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Friday, 7 October 2011

Driving Me Crazy


Unearthing my old toy cars has been a real drive down memory lane for me, sifting through the battered remnants of my childhood collection and recalling the evocative names of the toys automatically as they appear our of the box - Hairy Hustler, Swingin' Wing, AMX Javelin... What I didnt really know as a kid was that a lot of the fabulous cars I was busily zooming around the bedroom floor were actually based on real designs for motor vehicles, even though some of the names were familiar, I didn't realise any of the toys had lifesize counterparts. It was after looking into the Pininfarina Modulo yesterday that it dawned on me that more than a few of the toys were built as concept vehicles by the major companies. Mike and Toad had expressed an interest in the Carabo and Manta, both designs having made it into real life vehicles.

The Carabo especially is awesome as the sleek chisel like front reminds me of the Task Force 1 ship with its dagger like body. Rather than waffle on about the delights of fine italian styling, ill let the picture speak for themselves..

ALFA CARABO CONCEPT CAR
HOT WHEELS CARABO
MATCHBOX ALFA CARABO AND CORGI BERTONE CARABO
CORGI ROCKETS WITH ALFA CARABO CENTRE

BIZARINI MANTA CONCEPT CAR




Corgi Junior and Corgi Rocket Manta
Corgi Electrorocket Manta
Alfa P33
Adams Probe 16 and Marcus XP
Corgi Rocket Bertone Runabout

CORGI ROCKET CATALOGUE PAGE

CORGI ROCKET CATALOGUE PAGE






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7 comments:

  1. Anonymous10/07/2011 2:45 pm

    Ohhhhhh, nice photos, Wote. Big "thank you" from Toad.

    Like I said, I couldn't care less about cars for the most part. In fact, speaking as a pedestrian, they are usually a damn nuisance. But there is one car that really does it for me, and that's the Carabo. If I could have a fantasy car, that would be it.

    I s'pose you know there was a company (called Firefab, I think) who copied the design and issued cars as kits, naming them Aztec 7. Real cars, I mean, not scale models. (Like the Prisoner's car comes in kit form).

    The Manta is so cool too. What gets me about that, apart from the awesome outer design, is that the driver sits in the middle, and has a passenger seat on either side of her! How cool is that?

    But I do sometimes wonder how practical and comfortable these designs were. OK, Bertone knew what he was about, and was aiming at designing a useable futuristic car. But I do wonder about some, such as that other fav of mine, the Chevrolet Astro 1. I'd love to find out for myself just how comfortable it would be to drive them.

    I'm sure you've heard the cars in UFO were said to be extremely uncomfortable ... and the Man from U.N.C.L.E. car even more so! (But are those just stage-prop cars, or where they ever intended as real cars? Anyone know?)

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  2. Anonymous10/07/2011 2:48 pm

    Wote, do you actually own that ElectroRocket Manta?

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  3. WOTAN10/07/2011 2:55 pm

    meant to say, I own all the battered looking models, havent actually got the Hot Wheels or Corgi Rocket Carabo. I do own a Electrorocket Manta, but A) I cant find it and B) its boxed, but the battery leaked and flaked off all the gorgeous purple paint. I didnt ever have a charger, so it never got used, it was just a one off from a shop closing down, £3.75 no less back in about 1975

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  4. Anonymous10/07/2011 3:11 pm

    I bet Electrorocket Mantas are hard to find in good condition.

    By the way ... just had a vague memory crawl out of the darkness of my mind ... doesn't Simon Templar drive a Carabo in a race in a late TV21 Saint story? Can anyone confirm that? I've never read them, but seem to recall noticing the car while flipping pages.

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  5. WOTAN10/07/2011 3:28 pm

    I dont think Electro Rockets made production for very long,ill dig mine out and post it shortly. Think Mattel Sizzlers had already cornered the market.

    Corgi Juniors catalogue will be up tomorrow morning btw!

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  6. Yorkie10/08/2011 10:05 am

    Tha cars in UFO could actually drive (Ford chassis, gears and engine) but were too large and visibilty so poor they could really only go in a straight line and very slowly. Someone did try to manufacture real cars from the fibreglass body moulds but it was a disaster I understand.

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  7. Anonymous10/09/2011 1:00 pm

    Thanks for the answer, Yorkie.

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