after the binz topic.
the #69 sf rolls wheel wells. the top is clearly different from the other two while the middle and bottom model are different from each other. you can see more of the variation in the rocker panel lines and gas tank flaps.
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9332/rolls69sfwellahm0.jpg
here are two blue sf rolls with slightly different wheel wells and gas tank flaps
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/9461/rolls69sfwellblue1sr2.jpg
more wheel clip colors with different trunk castings.
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6253/rollstrunksupportaoa4.jpg
more rolls trunks, different sf24 rolls trunk castings.
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6569/rollssf24trunksupsx0.jpg
a side view of the 24sf trunk supports which the same variation is similar on the rw 24 rolls
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/7685/rollssfrw24supportarchue4.jpg
another trunk cast, the 46sf mercedes trunk supports, same as rw variation.
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/3670/mercedessf46trunkbraceux5.jpg
another with different suspension colors.
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/5206/mercedes46sfclipsck1.jpg
different interiors on the sf46 mercedes.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/111/mercedes46sfinterior3le8.jpg
i bet there are some more variation too

There are 4 different trunk castings for the 24 and 69 Rolls, a shared tool for both marked 0,1,2,and 3 depending upon which quarter segemnt of the tool the trunk is ejected from. The 2 no 46 Mercs to hand have number 1 and 4 on the trunk lid close to a hinge (Mountain´s superb photos show no1 and no2 .But a quick look at a Lincoln Continental doesnt reveal any obvious numbers ..........
The 2 blue Rolls would be the left hand and right hand twins from the same tool ( has Mountain read the Lesney ´Mike and the Model makers book???)
Its very nice to see a skinny wheel small arch gold Rolls - my golds have wide wheels but with brown seats......the arches were widened for the wide wheels, with a bit more style and less unsightly than the 3 Mercedes,56 BMC and 53 Zodiac which were cut a bit too much IMHO :confused:

I'm realy thoroughly enjoying this transitional information!
Never realized it but my Charlie Mack MB book Not only leaves out enlargments of wheel openings
but makes no mention of whl. with either. :cry: :cry:
My Shiffer book has some info on these things but it's very incomplete.
Both boks are old. There must be somthing better out now, huh?

Your small whl opening thin wheeled gold Rolls could possibly be rarer than the blue cars?

The bottom 2 gold cars have wide wls, yes?

Did they make any blue cars with wide whl? Probably no, huh?


sf Lincolns had 2 different whl openings?

i am aware of the 4 trunk castings and left and right tool sides. that does not mean every casting of the same number is identical. i omitted the # 2 casting from the sf 24 rolls picture because it appeared very close to the # 1 casting. the number #2 casting has small and large supports with the larger supports being the same as the #3 casting. :) :confused: :cool:
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1074/rollssf24trunkyz5.jpg

i am aware of the 4 trunk castings and left and right tool sides. that does not mean every casting of the same number is identical. i omitted the # 2 casting from the sf 24 rolls picture because it appeared very close to the # 1 casting. the number #2 casting has small and large supports with the larger supports being the same as the #3 casting. :) :confused: :cool:
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1074/rollssf24trunkyz5.jpg

Interesting! The thicker hinges appear to be a modification rather than original design.A casting would normally only be made thicker if the tool was worn and had to be recut. So is the no2 trunk with the thickest supports on a later issue (not rw, perhaps ww?) .I will check mine to see if I have a no3 trunk with thin supports - perhaps a rw car should be like this.It seems that perhaps the no2 and no 3 trunks may have worn faster (so been strengthened) than the no1 and no 0, although I only have one final issue gold Japanese issue to check.The ww gold 69s were probably made after the last red 24s -also worth a look.......
I have never seen a blue with wide wheels, in fact I have never seen any transitional with wide wheels that didnt have the wheel arch modified if it was to be changed.But they do exist the other way around - 53 Zodiacs and 73 Mercurys in green are common with skinny wheels and cutaway arches ready for the introduction of wide wheels.Green 73 Mercurys with wide wheels are VHTF, and rarest of all is the skinny wheel/cutaway arches Mercury Fire chief, some folks think that this may not have been normal production because the 2 that have been photographed have rather long axles given the narrower width of the plastic clips providing suspension - both cars could be pre-pros or lunchbox specials, no question the rivits are genuine Lesney.

Nice. Thanks.

Ww is wide wheels perhaps?

My cheap camera is not as good as yours, Mountain, but it is possible to see a thick no 3 trunk with MB24 added on the gold Japanese 24 next to a rw thin no 3 trunk hinge car.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/SMS369/toys/2007-91.jpg
Finally the different shades of red on 24 Rolls with rw,thin sf and ww showing thin no 2 trunk hinges and thick no 2 trunk hinges on the ww car.The rw issue is the most red shade with gold basecoat, the thin SF has silver undercoat and the ww sf is even a bit rose pink in shade when lined up with the others

I only have the 0 and 1 trunks with thin hinges, but then these are only on rw and thin sf 24s plus a brown seat gold ww 69 castings
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/SMS369/toys/2007-9Sep191-1.jpg

very nice comparisons. the pictures are fine
it looks like the same number cast on the rw and sf trunks have different supports, not only width. sorry did not take a picture. the rear of the sf trunk (back of seat) between the supports are straight and tapered to different degrees. no picture again, :( i’ll try to post a little later.

very nice comparisons. the pictures are fine
it looks like the same number cast on the rw and sf trunks have different supports, not only width. sorry did not take a picture. the rear of the sf trunk (back of seat) between the supports are straight and tapered to different degrees. no picture again, :( i’ll try to post a little later.
Yes I can see that - but there seem to be only 2 -the squared and the follows the shape of the body kind -one is probably the left half of the tool and the other the right.
Has Mountain read the Lesney book Mike and the Modelmakers?? I received it for christmas when I was 8 and it explains so well with pix that all 1-75 are born as twins because the tool operating machine is big enough to accomodate a die to make 2 bodies per operation

yes i have seen that book, although not for many years. :)

i don’t know if we are talking about the same part of the model. there are at least five variations of was i was talking about on the sf model, all of my rw have straight backs.
here are the sf models. more tapered to straight.
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/4937/rollssf24trunkba4.jpg

Interesting. 2 cars per mold. Was there more than one of those molds per car in that era?

I remember that book from being mentioned in my '69 catalog I think.
Has anyone reprinted it?

Interesting. 2 cars per mold. Was there more than one of those molds per car in that era?

I remember that book from being mentioned in my '69 catalog I think.
Has anyone reprinted it?
Very unlikely because the cost of a new mold is the same for a completely new 1-75 rather than re-doing an existing model which generally lasted 5 years in the range.We know from Twin Packs that some worn tools like the 3 Binz required major repairs although in Bulgaria some 1970s tools like the 41 Ford GT have seen 20 years + continuous use without major changes
I gave away my childhood Mike and the Modelmakers book in 1991 -I wish I hadnt :confused: -I looked at it that last time and thought I was too old to keep it, but I kept all my cars and boxes thankfully....

I didn't mean re-doing an existing mold, I was wondering if there was more than one
mold made at the onset of the production run - I'll assume not.

Now in keeping with the numbered trunklid/door disscusion, and given the fact that there were
two bodys per mold, the bodys themselves must have been #ered as well, no?
I'm gonna go look at some of my dismanteled 1-75s...