#814 BARAVELLI / BGM / GIODI – PORSCHE 911 S (Around 1979)

This is a rare Porsche 911 in a scale close to 1:64 (3 inches size). It is quite rough in its details, and has plastic base and dark windows, and, of course, no interior.

So, qualitatively, it is not a great toy, but still a very interesting one due to its maker: Baravelli.

There is very little information about this brand out there. The logo of the company is a circle with a three-pointed star inside with the letters B G M, which according to the Dutch Wikipedia comes from “Baravelli Giordani MAM”, although I cannot recognize MAM as an acronym (sorry, I don’t speak Italian). Other sources say BGM may come from “Baravelli Giodi Miniatura”.

I have seen many carded models marketed as “Giodi” that seem to be the exact same model that I am showing today, so I am almost certain that Baravelli (or BGM) and Giodi are the same company. Actually, Giodi could be a short name for Giordani.

The company produced, as you can see in the pictures, cars in the budget range during the 70s. If the Wikipedia is right, the company got absorved by polistil by the late 70s when the competition was growing both in the internal and the external markets.

What I knew of this brand is that they were used as giveaways in Ferrero’s Kinder Surprise. Not in the standard eggs, but in the bigger Maxi Eggs. Apparently, and according to my Kinder Surprise catalogue, there were two series from Giodi: VIP and VIP 2. The first one came in cardboard boxes with plastic windows, while the second one in cardboard boxes without windows.

According to this source, the “serie VIP. 1” had 12 references: BMW 520i, Cadillac Eldorado, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Volvo, Lancia, Renault, Porsche, Mercedes; Stratos, Ferrari and Rover. They came without any stickers applied but a small sheet of plastic stickers to be applied by the happy owner of the car.

The “serie VIP  2” has also several references, although only three are mentioned: Mercedes 450 SL, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and Porsche 911 Turbo. Possibly there were more of them. Each one came with 1 sticker (the brand emblem) applied in the hood of the car. That Porsche is exactly the one I am showing in my pictures.

According to the guide, each of these models has a catalogue value of 100 Euro, something which I certainly doubt.

It is actually credible that Giodi/BGM/Baravelli might have been bought by Polistil, since at roughly the same time, Ferrero Maxi Eggs were also giving Polistil models away… at 1:43 scale.

UPDATE (June/2024): Mercedes 450 SEL. Unfortunately in bad shape.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: PORSCHE 911 S, MERCEDES 450 SEL
• Scale: Around 1:64
• Year: Around 1979
• Company: Baravelli B.G.M/BGM Giodi (Italy)
• Size: approx. 7 cm