Peter,

Thank you for this piece of information, I was aware that the two names were used but I never went into researching which was the correct one.

Here is the front cover from an original Guy Vixen Leaflet from Guy Moyors Ltd, Wolverhampton, England.

I will be doing a more comprehensive article on this in the October DTCA Journal

Dave B

There are three similar trucks :
• Vixen 4 ton 1947
• Otter 6 ton 1948
• big Otter 7 ton 1954
The only differences between these trucks are probably :
• engine power
• gear ratios
• number of leafs in the springs
all of these are not reproduced in the Dinky Toys but as Meccano called their truck "Guy 4 ton lorry" it is the Vixen.

Also the casting drawing was made in 1946 some months before the real 4 tonner Vixen truck has been launched and two years before the 6 ton Otter.

Here's a reply to an old Thread!

Jacques, and of course dear late Peter, you have brought something to light that I had not realised before.
Jacques, you wrote "Also the casting drawing was made in 1946 some months before the real 4 tonner Vixen truck has been launched and two years before the 6 ton Otter"
This then would appear as if Meccano had been granted access to the technical drawings for the Vixen by the Guy Motor Co, before the actual vehicle was released in a similar fashion when Meccano was granted access by Standard Triumph in Coventry to the design and specifications for the Herald and Triumph 2000?
Would I be correct in that assumption?
Bruce

Here is an original Guy Indian mascot which I acquired some years ago.

It was screwed to the top of the water filler cap on top of the radiator. It is cast iron and very heavy.

I believe these may originally have been painted but have no absolute proof of this.

Dave

Here is one that I photographed in September 2004 in Norwich. It is part of a radiator of a Guy double decker. Very decorative and hard to imagine such dedication to decorative detail on commercial vehicles nowadays.

Apparently the unpainted state seems to be common.

Jan--Very nice photo of that mascot cap. That one appears to be a lot shinier then the one Dave showed.....looks like it has been polished. I really enjoy seeing those old mascot caps. In the U.S., Mack Trucks used to have a Bulldog cap, which was also very distinctive. The good old days!!
Terry

I suspect the one that Jan saw on the bus has been Chromium Plated to improve its appearance!!

I cannot see Guy Motors going to that expense in the 1940s when it was a period of extreme austerity - I can still remember going to the sweet shop with my ration book!!!

Dave

I have seen those been cast at at the Amberley Working Museum on October 14, 2007. On the same day, I met the chaps from Thomas Keating who had made the tools for the Coles mobile crane and the Aston Martin DB3.

Gentlemen

We seem to have become sidetracked with radiator caps! (Not that I did not find these discussions interesting!)
But, I would still appreciate some discussion on the assumption I made in my post submitted on 25 August, whether Meccano was granted access to the Guy Vixen technical drawings at least a year before the prototype was released in the same manner as the much later Triumph Herald for instance. Were there any other close associations with vehicle manufacturers that also resulted in new Dinky models being issued at about the same time or a little later when the real vehicle went on sale?

Bruce

Dinkinius wrote:
"Here's a reply to an old Thread!

Jacques, and of course dear late Peter, you have brought something to light that I had not realised before.
Jacques, you wrote "Also the casting drawing was made in 1946 some months before the real 4 tonner Vixen truck has been launched and two years before the 6 ton Otter"
This then would appear as if Meccano had been granted access to the technical drawings for the Vixen by the Guy Motor Co, before the actual vehicle was released in a similar fashion when Meccano was granted access by Standard Triumph in Coventry to the design and specifications for the Herald and Triumph 2000?
Would I be correct in that assumption?
Bruce"

Meccano s.a. had similar agrements at least with Peugeot and Renault as stated on these boxes.

From top to bottom : 510 Peugeot 204, 518 Renault 4L, 517 Renault 8.

and there must be some more.

The statement translates into :

For Peugeot:

By authorisation of Automobiles Peugeot, this Dinky Toy has been issued at the same time as the real car.

Note the mistake, Dinky Toy is written without an S. As this is a registered trade marque, there should always be an S.

For Renault:
By special authorisation from Renault, this Dinky Toys has been issued at the same time as the real car.

Jacques

Were the above models launched at the same time as the real vehicle, or was Meccano provided with appropriate drawings after the real car went on sale?

Bruce

All three Dinkys were launched on the same day as the real cars. Meccano has been provided with the body drawings early enough to tool and produce by the launching date.

The title is : "It is launched at the same time as the real one?"

The top box is interesting as in the frame DINKY TOY is writen without an S and in the large red printing, TOYS is printed smaller than DINKY. This is because in 1971 the marque DINKY TOYS was droped and the name DINKY® was registered. Dinky Supertoys had gone in 1965.