Piccolino Volkswagen LT van

[quicksilvercoaches]

Okay, so I have to confess it was me who bought that Piccolino VW van on eBay, and it arrived from Germany last weekend. Until now its existence had been little more than a myth as I'd only ever seen reference to it in a 1988 price list and never any photos of either a kit or completed model, so having proved it existed and not knowing when or if another would turn up I had to take this rare opportunity to buy one.

 

Even by the standards of thirty years ago it isn't a great model to be honest and has only a vague resemblance to the real van. It seems to be cast in two halves and the top is noticeably longer than the bottom, creating a step above the front grille that shouldn't be there. The grille itself is a bit crude and there is a nasty casting defect just above it. Interior detail is rudimentary - a bench seat and a simple dashboard with a vertical steering wheel cast into it - and the vac formed glazing is quite poor. The wheels look okay from the sides but are too narrow when viewed from the front or rear.

 

Being black it's quite difficult to photograph and show the detail. The signwriting is all self-adhesive labels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plans for it now? I have an idea to get a friend to cast me some resin copies and maybe convert one to a minibus for my coach fleet, but I don't think the quality of the original is good enough to offer them for sale. It's a bit disappointing to be quite honest but still an unusual and rare piece to have in my collection that a lot of people have probably never seen before.

[ian]

Is it worth attacking a resin copy to make it more presentable (cut a bit put of the top, add grille details, etc..) and then cast from that? The great thing about resin is that it has very little shrinkage so you can get away with something like that.

[fodenway]

This is the first time I've ever seen one of these, and my first impression was that it looked more like a mid/late 1960's Chevyvan 90 than the VW LT. Do the dimensions scale up accurately for the LT?

[BernardTPM]

There was a tiny picture in an ad in the Railway Modeller about 30 years ago, but this is much clearer. Thanks! I can only assume one part of the mould stretched more when it was cast than the other half!

[ianmacc]

Interesting. The only ones I saw were the type 1 vw and ford Thames minibus.

 

Truly terrible but given the slim pickings of the time I’d have bought one and played about with it!

[LBRJ]

I had a VW LT a long time ago, and it did not look much like that one!

The model reminds me more of the proportions of the smaller Transporter type heap of junk van

[PhilJ W]

Piccolino used to send out flyers with colour pics of their latest releases. One of them featured this van and it might be the very one, in fact it was so awful that I doubt that very many were sold, it might even be the same (only?) one. Some of their models were quite good but a bit delicate and easily damaged.

[fodenway]

This is an image of a 1964 Chevyvan 90 of the type I referred to earlier - imagine it without the aftermarket grille guard, and the general shape and proportions, rear overhang excepted, are not far removed from the Piccolino offering.

[RANGERS]

As someone who covered many miles in a hired LT25 whenever we needed something bigger, I grew quite fond of them. Heavy on the steering with no PAS but comfortable and pretty effortless to drive with space aplenty.

 

This model though does them absolutely no favours!

[Hesperus]

It's a bit grim isn't it.  If you get it sorted it would be nice to see a little replica of Mats camper.

[Dungrange]

Not a model that I would have bid on as you say not particularly refined by the standards of 30 years ago, let alone today's models.

 

As an aside - what model is the yellow car parked in the rear of your photographs? 

[BernardTPM]

Looks like a VW Up! or Skoda Citigo. Having checked, Abrex make the latter in 1:72.

[ianmacc]

Yes it is. I had a red one (model not real).

 

I enjoy the background of his shots as much as the subject matter! A run down of his unusual stuff would be a good thread

[PhilJ W]

Yes it is. I had a red one (model not real).

 

I enjoy the background of his shots as much as the subject matter! A run down of his unusual stuff would be a good thread

Adam has his own page on Facebook and shows his pics on Flickr. Just search for Quicksilver coaches.

Edited September 2, 2018 by PhilJ W

[ianmacc]

Thanks for that I’ll have a look