#982 POLFI-TOYS - RENAULT 17 (Around 1977)

Today, I bring some exotic model from Greece. It is the first time, I think, that a greek toy appears in the blog, so I am happy for that.

It is my first Polfi Toy, I think I bought it in the first months on 2020 from another collector in Austria. It is not in its best shape, but I payed only 3 euro for it. Most of the Polfi models I have seen have paint chips, so I guess they do not have the best paint work.

Greece, as Spain or Portugal had a relatively close toy market with their own national brands until the early 80s, and Polfi is maybe the best-known greek brand of toys, maybe not the most important, but probably one of the most successful, having sold many hundred thousands of die-cast models like this one but also in bigger scales, motorbikes and even planes.

Some of these 1:55-1:64 cars seem to be copies of Matchbox models (except for a few Formula ones, which look like Polistils), while some 1:43 models knock-off the cheap series of Polistil, although it is fair to say that they also had their own models.

The Renault 17, as I said, looks very much like the Matchbox model from 1974, but it is not a knock-off. Some details mark clear differences with the British model. The base is completely different, and also the wheels have a nice casting that looks like an off-road tyre.

I am sorry the pictures are not good, and even the colour is kind of different, I think the flash is distorting the colours, that look a bit brighter than they actually are. The model is dark orange, almost red, which, by the way was also the colour that Matchbox chose for the Renault 17. I will try to replace them as soon as possible. 

I would say Polfi is a brand that is worth collecting, so look out for these small die-cast, they are great. I would like to add some historical notes about the brand, but I couldn’t find anything. Maybe somebody from Greece can give us some hints? I would love to hear more about this toy manufacturer. 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: RENAULT 17
• Scale: 1:55
• Year: Around 1977
• Company: Polfi Toys (Greece)
• Size: Around 7 cm

#981 CHRYSLER QUARTETT – AMERICAN DREAM CARS (PROMOTIONAL) (2001)

This excellent deck of cards was probably made in Austria around the year 2000, and shows 32 Chrysler cards with their usual technical details (number of cylinders, power, capacity/displacement and max. speed) plus an American flag with or without the Austrian flag near to it.

Some Chrysler models were actually manufactured in Austria, and most accurately in the Eurostar factory in Graz between 1990 and 2002. I suspect this deck of cards might have been a gift for Chrysler customers in Austria or maybe even for Eurostar employees in the year 2001, as they started producing the PT Cruiser and Voyager (the 4th generation, shown in card B1) models that same year and this set was purchased in a flea market in this city. Note also that there are no marking or indications of manufacturer, barcode, year or anything else, and the pictures used all belong to the official Chrysler photographic archive. The text is written in German.

Just one year later, after the manufacturing of 50,000 units of the first model mentioned above, the plant was closed. The process was, for each car unit, around 2,000 dollar more expensive that it would have been in Mexico, so the plant was sold to Magna Steyr, and no more Chryslers were assembled in Austria ever since.

The deck is beautifully designed in clean white with minimalistic style on both sides of each card and in addition to the 2001 models, there are a family with classic Chryslers (Family H), racing cars (Family G) and a few other models, which, to my knowledge, were never available in the European markets.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: CHRYSLER AMERICAN DREAM CARS
• Year: 2001
• Company: Unknown Manufacturer (probably Austria)