#906 TK (maybe CK) - YARDLEY MCLAREN F1 (No. 168) (Around 1975)

This is one of these Hong Kong mistery toys, from which there is no information at all on the internet. I couldn´t find any car like this anywhere else so far, and I have also problems decyphering what is the name of the company that made it.

The base of the car contains just the brand logo, that looks something like TK, maybe CK, then "No.168" and "Hong Kong".

The model represented is the Yardley McLaren M19C from 1972 or 1973, but in orange colour (which was used in previous years, and is still one of the most iconic colours for this British Racing Team). His most famous driver was Denny Hulme from Australia, although other drivers were Peter Revson (USA), Jody Scheckter (RSA) and Brian Redman (GB).

None of these drivers ever had RN33, so I guess, the decals were made after the model was produced, and it included RN33, that in 1974 belonged to the McLaren M23 driven by Mike Hailwood (GB), David Hoobs (GB) or Jochen Maas (GER) (depending on which Grand Prix of the year).

So we have the classic mixture of car, colour, decals that make no sense, but still looks good. The car is made completely in plastic, except from the axles and my guess is that it should be a cheap novelty toy sold in kiosks, or as part of a bigger toy, maybe a F1 Racing Truck?

As a kid, I had a car that looked similar to this one, but it was made by Gozán in Spain. It was intended to be the load of a car transporter truck. The feeling is very similar, but the car is different. The one made by Gozán is really a Shadow Ford, not a McLaren. And now that I refresh my mind with these pictures below, I see the Gozán model was better finished and had better quality (it was also newer, maybe 5 to 8 years newer).

 Pics: Todocoleccion.net

After the writing of this text but before publishing it, I found a seller from Holland who was selling the same model in blue with RN66. Everything above would also apply to this model, although RN66 does not correspond to any known McLaren. In 1974, the number was used by Mark Donohue´s Ford-Penske. This driver ran only 3 GPs that year.

There might be other Yardleys with more colours and race numbers out there!

pic: speurders.nl

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: YARDLEY MCLAREN F1 (No. 168)
• Scale: Approx. 1:43
• Year: Around 1975
• Company: TK or CK (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 9 cm