-280 Delivery Van (1945-54)

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Wed, 09/13/2017 - 03:40

Chris1

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-280 Delivery Van (1945-54)

I recently acquired this 3rd type Delivery Van in military olive green. It has thin axles, black painted domed wheels and the windows on the back are open.

I am assuming that this is an early post-war version of this van as in "The Great Book of Dinky Toys", on page 44, it says that the 280 Delivery Van in military green was a casting of the type 28 but with rear windows filled in. Also, in Jacques Dujardins Dinky Toys CD, he says that the army green body with ridged wheels and treaded black tyres was available from 1948.

I am also assuming that this was one of the models that was used by the South African Defence Force. However my only reservation is that all the 280 vans which are labelled as being for the SADF sold by Vectis Auctions are painted a darker green ( see last photo).

However the radiator is painted the same colour as the rest of the body, whereas the other 280 vans have a silver painted radiator.

I would be interested to see what other members think.

Regards,

Chris.

Wed, 09/13/2017 - 15:01

hoort

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Hello Chris,

Always Dinky Toys keep amazing us with unexpected finds! It looks like a very early post war model, just before the rear windows were filled in. The axles seem to be of the thicker type, but that is difficult to see without comparison with another model on the same photo. When it is a military version one would expect it to have green wheel hubs also. A civilian version on the other hand would have a silver painted radiator. So it remains an oddity for me. I have never seen one before. A very nice find!

Kind regards,

Rob

Wed, 09/13/2017 - 18:09

dinkyfan

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I also agree that those axles appear to be thicker than pre-war, but a little hard to tell without both for reference. I just seem to remember that the pre-war seem to appear to be almost fragile they are so thin...those do not. Also, did any of the pre-war 280 vans bome plain,without any livery? But that sure does seem to be a military version, so am guessing very early pre-war, with the smooth wheels, and open rear window. Possilby, it was a very early version of the miilitary version, still using an earlier casting, etc.

Best regards, Terry

Thu, 09/14/2017 - 05:55

Chris1

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Rob & Terry,

My apologies - you are both correct about the diameter of the axles. I have measured them and they are the post-war diameter. However I still think that this is an early military version.

Regards,

Chris.