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Tin plate toy cars and trucks

On this page are some examples of tinplate & pressed steel toy car that would have been available in the 1930s - 1950s era.

Before manufacturers fully got to grips with plastic toy manufacture, the majority of toy cars that were available in the shops during the 1930s-1950s were either of die-cast, or tin-plate, metal construction.

On this page are some examples of the tinplate toys that fortunate children either side of WW2 could hope (!) to receive at Christmas time, or on their birthday. Such toys were a real luxury back then, and many will have been cherished for year after year - not something that happens so often in today's throwaway society, with nearly-new toys ending up in the bin after a very short time. Attention spans were longer in the 40s and 50s, hence children didn't get bored with just one toy in the way that happens today in many cases.

The fact that any toy has survived over 50+ years is testimony to one child's care and appreciation of it. Tin plate toys are quite vulnerable to knocks and dents, so finding perfect examples of original tin toys (don't mention reproduction stuff!) is not too easy. My own tin toys show varying levels of play-wear, ranging from good condition, right down to the borderline rusty example!

My own interest is in toys depicting racing cars of years gone by, hence the bias in the selection of toys shown below. If you have some photos of other tinplate toy cars that would look good on here, by all means fire them over and I'll happily include them here too. You can also see some pics of rare plastic toys elsewhere in this toy section. Click any of these for more info:

Schuco   Triang Minic   Chad Valley
Schuco car (Germany)   Tri-ang Minic   Chad Valley (England)  
Aston DB2   Auto Union   Mercedes
Aston Martin DB2   Auto Union LSR   Mercedes streamliner  
Mercedes W196   Midget   Breakdown truck
Mercedes W196 GP   "Mighty Midget"   Breakdown truck  
Gama toy   Mettoy England   Schuco Studio toy Mercedes
Gama toy racer   Mettoy Ltd   Schuco Studio  
Jet-Car   Gescha toy   Biller Toy Auto Union
Jet-Car   Gescha Silver Arrows   Auto Union (Biller Toys)  
Huki rally car   Wuco   Joustra (France) Grand Prix car
Huki rally car   Wuco race car   R/C car Joustra (France)  
VW Beetle   Bedford CA   Rolls-Royce
VW Beetle   Bedford Police van   Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud  
Toy pickup truck   Esso petrol tanker   Mettoy road roller
Wyandotte pickup truck   Bedford Esso Fuel Tanker   Mettoy road roller  
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