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David John Busfield (Buzzer)
Level 6
Username: Buzzer
Post Number: 462
Registered: 04-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 12:47 pm: | 
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The Corgi 1106 Decca Mobile Airfield Radar was introduced to the Corgi range in January 1959 and remained until 1961. This was a Corgi that I always wanted but could never afford and now that I have finally bought one I am not disappointed.
It used the same radar scanner unit as the 353 Decca Scanner (see my other posting) and the vehicle was a Karrier Gamecock.
There are principally two variants of this model, one with four orange bands and one with five. The five banded versions is shown in the Corgi catalogues and is the most popular type, mine is one of the five banded ones.
The Karrier company was based in Clayton, Bradford, Yorks. and commenced commercial vehicle manufacture in 1907, in 1934 they were taken over by The Rootes Group (Hillman, Sunbeam etc) and production moved to Luton, they also made trolleybuses. In the 1950s their main ranges were the Bantam and the Gamecock and these were much used by the municipal authorities all over the UK.
The aerial on the rear of the cabin folds down to allow the vehicle to fit into its box, it would also be folded when the vehicle was mobile.
There were four ventilators on the cabin roof, these would have been very important as these radars were operated by thermionic valves and as such got very hot – especially in Summer.
The underside of the vehicle is fairly plain with a simple baseplate under the cab and no other markings
It was supplied in a two-part picture box and like a lot of Corgi boxes incorporated instructions in the use of the model.
It was prominently shown on the front cover and on Page 14 of the 1958 Corgi Catalogue but was marked “Available December/January”.
It was initially available on its own but in September 1959 it was also made available as part of Gift Set 6. |
Chris Clemons (Cmc)
Level 6
Username: Cmc
Post Number: 105
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008 - 04:17 am: |
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Here is the vehicle with only four orange stripes. It is interesting to note that the front stripe only goes up the sides and not across the top. I don't know whether this was the same for all models with the four stripes. Also why would Corgi decide to have only four stripes on some?
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David John Busfield (Buzzer)
Level 6
Username: Buzzer
Post Number: 493
Registered: 04-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - 10:39 am: |
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The one with four stripes is rarer and consequently more expensive.
I wonder if Corgi had a temporary problem with the paint masking process and they were forced into making the four striped versions for a short period of time.
The rear three stripes are always in the same position and only the front two differ from vehicle to vehicle. |
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