Although the English Meccano factory quickly got to work and introduced larger scale commercial vehicles in 1947 with the Foden and Guy trucks, it took the Dinky Toys French factory a lot longer to do the same. But the wait proved worthwhile, because in 1952 the French introduced what turned out to be a classic and very desirable set of trucks: the Panhard Articulated trucks. These were a very good likeness of the Panhard Movic 7 ton diesel trucks then in service.
Panhard Movic Truck (1952–1955)
Image: chrispit1955 (Flickr)
Initially two Dinky Toys models were produced: the 32AB/575 Panhard “SNCF” Articulated truck and the 32AJ Panhard “Kodak” Articulated truck. Almost everyone recognizes “Kodak”, but for those who aren’t French the “SNCF” name may be a mystery; it is the French national railroad agency.
The 32AB SNCF version was produced during 1952 to 1964 and over the years three different SNCF logo decals were used: the first had a steam locomotive in the center, but mine is the last one. The dark blue makes this a very handsome truck.
With their articulated trailers, both the SNCF and Kodak made great toys, and in typical French Dinky Toys fashion they were also very well executed, with great detailing and fabulous paint jobs.
A delightful image from the 1952 French Dinky Toys catalog shows some classic scenes. Note the Panhard Kodak articulated truck is listed as new, making its debut!
My very first model of this series was the Kodak truck, and I was lucky to acquire it. In 1958 I visited a large department store in downtown San Diego, USA, and in their display case was a stunningly beautiful, bright yellow Kodak truck. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to buy it, so I paid the US $2.50. These always came in trade boxes of six, so I never had a box for it. Keeping a yellow model in good condition all these years was no easy task. And I never saw an other one for sale again in any stores.
These two trucks soldiered on a few years and in 1954 Dinky introduced another version: this time a wonderful tanker truck 32C/576 in the livery of Esso, as an airport refueler with the winged logo present.
The Kodak version was only made for a few years, and in 1955 was sold only as an export model. This export model featured a largely unknown change: the letter “a” in Kodak was changed from the earlier version to a different font, apparently to match the company logo seen in the US. Later models also had a checkered cabin roof.
The Esso tanker was made until 1961, while the SNCF was discontinued in 1963. This is a superb set of trucks that you should try to obtain, or at least one of them!
There are a few decal differences on both the SNCF and Esso versions, and the earlier convex wheels were replaced by the later concave ones.
I thought some of you might like to see a version that Dinky didn’t make. I always wanted to see a matching Kodak trailer. Well, guess what? Between Atlas and Dan Toys reproductions, here is the ultimate Panhard Kodak rig!
