CORGI ADAMS BROS PROBE 16

 Corgi Toys ‘Whizzwheels’ Adams Bros Probe 16, Produced between 1970 and 1973.

My example is finished in metallic green-gold, blue tinted windscreen with sliding roof panel, a white detailed interior, and jewelled rear lights.

Corgi also produced a smaller junior version.

The toy was based on the 1969 M-505 Adams Bros Probe 16, designed by brothers, Dennis and Peter Adams. It was powered by either a 1.8 litre Austin in-line four engine, or a 1.9 litre Janspeed tuned engine variant, giving it a top speed of only 115 mph.

Only three cars were ever built, one left-hand and two right- hand drive. It’s only 34” (86cm) in height, so it really is low slung. Despite it’s futuristic look, it used traditional handcraft techniques, having a wooden chassis rather than metal.

The car (chassis no. AB/3) appeared in the Stanley Kubrick film, A Clockwork Orange (1971), in which it’s renamed the Durango 95. The Durango 95 was used to transport the film’s protagonist, Alex, and his gang of criminals called the Droogs. after they steal it.

Only two of the three vehicles built have survived, including AB/3. The first M-505 Probe 16 built was sold to an American, and at some point, is believed to have caught fire and burned beyond repair.

My photographs  of one of the surviving M-505 Probe 16's (Chassis No. AB/4) were  taken in 2019 at the Design Museum Stanley Kubrick Exhibition. The car at that point had undergone a complete rebuild and restoration by it’s owner, Colin Feyerabend.