Benbros Qualitoys
227 Sunderland Flat Truck
photos David Elliott
Variation 1: Red cab/chassis, pale green flat-bed, black 8-bolt all-metal wheels
Making full use of the AEC cab & chassis die which they bought from Timpo Toys, Benbros added the Sunderland Flat-Bed Truck under the number 227.
The Sunderland models had the cab and chassis as one casting with a small unmarked base rivetted under the cab to help provide strength and to hold the front axle. Under the chassis the 'Benbros Qualitoy' name was cast along with 'Made in England'. There was no number or model name.
For the flat-bed, Benbros did not use the original Timpo body but created a new casting which was adapted for all the AEC Sunderland models. On the Flat Truck, the various tabs and holes included for the Chain Lorry, the Dropside Wagon and the Covered Truck are all easy to see. The flat-bed body fitted into the back of the cab with a tab and was rivetted onto the chassis at the rear.
As with most of the other Sunderland models, Benbros issued the Flat Truck with a red cab & chassis, and a little red base underneath. Silver trim does not seem to have been applied to the first models but later it was added to the grille, lights and usually the number-plate. For the flat-bed, three contrasting colours were used, pale-green, mid-blue and beige.
The different wheels which Benbros fitted to the Sunderland models were of three types. The first were chunky all-metal wheels with an 8-bolt design on the outer side. These were painted black both inside and outside. They were only used on the first model with a pale-green flat-bed and a red cab without silver trim.
The second type of metal wheels were the most commonly used. These had cast hubs with black, lightly-treaded tyres. The hubs had a 6-bolt design on the outside and a plain flat finish on the inside, and were painted on the outside only, either in red or blue.
The final wheels used on the Sunderlands were red plastic copies of the metal 6-bolt hubs which are easily identified by their red inside colour. They were fitted as before with black tyres.
No.227 Flat Truck shared a multi-model yellow box with other models numbered 220-228 with illustrations on all four sides. The Benbros Qualitoys emblem was on both end-flaps and the model inside was identified by having number and/or name stamped or written on a panel at one end. The boxes provide the only evidence of numbers for the AEC models.
The red & blue variations of the Sunderland Flat Truck are the easiest to find but are often playworn. The pale-green models are scarce, as is the box, and the beige variation is very rare.
photo JK die-cast models
Variation 4: Red cab, mid-blue flat-bed, blue pmw, yellow multi-model box
Benbros Qualitoys 227 Sunderland Flat Truck
Variations
All variations were issued in multi-model boxes
1) RED cab/chassis, PALE-GREEN flat-bed, BLACK 8-bolt all-metal wheels
2) RED cab/chassis, PALE-GREEN flat-bed, RED 6-bolt pmw/black tyres
3) RED cab/chassis, MID-BLUE flat-bed, RED 6-bolt pmw/black tyres
4) RED cab/chassis, MID-BLUE flat-bed, BLUE 6-bolt pmw/black tyres
5) RED cab/chassis, BEIGE flat-bed, BLUE 6-bolt pmw/black tyres
6) RED cab/chassis, PALE-GREEN flat-bed, RED 6-bolt plastic wheels/black tyres
7) RED cab/chassis, MID-BLUE flat-bed, RED 6-bolt plastic wheels/black tyres
Variation 5: Red cab/chassis, beige flat-bed, blue pmw
Variation 7: Red cab/chassis, blue flat-bed, red plastic wheels