Buy Corgi Diecast Vanguard Mini Cars

Corgi is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the "Classic" Alec Issigonis designed Mini by releasing a whole series of model diecast minis under their Vanguards banner. This range features a special range of Minis with famous owners including Paul McCartney and Steve McQueen, plus a stunning three piece mini-set,

These Lovely collectors items are beautifully packaged and make great displays. Ebay is a good source for Corgi Mini Mania Models both new and used and they can be at extremely reasonable prices, Ebay also gives you a huge variety to choose from as well as allowing you to still find items that are no longer available.

This beautiful Pink Morris Mini Minor Deluxe 850 is an authentic detailed replica for collectors and Mini afficianados alike which was part of 2010 issue of the Corgi Mini Vanguard Collection. This Mini was used by Marks and Spencers along with Twiggy on the launch of their 60's inspired clothing range.

Marks and Spencer re-launched their clothing range in 2006 and teamed up with two sixties icons, Twiggy and the Mini.  The Pink Mk1 Mini in this model was bought by Elstree Studios specifically for use in the advert and sent to the London branch of legendary wall paper and fabric design house De-Gournay, who painted the car with a pink cherry blossom design. It was then used by M&S for over a year before being given away in a competition. It is now owned by a Mini enthusiast who exhibits the car at shows.

This model is often available on Ebay and Amazon. On the right are some of the items for sale on Ebay ranging from mint to used copies of this model.

This cool two-tone Austin Mini Cooper S 1275 is an authentic detailed replica for collectors and Mini afficianados alike which was part of 2010 issue of the Corgi Mini Vanguard Collection. This Mini was used originally owned by Steve McQueen.

Steve McQueen bought this Mini from Hollywood Sports Cars and had it taken straight to Lee Brown’s custom shop. McQueen didn’t like the green body and white roof so had the car refinished in medium brown metallic with a beige roof. Brown also chromed and then reversed the wheels to widen the track, fitted a wooden dash, a fold back sunroof and had trimmer Tony Nancy re-cover the seats in brown vinyl. The engine was ported and balanced. McQueen never had front number plates on his cars as he felt it spoilt the clean look.

Twenty years later Lee Brown spotted an advert for the car and purchased it, so he now owns the car he originally customized for the Hollywood Star.

This model is often available on Ebay and Amazon. On the right are some of the items for sale on Ebay ranging from mint to used copies of this model.

This iconic Early-60's Morris Mini Cooper MK1 is an authentic detailed replica for collectors and Mini afficianados alike which was part of 2010 issue of the Corgi Mini Vanguard Collection. This Mini is a model of the car owned by Peter Sellers.

If you were a celebrity in the sixties then a modified Mini was the cool car to own, and that trend was started by Peter Sellers’ 1963 ‘Wicker Mini’. Sellers asked Rolls-Royce dealership HR Owen to customize his Mini and they commissioned Hooper (Motor Services) Ltd, the spares and servicing arm of the former coach-building firm, to modify the car. It cost £2600 (when a standard Cooper was £679) but featured up-rated leather seats, electric windows and the famous hand stencilled wicker-work effect on its sides. Sellers used the car in the Pink Panther film ‘A Shot in the Dark’.

This model is often available on Ebay and Amazon. On the right are some of the items for sale on Ebay ranging from mint to used copies of this model.

This 1960's Morris Mini Cooper S MK1 is an authentic detailed replica for collectors and Mini afficianados alike which was part of 2010 issue of the Corgi Mini Vanguard Collection. This Mini is a model of the car owned by Beatle Paul McCartney .

Paul McCartney’s Mini was modified by legendary coachbuilder Harold Radford. Paul, well known as a fan of Aston Martins, had the car finished in Aston Martin California Sage Green Metallic with DB5 rear lights. The interior was trimmed in black leather and had a Webasto-style fold back canvas roof, a popular extra at the time. One day in early 1967, Paul, his assistant Alistair Taylor, and Paul’s sheepdog Martha climbed into the car and drove to Primrose Hill where they saw a strange man wandering around. This was later Paul’s inspiration for the song ‘The Fool on the Hill’.

This model is often available on Ebay and Amazon. On the right are some of the items for sale on Ebay ranging from mint to used copies of this model.

This souped-up Mini 1275cc is an authentic detailed replica for collectors and Mini afficianados alike which was part of 2010 issue of the Corgi Mini Vanguard Collection. This Mini was modified to Cooper specs and used by Colin McRae in the West of Scotland Autotest Championships in 1984.

Colin McRae was one of Britain’s most successful rally drivers, winning the World Championship in 1995 and taking victory in 25 World Championship events. Colin’s flamboyant, sideways driving style, whether on the snows of Sweden, the rocky unforgiving roads of the Acropolis or on the ultimate challenge through the Sahara on the Dakar, endeared him to fans and rivals around the world.

Colin McRae began his competitive career riding trial bikes, but by the age of 14 he and his friends were already experimenting with four wheeled vehicles, on disused land, using cars from a local scrapyard. Then, at age16, Colin discovered autotesting through the Coltness Car Club and soon traded his bike in for a Mini, bought for him by his father, five-time British Rally Champion, Jimmy McRae. In 1984, Colin won the West of Scotland Autotest Championship in this Mini.

This model is often available on Ebay and Amazon. On the right are some of the items for sale on Ebay ranging from mint to used copies of this model.

This fantastic 50th Anniversary 3-piece set of Mini models is great for collectors and Mini afficianados alike and was part of 2010 issue of the Corgi Mini Vanguard Collection. In the set you got models of and Austin Mini, a Morris Mini Cooper and an Austin Mini Van.

In forty-one years of production 5,378,776 Minis were produced in Britain and this set represents the beginning of that story, bringing together the first production Austin Se7en saloon, Austin Se7en van and Morris Mini Cooper.

The initial production Mini was built on the 3rd April 1959 and signed off by Longbridge employee Mr Jack Brettle, previous examples having been hand built in their prototype shop.  Chassis number A/A2S7/101 was an Austin Se7en basic saloon allocated to Issigonis’ experimental department, where it was used to fine tune the design. A book of notes listing its various faults and alterations was kept and mostly shows issues pertaining to production practices, however one amusing entry reads “seat collapsed after 630 miles, 25th May 1959 (failure of block of rubberised hair)”. Chassis number 101 was scrapped on the 1st July 1960 and was never road registered.

Mini van production commenced with chassis number A/AV7/12101, completed at Longbridge on the 6th January 1960. As was common practice at the time, despatch was delayed and it was eventually delivered to T. Startin Jnr, an Austin dealer in Birmingham, on the 5th of July.  Early Mini vans were basic, even the passenger seat and cabin mirror were optional extras, and although twin wing-mirrors were compulsory on commercials, they were black; chrome being extra.  The van retailed at £360 when a basic saloon cost £497.  Both the first Morris Mini Cooper and Austin Se7en Cooper were produced at Longbridge on the 11th July 1961.

The first Morris Mini Cooper had chassis number K/A2S4/138311m. It was registered as 769 MFC and used for the model’s launch at Chobham on July 17th 1961 and was then road tested by numerous papers and magazines, all of which were enthusiastic about the £679 pocket rocket. A true motoring icon had been born.