As you can observe in the picture above and the pictures in the previous entry, Penny cars were sold in a cardboard box with a drawing of the car on the front. The Penny logo was a pence coin with the name on it and a checkered stripe. On the flaps of the box the name of the car and the number was printed.Numbering of this 1:66 series started with 0/1, this means that the formulas you’re watching are the first Politoys ever in 1:66 scale. The first 15 models are all formula 1s: the first 10 released in 1967 the other 5 released 1968. This first Penny series was available between 1967 and 1971 (other sources of informations say 1965-1971), but There were other series too: numbers 0/21 to 0/205 are production and concept cars; and numbers between 0/110 and 0/122 are industrial vehicles. Not every reference was actually produced and sold, some numbers never had its corresponding model.
If you pay attention to these boxes, you’ll be able to notice the two different versions of the box: I guess one was for 1967 and the other one for 1968. The older one is on the upper side of the picture and announces the coming of the “Berlina series”. In the newer box that sentence has been replaced by Ferrari F.1, since in 1968 the berlina series had already been released. Curious that they took that model, because it is doubled! Maybe they forgot the “36 V” (see next entry).
Also interesting to remark is the old APS logo on the boxes' flap. There is a difference between box nr. 0/4 and the other ones. One showing the APS triangle logo, while all the other show that same logo plus the names Polistil/ Politoys/ Policars.
During those four years, different types of boxes were used to pack the cars. First one was the one in the pictures, the second one is very similar, but it included a window and a cardback with a hanger hole. The cars from the 0/200 and 0/201 series were packed in a red box, with a completely new design, featuring a drawing of the car at the back and a window on the front. From each reference were 4 cars numbered 0/200A to 0/200D and 0/201A to 0/201D.
BRABHAM – F.1 (0/5)
Pilot: Jack Brabham
COOPER MASERATI F.1 (0/6)
Pilot: Joakim Bonnier - Unfortunately missing a exhaust pipe.
EAGLE TIG F.1 (0/7)
Pilot: ?
BRM H 16 F.1 (0/8)
Pilot: Jim Clark - Read the story of the H16 motor here (interesting!)
FACTS AND FIGURES:
- Name: BRABHAM – F.1 (0/5), COOPER MASERATI F.1 (0/6), EAGLE TIG F.1 (0/7) and BRM H 16 F.1 (0/8)
- Scale: 1:66 (approx.)
- Year: 1967
- Company: Penny/ Politoys/ Polistil (Italia)
- Size: 6 cm
Olsonite Paperweights that used to sponsor Bobby Unser in the Indy 500 made a paperweight with that Eagle car in it. How an American paperweight company got ahold of an Italian made diecast car I don’t know. They either replaced the number or Penny specifically made them a version of the car with the #48 on it. It was given to my uncle by Dan Gurney himself. They were friends. I don’t know how many of them were made.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is some insider information! Thanks a lot for the message. This item as a paperweight must be a very cool collectable, mostly with the #48. I have seen keyrings, band, rarely, paperweights which are usually sold with a plastic or wooden base to add weight to the miniature.
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