Dinky Toys No. 100 is a true gem for any col­lec­tor and fan of clas­sic tele­vi­sion. This beau­ti­ful­ly detailed minia­ture of the leg­endary FAB1, known from the pop­u­lar British super­mar­i­on­a­tion series Thun­der­birds, is far more than just a toy car — it’s a piece of nos­tal­gia, engi­neer­ing, and pop cul­ture all in one.

The FAB1 is the icon­ic pink vehi­cle of Lady Pene­lope Creighton-Ward, the ele­gant and fear­less secret agent who, along with her ever-loy­al and prop­er chauf­feur Park­er, is part of the Inter­na­tion­al Res­cue team. The Thun­der­birds series cap­ti­vat­ed audi­ences in the 1960s with its futur­is­tic vehi­cles, thrilling mis­sions, and unique pup­pet ani­ma­tion. This Dinky Toys mod­el brings that mag­i­cal era back to life.

Based on a lux­u­ri­ous Rolls-Royce and equipped with six wheels, the FAB1 fea­tures a jet engine capa­ble of pro­pelling the vehi­cle to an impres­sive 320 km/h (200 mph) on land, and near­ly 100 km/h (60 mph) over water. But speed isn’t its only asset — the FAB1 is packed with high-tech gad­gets that help Lady Pene­lope stay one step ahead of her ene­mies.

This Dinky FAB1 includes work­ing fea­tures such as a har­poon, four launch­ing rock­ets, and con­cealed laser machine guns. The vehi­cle is also equipped with bul­let­proof glass and var­i­ous oth­er defen­sive sys­tems. just like in the thrilling episodes of the series. The minia­ture described in this arti­cle has been care­ful­ly restored and accom­pa­nied by a stun­ning repro­duc­tion of the orig­i­nal dio­ra­ma dis­play box, giv­ing it an even more authen­tic look.

This time, I restored two FABs simul­ta­ne­ous­ly. For a small batch, this approach is sur­pris­ing­ly effi­cient; the total lead time is only about one and a half times longer than restor­ing a sin­gle mod­el. By com­bin­ing the tasks, from prepa­ra­tion and clean­ing to paint­ing, pol­ish­ing, and trim­ming new parts, it’s pos­si­ble to strike a great bal­ance between qual­i­ty and effi­cien­cy.

Thun­der­birds are go!