Britains Lilliput Vehicle Series
LV/615 Saracen Armoured Personnel Carrier
Issued 1956-1960 Length 62mm 'OO/HO' scale (1:76)
Armoured Personnel Carriers were popular with toymakers in the 1950's and as part of their group of military models, Britains added a version to the Lilliput Series in OO scale.
LV/615 was made in just one casting including the turret on the top which meant that there was no movement of the gun. Nor did the model have particularly well defined detail in the casting but it made a solid toy. Underneath 'Britains Ltd' and 'Made in England' were included though often indistinctly.
One interesting feature was the provision of 'suspension' on the central wheel axle. All three axles were fixed to the model through holes in lugs underneath but the central one had an elongated hole to provide play in the axle movement up and down. Thus when the model was pushed over a bumpy surface, there appeared to be 'suspension' on the middle wheels.
There were two variations of the Armoured Carrier, one in glossy Army-Green without any decals, the other in a semi-matt olive or NATO-green finish with U.S.Army decals comprising the number '68' on the left front, two little stars, one on the right front wing and one on the turret, and a 'U.S.ARMY' decal on the left side of the model.
The wheels on the Saracen were the familiar green or olive-green 7mm plastic hubs but fitted with wide tyres making these the largest of all the Lilliput wheels. 'Britains Ltd England' was embossed on each side of the tyres.
The box for LV/615 was the standard Liliput open fronted one with an inner diorama packing piece to which the model was secured. The model name and number were printed on one end-flap.
The Armoured Carrier is fairly scarce and the box is very rare.
LV/615 variation 2: NATO green with U.S.Army decals
LV/615 Saracen Armoured Personnnel Carrier
Variations
1) Army Green, no decals, green pw, black tyres
2) NATO-Green, U.S.Army decals, green pw, black tyres