Model and toy cranes have always been favorites amongst children and collectors alike. They offer tremendous play value, and their real-life counterparts are often seen working on a multitude of tasks all over the globe. Who hasn’t ever watched a crane at work, especially the audience reading this right now!
The early 1960s German Coles brochure complements the models in this photo superbly. Wir Bauen Fur See translates to “We build for you,” which was quite a fitting phrase for a crane manufacturer. Ever since I obtained the 971 promotional, I had been searching for a German Coles sales brochure and learned that they are quite scarce compared to their English counterparts. Just as I was finishing this article, I found this one on eBay Germany, but the seller would not ship to the USA. Fellow collector Hubert Moller of Germany, who assisted me in this article, was kind enough to get it for me. The signs hanging from the cranes give the feel of a heavy equipment trade show or crane dealer. I copied some of the box art and made them.
The Dinky 571/971 and 972 Coles cranes were very popular models that both enjoyed long production runs. The 571/971 Coles crane was introduced in 1950 and was retired in 1965, and the 972 Coles Crane was introduced in 1955 and was retired in 1969. Both models were based on actual Coles machines of the period. The 571/971 was modeled on the Coles 3‑ton Ulysses yard crane, and the 972 was based on the Coles 20-ton Ranger truck (lorry) crane on the AEC 6x4 chassis. They were sturdy well-built models that stood up to years of play and faux work.
The box top of the 971 translates to: “Lifts carries and moves the load in any boom position with limited swiveling one man operation.” while the box top of the 972 translates to: “Diesel-Electric crane on truck chassis. Unlimited pivoting stepless drive in all crane movements. A powerful one assembly device for every construction site.”
Luckily for collectors, they are still plentiful and affordable. Both models are hardly rare; there are usually at least two dozen for sale on eBay at any given time. They are still quite popular almost 65 years on; I doubt there is a Dinky collector who does not have one in his collection. The 972 has always been a favorite of mine, despite my not being born until a year after its withdrawal. It was one of the first 1950s Dinky models I purchased in the 1990s.
The box sides feature this black, white-and-yellow construction barricade looking design that translates to: “If you want to be sure”.
In the real world both of these machines were very good sellers for Coles and were exported all over the world during the 1950s and ‘60s. Coles was the dominant European crane manufacturer; with the postwar building boom sweeping Western Europe, Coles cranes were in high demand. What was then West Germany was becoming the largest markets for Coles, and in 1955 Coles Krane GMBH was established with a factory in Duisburg.
Box ends
Around 1960 to 1962 Coles Krane GMBH collaborated with Dinky to produce a limited number of 971 and 972 Coles models for use as promotional models. Promotionals are nothing new in the model/toy industry, but what made these unique was that the models themselves were standard production Dinky Coles cranes, nothing was different in terms of their appearance—unlike other Dinky promotional models that featured different colors or decals. It was the packaging that made them perhaps the most desirable variants of the Dinky Coles cranes. Eye catching yellow and blue replaced the traditional blue-and-white striped box. A detailed illustration of the real cranes adorned the boxes and the print was written in German. The stand out black, white, and yellow construction barricade design translates to, “If you want to be sure.”
The pamphlet that came with the 972 is dated 1962 and the cover features this embossed image of the 971 Ulysses crane.
It must have been produced in late 1961 just before Christmas, and it contains a holiday greeting. It translates to: “Also in the new year… Let’s hope your achievements go high and if you want to be safe go with Coles Crane. Personally, we wish you health, well-being and peaceful holidays. A good start to the New Year.”
I acquired these examples in 2015 and 2021 from the same German collector. I had heard of the 971 German promotional existence from a construction model collector some years back, but I had never seen one in person nor for sale. I had looked for one now and then with no success. Shortly after Christmas 2015, I was perusing eBay and a superb small collection of mint, boxed Dinky heavy trucks was listed by a collector in Germany. One of the models was the 971, and I was very fortunate to win it. The collector and I stayed in touch over the years, and on New Year’s Eve Day 2021, he emailed to let me know that he had listed the companion 972 German promotional — which I bid on and won that evening. I was elated to finally have both versions.
The next page of the pamphlet shows a color photo of a Scholpp 6x6 Coles crane hoisting a bell from Stuttgart’s St. Marie Cathedral during the early 1960s. Note that the boom is fully rigged with the extensions and it appears to be a 25-ton Argus model.
It is always exciting for collectors to finally find the pieces they have been searching for, but sometimes it’s even more interesting to have great provenances with them. Thanks to the collector who owned them both of my Coles models, their story can be told. The 971 came from the nephew of a construction machinery dealer near Heidelberg who was also a Coles dealer. When the grandfather — who was the owner — died, the model was put into storage for a while. The nephew later sold it on eBay to the gentleman from whom I purchased it in 2015.
This pair of black-and-white photos are stills from a German-produced video about vintage German-produced heavy equipment. They show two different views of a 1960s Coles Scholpp crane. I reached out to Scholpp twice over two months to inquire about any vintage Coles crane photos for this article but unfortunately, I never received a reply.
The 972 originally came from a retired crane operator, who obtained it in 2001 from the widow of a colleague. He worked for some time at SCHOLPP, the giant German crane and transport company headquartered in Stuttgart. Scholpp was Coles’ key customer during that era. What makes this 972 so fascinating is the small pamphlet from Coles that is dated 1962. It includes an embossed image on the cover of the 971 Ulysses crane and has inside a color picture of a Scholpp Coles crane hoisting a bell at Stuttgart’s St. Maria cathedral in the very early 1960s.
From a historical standpoint, Dinky and Coles Germany were almost a decade ahead of their time in adopting these toys for promotional use in the special German boxes. During the huge growth the German division underwent in the 1960s, Coles Germany was quick to realize that Dinky toys fit the bill perfectly as a promotional model to be given away to customers and dealers alike. The robust die cast construction and weight of the Dinky toys were perfect, especially since Dinky was the only toy maker at that time to make die cast models of Coles products.
Photographed around 1960 during the summer time, this Scholpp Coles Crane was one of two that were hired to retrieve a damaged tanker truck that was involved in a crash near Stuttgart. The second crane is barely visible just above what appears to be a Mercedes L3500 open-bed truck. The recovered tanker is parked in front of the crane. Photo courtesy of and used by permission from Oliver Thum of Germany.
Germany was always home to wonderful toymakers, but in the early 1960s the German die cast industry was still in its infancy. Siku, Wiking, and Cursor were plastic and Schuco and Gama — despite being metal — didn’t make any detailed cranes yet. (It should be mentioned that the absolutely superb Schuco Piccolo 775 Coles model was still a few years away from being released around 1964. Later on, this model was also adopted for promotional use by Coles Germany and Scholpp in a special Coles box as well.) By the early 1970s Germany’s Gescha, NZG, and later, Conrad, would become market leaders in this field, manufacturing detailed die cast crane and excavator models in German language print boxes adorned with photos and illustrations of the real machines for promotional use.
Writing an article is rarely a one-person endeavor, so a special thanks goes to Hubert Möller of Germany. Hubert is the collector from whom I purchased both of these Coles models over a five-year period. His knowledge of the German crane industry and German die cast model heavy-construction equipment was invaluable. Hubert also helped me obtain the German Coles brochure from an eBay Germany seller who would not ship out of the EU. The “Coles crane in the woods photo” was used with permission of German crane enthusiast Oliver Thum, a friend of Hubert’s.