BRAKES REPAIR

Ah, the nostalgia! This is a picture I took today of the "40th Anniversary Model" of Thunderbird 2 by Corgi Toys. This die cast Thunderbird was my favourite toy when I was child (back in the early to mid 1970s). This model, however, has better attention to small details than was the case with models available back then. I'm not sure what relationship there has been between the Dinky and Corgi companies, but this model appears to be a refined version of the Dinky models I owned as a child. It's not the exact same tool, but it appears to be derived from the original.

Anyway, the most serious problem with the 1970s models was that the red plastic booster jets were too fragile for serious play and almost every kid I knew (myself and my brother included) eventually ended up breaking them off. My parents were kind enough to buy me three models between the early and mid-'70s (Well, Thunderbirds was my favourite TV show and Thunderbird 2 was my favourite toy), with numbers two and three being replacements for their broken-jet predecessors. Number three I remember was coloured blue instead of green! Just what were those weirdos at Dinky thinking? I remember being both puzzled and deeply disappointed. It was a ridiculous thing to do!

The Corgi model pictured above has a much better booster jet design. The red jets on this toy are basically thick plastic caps wrapped around sturdy metal pins. Obviously they're not indestructable (pun intended), but they do seem noticeably more robust.

Also of issue with the 1970s models was that the inside of the pod had a few rough edges which eventually caused the plastic Thunderbird 4 housed within to take on the appearance of a smoothed pebble on the beach. Today's Corgi model though, has a plastic pod (fortunately both the colour and exterior finish matches the metal of the aircraft itself) and a metal Thunderbird 4. Which, by the way, has a good level of detail considering its dimunitive size.

Another issue was that the early die-cast Thunderbirds were a bit hit and miss in the detail department. Most of the models I remember seeing had the air intake itself painted red, instead of the area immediately in front of the intake. The decals and transfers were also less accurate back then. The Dinky Toys Thunderbirds that I possessed also lacked the yellow wing tip, cruising jet and fuselage stripes. Also missing were the black and yellow bands around the rocket boosters. As you can see, all of these details are present in the Corgi model pictured above.

The only retrograde step to my mind is the addition of the rather obtrusive, grey buttons for releasing the pod and mock-telescopic legs. If I were to be *really* picky, I'd also point out that the pod-latch (which secures the pod within the aircraft body) is rather weak, the pod door has no latch at all (it falls open whenever the pod is freestanding) and perhaps the nose is just fractionally too pointy (lthough this is not evident in the picture above)? Nevertheless, all in all it's pretty accurate for a metal toy, and possesses a sufficient level of detail, I'm sure, to satisfy all but the most fantical and demanding of Thunderbirds fans.

By the way, I bought this for Jake, my son and not for myself (honest!). It seems to be the only one of the five Thunderbirds machines readily available in British toy stores at present, although, as in the 1970s, Lady Penelope's pink Rolls Royce is available in die cast (this always puzzled me as a child. Why didn't Dinky make models of *all* the Thunderbirds? I never met a child who wouldn't have rather owned Thunderbird 1, 3 or 5 over and above Lady Penelope's car). After doing some research, I realised that the until quite recently the toy market was awash with Soundtech models, particularly during and after the last screening of Thunderbirds on British TV. But it seems that most of these are now only available, in various states of repair, on ebay. Copies of the model pictured here can be purchased directly from the Corgi toys Web site for ?14.99. I haven't bought any toys for myself since I started listening to punk rock back when I was 12 years old. But this model is so evocative, bringing back so many fond memories that I may well buy one for myself - even if it's only for use as a desk ornament.

Just around the corner in Amberley at a truck repair facility was this local farmers very original D-series Ford. D-series sold very well in the New Zealand Market. Many of the lighter D300s and 400s were petrol powered and it was not unknown for bigger ones to be petrol either. A 6-cylinder engine from the US Mustang car was used! This is a transitional model or circa 1973 vintage. It has the small mirrors and thin mirror arms but sports the newer syle door badges which give weight and power information. This model is likely a 1311 or 1313. The tipping body whilst not a tipper in the common UK sense is a very common spec in NZ. It would be referred to as having a deck with a hoist! Most agricultural lorries have this facility. The vehicle retains its original black number plates.