Corgi Toys is the brand name of a range of die-cast toy vehicles created by Mettoy and currently owned by Hornby, after it acquired the Corgi Classics Limited Company in 2008.
The Mettoy ("Metal Toy") company was founded in 1933 by German émigré Philip Ullmann in Northampton, England, where he was later joined by South African-born German Arthur Katz, who had previously worked for Ullmann at his toy company Tipp and Co of Nuremberg. After dabbling for some years in the model car market, they decided to produce a range of die-cast toy vehicles as competition to Meccano's Dinky model cars, which had dominated the British market for many years. "Corgi Toys" were introduced in the UK in July 1956 and were manufactured in Swansea, Wales, for 27 years before the company went into liquidation. A management buy-out re-formed the company as Corgi Toys Limited in March 1984. In 1989, the management sold the Corgi brand to Mattel and the factory was retained under the name of "Microlink Industries Ltd". In 1995, Corgi regained its independence as a new company, Corgi Classics Limited, and moved to new premises in Leicester. The Corgi brand was acquired by Hornby in 2008.
The range was exported worldwide and sold in large numbers. Some of the best known and most popular models were of cars made famous in film and television such as the Batmobile, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 - which remains the largest selling toy car ever produced. Although the largest single vehicle type featured in the Corgi Toys range were models of cars from manufacturers around the world, this article sub-divides vehicles into genres, wherever possible, to allow a more detailed look at the variety of models produced by the company.
Early history
Mettoy became established in Northampton and within six years of the company's founding, the Northampton factory had 600 employees. A production plant was built at Fforestfach in Swansea, South Wales, to manufacture the new range of Corgi Toys. This provided many new jobs in an area of high unemployment following the scaling down of local coal mining operations.
Prior to the introduction of Corgi Toys, Mettoy mainly produced tin plate toys. However, in the early 1950s, they began producing a few products in cast metal. The first was a large scale wind-up racer made with a cast aluminium body and tin plate wheels. The body material was soon changed to die cast zinc and it was refitted with cast wheels and moulded rubber tyres. Other models followed and the product line was given the name "Castoys." These were the direct ancestors of Corgi Toys.
The name 'Corgi Toys' was chosen by Philip Ullmann in honour of the company's new home, taken from the Welsh breed of dog, the Corgi, and the iconic Corgi dog logo branded the new range. The name was short and easy to remember, further aligning the range with their rival Dinky Toys. Corgi Toys also included plastic glazing, which lent the models a greater authenticity, and they carried the advertising slogan "the ones with windows".
The 1956 releases were all familiar British vehicles. Six family saloon cars; Ford Consul (200/200M), Austin A50 Cambridge (201/201M), Morris Cowley (202/202M), Vauxhall Velox (203/203M), Rover 90 (204/204M), Riley Pathfinder (205/205M) and Hillman Husky (206/206M), and two sports cars; Austin-Healey 100 (300) and Triumph TR2 (301).
Initially, models were issued both in free-rolling form, and (except the larger commercial vehicles and sports cars with low-slung bodies) with friction drive motors. The Mechanical versions, as they were known, were indicated by an 'M' suffix to the model number and were produced in different colour schemes. They were issued with tougher die-cast bases to support the extra weight of the motor. Mechanical versions did not sell as well as the free-rolling versions, partly due to a significantly higher purchase price, and were phased out in 1960 with Ford Thunderbird (214M) the last of the line. One particular problem that was not anticipated was that it was possible to lubricate the "motor" using oil through a hole in the base, but the oil tended to splatter around inside and cloud up the windows. The rigid die-case bases which were are originally limited to the "M" versions were retained and became the standard for Corgi toys.
Expansion and innovation
British cars dominated the releases at the beginning, reflecting the company's concentration on the home market, but by 1957 new markets were being explored and the first European car to be modelled was the Citroën DS19 (210) issued in December of that year. The first American car, the Studebaker Golden Hawk (211/211M), was released in February 1958 and by the early 1960s the Corgi range was being exported widely, finding particular popularity in Europe, Australia, Canada, the United States of America and areas of southeast Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and gradually more foreign vehicles were included to appeal to these new markets.
Models were issued on a monthly basis and the range grew quickly to include vehicles of all types. Gradually the models became more sophisticated with the addition of such features as 'Glidamatic' spring suspension and a detailed interior on the Renault Floride (222) in October 1959, and the fibre-optic style 'Trans-o-Lite' illuminating lights system first seen on the Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service on Cadillac Chassis (437) in October 1962. The early type of interior which was known as 'vac-formed', was produced by stretching a thin sheet of acetate over a mould by means of a vacuum, and lasted for three years until being replaced by the crisper, more detailed injection-moulded type first seen in the Thames 'Airborne' caravan (420) in February 1962.
The Corgi design team came up with the first model with an opening feature in February 1960, the Aston Martin DB4 (218) which had an opening bonnet. Steerable front wheels, jewelled headlights and rear lights and an opening boot complete with spare wheel were added on the Bentley Continental Sports Saloon (224) in April 1961, and by October 1963 with the release of the Ghia L6.4 (241) new levels of authenticity were reached. This model featured a number of 'firsts' with not only an opening bonnet, but also opening doors and boot, and a detailed interior with a rear view mirror, folding front seats, and even a model corgi dog sitting on the rear parcel shelf. At introduction, the Ghia sold for eight shillings and sixpence, and even at this relatively high price around 1.7 million were sold before being withdrawn in 1969. By contrast, only twenty five examples of the real car were completed! Another popular model was the Jaguar Mark X (#238; 1962-1967) - over 1.1 million were sold, and hardly any other model was released in as many colours.
In 1964, Mettoy introduced a range of smaller scale vehicles called Husky Toys. These retailed at a lower retail price and were available exclusively through F.W.Woolworth & Co, and were designed to venture into the market dominated for many years by Lesney's Matchbox range.
Corgi Classics
In 1964 Corgi diversified into the adult collector market and released a range of highly detailed models of vintage cars called 'Corgi Classics'. Marketed at a higher price point than Lesney's Matchbox 'Models of Yesteryear', they met with mixed success. Initial releases were a 1927 Bentley finished in green (9001) or red (9002), an open 1915 Ford Model T coloured black (9011) and yellow (9012), and a version finished in blue with the hood raised (9013), a 1910 Daimler 38 finished in red (9021) and a 1911 Renault 12/16 finished in lavender (9031) or pale yellow (9032).
Two years later, a 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost coloured silver (9041) was added to the range, which was updated in 1970 to feature American TV stars The Hardy Boys, discussed later in this article. A Ford Model T van in Lyons Tea livery (9014) appeared in the 1967 Corgi catalogue but was never released. The Corgi Classics range was discontinued in 1969, although the name was later revived for a range of adult collectable models in the 1980s.
More to come...
**Lifted from Wikipedia, September 29, 2025.
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