Some attention now for the French articulated Esso tanker, no. 32c/576 Tracteur Panhard avec semi-remorque citerne, one of my all-time favourites, which made me insert a small ‘collecting excursion’ from British to French Dinky Toys thirteen years ago. Last September this model became 60! Both as a youngster and as an adult this French Dinky has always impressed me by the intricate details and the sheer fascinating, smooth design, both as a real vehicle and as a Dinky Toy. The low, flowing lines are irrisistable for me. I remember making acquaintance with it for the very first time in summer 1955, one of my earlier holidays memories.

It was shown to me by another boy who had also just got the impressive British (Foden) 10-ton Army Truck, a heavy giant in small children’s hands (issued in May 1954), another highly desired Dinky Toy. I never had the tanker in my Dinky Toys play range, so, 46 years later I decided to compensate for that and buy my first non-British Dinky road vehicle model for the collection.

Some facts, most of you will no doubt be familiar with. The Tracteur Panhard avec semi-remorque citerne was introduced in September 1954, as the last comer of the well-known trio of Panhard artics, the no. 32ab Tracteur Panhard avec semi-remorque S.N.C.F. and the no. 32aj Tracteur Panhard avec semi-remorque Kodak (both 1952). An odd numbering practice, by the way. In late summer 1954 it was a very fresh issue indeed, and considerably different from the two preceding Panhard artics.

The French factory introduced many counterpart Dinkies, closely resembling their British firsts:

The early Panhard couple was inspired on the British Bedford Articulated Lorry of 1948, but now with a tilt. The same goes for the no. 70 Remorque bachée, the French trailer, which can be seen as a covered counterpart of the British no. 551 Large Trailer of 1948.

The same can be observed for the smaller French tanker, no. 25u Ford camion citerne Esso à cabine avancée and its British colleague, the no. 30p Studebaker Petrol Tanker. This leads to the probability that the design of the present French articulated tanker was meant to be a parallel to the British Bedford Streamlined Articulated Petrol Tanker, the mysteriously discontinued project initiated in May 1948:

The no. 32c Esso artic is the successor of the single no. 25u Ford Camion citerne Esso, which was discontinued in 1953 after a production run of some three years only. See on this forum: http://www.dtcawebsite.org/dinky-forum/2-dtca- forum/2335-25-u-camion-citerne-ford-qessoq

The inside roof of the Panhard truck was smooth initially, but, like for most Dinkies, it got a ‘toit quadrillé’ in the course of time, a criss-cross pattern at the inside cabin roof for a better flow of the zamak in that tricky casting area. It also follows the range-wide development that the original convex hubs are changed for concave ones in the course of time. In the same way slightly treaded tyres followed the initial smooth medium size tyres. As a child no doubt many were annoyed by the fact that truck and trailer could not be uncoupled.

The Esso logo on the tank shows various subtle differences, as this photo of Richard demonstrates, and described in several publications. Renumbered 576 in 1959, a huge number of this popular model must have been sold between 1954 and 1962, because it is not very scarce nowadays.

The model of the truck is based on the Panhard Movic IE 45 of 1951, and the rear represents a Titan-Coder tanker trailer. The low design and the Esso Aviation Services logo unveil that it is no regular street vehicle but one providing the planes with fuel on airport platforms. The scale referred to is 1/55. These Movics had a 4HL engine producing 120 hp. The turning circle was very small, which was very practical for this airport tanker, and for the S.N.C.F. version on station platforms as well. I found no picture of the complete authentic real-world combination, the separate truck and tanker trailer only.

In fact, it is the Atlas edition of this model that made me compile this contribution. I have never been a fan of the Atlas replica editions of Dinky Toys. But I could not let this one go for the Dutch introduction price of 5 euros (!). I thought this was an excellent opportunity to have one specimen available for some comparative observations. And here are some results:

As a general impression the original tanker has a deeper red compared with the Atlas, which is bright red. The logo is the wider ‘open’ version. For the rest the general impression is exactly the same, the nickeled tinplate ladder included.

Looking at the models on their nice long yellow, black and red lettered Dinky Toys end flaps picture boxes there are no obvious differences either.

However, when matching them, the replica box is of a larger size than the original one. Although the lettertype used is the same, the typesetting is different, apparently newly designed.

The same goes for end flaps, but the Atlas could not state ‘C’est une fabrication Meccano’, of course.

This is the reason why the Atlas box has been produced in a slightly larger format: the transparent plastic packing piece base, which is oversized compared with the model, and the wrap around piece of artificial fabric had to be given some extra space, whereas the original Dinky fits snugly in its box.

Some other views, Atlas on the left, Dinky on the right, compare for yourself:

Atlas

Atlas

Dinky

Atlas

Dinky

These last two pictures illustrate that there is a significant difference in weight, a result probably due to the thinner width of the casting here and there.

By the way, CIJ Norev produced another replica version of the Panhard tanker in the attractive green ‘Energic BP Energol’ livery, with the catalogue number C80450.

When looking at the finish of the casting it is obvious that the Atlas has a smoothness of the casting surface that cannot by far be matched by the Dinky Toy, which has the familiar minuscule casting irregularities in the surface. This is a really obvious difference, which Meccano would have been jealous of in the 1950s! And this extremely smooth surface is a difference that makes any Atlas model identifiable without having a look underneath. This is both admirably sophisticated, but also ‘sterile’, if observed through the eyes of many Dinky Toys collectors – me included. This ‘introduction price’ of 5 euros is ridiculous of course, but even the regular prices tend to be about 20% of an original m/b Dinky Toy. Putting all prejudices aside, if you abstract it from the original Dinky Toy, and if you just like a perfect model, both as condition and quality of the casting is concerned, it is an unsurpassed alternative, which is much easier to find than an original Dinky in the same spotless condition. Putting my own prejudices aside: even the Atlas arouses with me the same sensation of this beautiful design as it did sixty years ago! Still, I would never collect them, because it also gives me the uneasy feeling that an Atlas pretends to be something that it isn’t, and will never be!

Kind regards, Jan