A slightly uncommon car.... Corgi Junior Porsche 917

I like featuring unique and unusual cars/pieces from my collection on this blog.  Sometimes they are extremely rare.  Sometimes just something different from the ordinary.  And sometimes they are ordinary pieces after all, but ones that I like a lot.  

Some would say that there is nothing overly special about this car, a beat-up model of a mighty Porsche 917 race car, modeled by Corgi Junior.  But Corgi Juniors are already somewhat rare models, and this model has a nice feel to it.  

One of the things I like most about it is its size...   It is big and imposing taking up every millimeter of a standard slot in a Matchbox collector case.  Hot Wheels did an excellent 917 as one of the earlier entries in their Adult Collectible series (sold as part of the 4 piece Porsche set in the late '90s), but while that model had great realism / detail and an opening back, it always struck me as being a little small.  In contrast, this Corgi is imposing, scaring other race cars right off the starting grid.  

In other comments, I wouldn't have minded a more race-car-oriented paint scheme (not even a number on the side), and the gold color is rather bland and unexciting (think mid '00s gold Lexus RX300s!).  But the car rolls well on its standard issue wheel.  

Overall, a nice car that deserves a quick mention on this (heavily read) blog...! 

Corgi Error! "Porsche" BMW E30 M3...

This is a nice casting, an E30 BMW M3 race car, by Corgi, in bright orange. 

The wheels are unfortunate - standard ugly cheap-looking Corgi wheels, and there is no paint detail (taillights, etc.) other than the Canon, Castrol and #44 tampos. 


But the metal casting has nice and clear detail, clearly showing the kidney grill, lights, etc.  And its a somewhat unusual subject - while enthusiasts love the 1st generation M3, it's not a frequently modeled die-cast car. 

But what makes this casting so unusual in my eyes, is what it says on the bottom...  "Porsche"! 

Really Corgi?  I know you were a British company, but still, Germany's not that far away...   You didn't know the difference between a Porsche and a BMW? 

I don't know if this is a 1-off example, a known-error, or whether all of these M3s were labeled as Porsches...  I have 2 Corgi collecting books published by Schiffer.  The Dr. Force book ends prior to the introduction of more modern toys like this BMW/Porsche.  The Manzke guide goes up past the Mattel era, but makes no mention of this individual casting (or the possibility of an error on the baseplate). 

I have some error cards, where the blisterpack card mis-labels a car.   For instance, I think I have a Matchbox Chevy Tahoe (like the one featured in my "Battle of the Full Size SUVs part III") still mint on card, where the card says that its an ambulance...  But I've never seen a casting baseplate error like this before!