream, but my belief is that it is being mistaken for this pale green. The same error crops up whenever the colour is used, and it is used on a lot of Corgis, the Airborne Camper, Mini-Cooper Competition, etc. Values are high as it is a popular model and there are no variations, despite what it says in Ramsay.

441 Toblerone

Last year's rather dull T1 Van is revisited with the brand new Trans-o-Lite headlamps and Toblerone decals - that made it a lot more fun! The Toblerone version of the VW Transporter was released in February 1963 and remained in the range until 1967. It is always pale blue with Toblerone transfers. There was however a code 2 version released, also blue with ''Jouets Weber" decals, one of these will get a very good premium over the standard van.

431 Pickup

Another outing for the Type 2 Volkswagen. The van was good and so was the Kombi - next they try the pickup, and it works very well. I owned one of these in 1964, my parents went on holiday to see the new cathedral at Coventry, and I just remember staying up late waiting for their return and hoping they had brought me back a Corgi - they had and it was one of these with a red tilt. I've still got it too, but it's played to death & wrecked. More painted to death I suppose, but the quality of the original still shines through. The VW Transporter Pick-up was released in March 1964 and was produced for just two years. It was usually yellow with either a red or green tilt, although I've yet to see a green tilt. It is also occasionally reported in metallic gold, but I've never seen one of those either. If you find a gold one the value will be high - although all the versions have quite high values for this nice truck.

356 Military Personnel

This is the Volkswagen Type 2 Kombi in its military outfit dressed up as a US Military Personnel Carrier. One of nine existing models re-released in military trim in early 1965. They were all deleted in 1966 and sales were not great so these days they are hard to find and prices are high. It has a soldier in the driving seat and if you look in through the back window you can just see the soldiers' luggage.

490 Breakdown Truck

This is very good. The Corgi Type 2 Volkswagen is a very good model to start with, one of those that just works as an object, like the Mini and the Bedford TK, the modelling has an extra something which absolutely evokes the real thing. All of the VWs are below and all of them work brilliantly, vans, minibuses and pick-ups. This one does the most tricks though. an excellent tool box, working winch, tow bar and all those other bits and pieces in the back, tyres, oil drums etc. However when it gets added into one of the racing gift sets that Corgi produced everything steps up a gear, put a racing car trailer on the back and one of those Lotus Élans with the detachable chassis and you have the weekend privateer racing outfit par excellence. Good solid hard core Corgi stuff. The VW Breakdown Truck was released in 1966 and in the core range it is always beige with red loadbed. You will see it in white, but this is from GS37 or GS6. The stand-alone model stayed in the range until 1972. There are no listed variations other than it will have either cast or spun hubs.

         
Corgi Toys 433; Volkswagen T1 Transporter Van; Red, White Corgi Toys 434; Volkswagen T1 Transporter Kombi; Pale Green Over Jade Corgi Toys 441; Volkswagen Transporter T1 Van; Toblerone Corgi Toys 431; Volkswagen Type 2 Pick-Up; Yellow, Red Tilt Corgi Toys 356; Volkswagen T1 Transporter Kombi; US Military Personnel
Corgi Toys 433; Volkswagen T1 Transporter Van; Red, White Corgi Toys 434; Volkswagen T1 Transporter Kombi; Pale Green Over Jade Corgi Toys 441; Volkswagen Transporter T1 Van; Toblerone Corgi Toys 431; Volkswagen Type 2 Pick-Up; Yellow, Red Tilt Corgi Toys 356; Volkswagen T1 Transporter Kombi; US Military Personnel
Corgi Toys 490; Volkswagen Transporter Pick-Up Breakdown Truck; Beige Bodywork, Red Loadbed Corgi Toys 490; Volkswagen Transporter Pick-Up Breakdown Truck; White, From GS37 or GS6      
Corgi Toys 490; Volkswagen Transporter Pick-Up Breakdown Truck; Beige Bodywork, Red Loadbed Corgi Toys 490; Volkswagen Transporter Pick-Up Breakdown Truck; White, From GS37 or GS6      

 


Great Book of Corgi Home Site Home
Last Edit: 12/06/2024 Page Added 27/05/2022