 |
The 1995 chrome version, along with the standard silver one.
There was also a standard gold coloured one, not shown |
Back around 1995, an ad appeared in glossy magazines declaring 'The Original Is Back!' For around £19.99 (or thereabouts), buyers could obtain a reissue of the famous Aston Martin D.B.5, secret agent James Bond's car of choice. (Well, either his or Q's.) However, the ad was misleading as the car on offer was based on Corgi's model number 270 from 1968, not the 261 from 1965. Not only that, it wasn't cast from the 1968 newly-tooled moulds, but a shoddy 1995 re-creation that fell far short of the originals.
So, as far as craftsmanship goes, it was inferior in practically every respect. Firstly, the front overriders were so short, they didn't look extended when they were; secondly, the outline of the bonnet's air vent disappeared halfway up as opposed to covering the full length as it should; thirdly, the outline of the bonnet itself was squint and not symmetrical, nor were its contours correct; fourthly, the outline of the doors was unfinished, as though Corgi had been in a hurry to rush this one through. Fifthly (is that a word?), the rear bulletproof shield was too short and didn't extend high enough (as well as being an odd shape), and sixthly, the passenger barely cleared the roof when the ejector seat was released.
Six glaring imperfections that should've ensured this model should never have been released in this form. I 'phoned Corgi and spoke to one of the designers, who confirmed my speculation that a new chassis mould had been created by covering an actual 270 model with whatever they use for this process, then re-etching in the outlines where they weren't defined well enough in the resulting mould. One good thing that came from my call was that the overriders were very soon lengthened to make them more prominent when extended, though the former lacked the contours of the original toy and were a bit blunt and 'squarish'.
In fact, there's a seventh imperfection. (Eight if you count the fact that Bond and baddie weren't cast in the right colour of plastic.) The box was slightly misshapen and didn't close neatly, and the 'window' was held in place by sellotape, not glued in place as should be the case. To this day, I'm astonished that Corgi was prepared to risk its reputation by releasing such a deficient model, especially as it had once (and may well still be) its best-selling toy car. In fact, not only is it the worst car Corgi ever released, it's probably worse than any other company's worst model car.
And what's even worse than that is, I've got six of them. (Two chrome, two standard gold, and two standard silver.) However, don't take my word for how bad it is - take a look for yourselves in the photos below. Oh, and there's actually a ninth flaw - check out the headlights, which are poorly delineated. Whatever was Corgi thinking, eh? Feel free to tell me what you think, Crivs, in the hungry comments section.
 |
| Overriders not extended. Air vent on bonnet not long enough |
 |
| Overriders extended. Not much of a difference |
 |
| The outline of the door is unfinished. How'd they miss that? |
 |
| Bulletproof shield not high enough and slightly misshapen |
 |
| Squint bonnet and ill-defined headlights - tsk, tsk |
 |
| And just look at that ill-fitting box |
