THE CORGI SAINT VOLVO – THE FIRST BRITISH DIE-CAST FILM/TV SPIN-OFF

Virtually all die-cast model enthusiasts know that 1965 was the year of the Corgi ‘James Bond Aston Martin DB5’ - but it was not their first film/TV spin-off. In March of that year, the brand launched The Saint Volvo P1800, complete with a model of Roger Moore in the driver’s seat. There was also the famous logo on the bonnet, although this did not feature on the full-size version, in case it made Simon Templar somewhat too recognisable to this week’s villains.

In retrospect, it is unsurprising that Corgi pioneered the film/TV spin-off model as they had a track record of innovation. On their launch in July 1956, they were the UK’s first model cars fitted with windows and the first with branded packaging. Furthermore, The Saint was vastly popular worldwide and now in its third series. Millions of viewers were thrilled by Roger visiting ‘exotic locations’ that tended to resemble driving the Volvo on the wrong side of the road in Hertfordshire. He would also defeat the villain (usually Martin Benson, Burt Kwouk, Paul Stassino, George Pastell, Roger Delgado, John Carson, or Vladek Sheybal) and break down a balsa wood door to recuse the female lead.

A request from a Swedish retailer inspired the Simon Templar P1800, with Corgi transforming their existing No. 228 Volvo. It debuted in July 1962 as their first representation of a Swedish car and featured a beige, salmon pink, or red paint finish. Nearly three years later, the brochure announced, “Here is another ‘must’!” and “this Volvo model has Glidamatic spring suspension, superb interior detail and the ‘Saint’ at the steering wheel. Get it now!”. It is easy to understand why the firm sold 312,000 models of The Saint’s car in just nine months – for just 4/6d, you too could re-enact the adventures of Simon Templar on the living room carpet. Better still, if you also owned a Corgi Jaguar Mk. X, you could stage a typical Saint car chase, accompanied by the standard dialogue - “All right Templar, I’ll talk”.

Corgi sold nearly 1,160,000 P1800s before deleting it from their line-up in 1970, a year after the airing of the final episode of The Saint. In terms of British merchandising history, it is impossible to overstate the Volvo’s importance. It is the die-cast that inspired not only the 007 DB5 but the You Only Live Twice Toyota 2000GT, models of cars from The Avengers plus the rival Dinky’s association with Century 21 Productions. And, for less than five shillings, you too could engage in some eyebrow-raising adventures.