Benbros TV Series & Mighty Midgets
No.21 Foden Diesel Wagon
The third of the Foden trucks in the Benbros TV Series & Mighty Midgets was No. 21 Diesel Wagon, another eight-wheeled vehicle which Benbros called a wagon but which could more correctly have been called an Open Lorry. The model used the same cab & chassis casting as the No.20 Flat Truck but with a different body representing a load-bed with fixed sides.
The Diesel Wagon shared many of its colours with the Flat Truck including the first issue in orange & green. The cab & chassis were painted bright orange and the body green in various shades from pale to mid-green. There was no trim, and the wheels were unpainted metal on nail-head & crimped axles. Underneath was cast 'Benbros' with the logo 'Qualitoy' and the usual 'Made in England'. It appeared in a TV Series numbered box (TV3) with a picture of the model in reverse colours (green cab and orange body).
Once the switch to Mighty Midgets had been done, Benbros issued the Diesel Wagon in a range of new colours with the first being red or metallic blue with a bright yellow body. This was followed by metallic blue and metallic green with painted metal wheels, probably overpainted earlier models to which silver trim was added to the grille, headlights, bumper and fuel tank.
Both metallic blue & green colours were also issued with unpainted wheels, as was an unusual beige model with red trim. These were followed by a red version and another in mid-blue which had unpainted wheels to start with but black plastic later. Nail-head axles were used on most of the models but round-head & crimped were fitted to the red and mid-blue versions.
The final models, like the previous Flat Truck, were painted dark red, dark blue or green with silver trim and black plastic wheels on nail-head & crimped axles.
Several of the colours of the Foden Diesel Wagon are difficult to find despite the model being popular and when they do turn up they are often playworn. The early TV Series box is rare.
Benbros No.21 Foden Diesel Wagon
Variations
(1) ORANGE cab/chassis NO trim GREEN body umw TV3 box
(2) RED cab/chassis w/wo trim YELLOW body umw TV3/MM box
(3) MET. BLUE cab/chassis w/wo trim YELLOW body umw MM box
(4) MET. BLUE silver trim painted mw MM box
(5) MET. GREEN silver trim painted mw MM box
(6) MET. BLUE silver trim umw MM box
(7) MET. GREEN silver trim umw MM box
(8) BEIGE RED trim umw MM box
(9) RED silver trim umw MM box
(10) MID-BLUE silver trim umw MM box
(11) MID BLUE silver trim bpw MM box
(12) DARK-RED silver trim bpw MM box
(13) DARK-BLUE silver trim bpw MM box
(14) GREEN silver trim bpw MM box
Estimated Price Guide
(MINT models in MINT boxes)
(1-3) : £80+
other variations : £30-60

Variation 13 : dark-blue, bpw