Credit: Little Car Youtube Channel
This is a scale drawing of the cab/body of a lorry-mounted Coles crane Dinky Toy. It was drawn by Don Mann in 1953 at Liverpool’s Meccano Factory and donated to our Trust by his son Robert in February 2024. It is now on display next to the Dinky Toy it partly represents.
An imposter?
On display at the FHHC is a 1950s Dinky Toys Austin A40 van
reproduced in the 1990s by Matchbox.
A Dinky Toys Sikorsky Helicopter on display at Maghull’s FHHC
Here’s an interesting link to a video of Dinky Toys being made at Liverpool’s
world famous Binns Road Meccano Factory back over 50 years ago in 1967
Here are two display cases of Dinky Toys
at Maghull’s Frank Hornby Heritage Centre
A beautifully refurbished 8 Wheeled Foden Truck - donated Nov ‘23 by Bob Knapmam
The History of Dinky Toys
In the early 1930s, Meccano made many types of tinplate and other metal cars, such as its Morgan and BSA three-wheelers, mostly in kit form. In 1933, Meccano Ltd issued a series of railway and trackside accessories to complement its O gauge (1/45) Hornby Trains model railway sets. The accessories were first called "Hornby Modelled Miniatures", but in the April 1934 issue of Meccano Magazine, they were given the name "Meccano Dinky Toys" for the first time.
In August 1935, the name Meccano was dropped and the marque became DINKY TOYS, which lasted until 1971.
By December 1934, the Dinky name was also used for the "Dinky Builder" sets, which were coloured flat metal pieces that could be hinged together to make buildings and vehicles.
One story about the origin of the "Dinky" name is that it derived from a nickname that a friend gave to Frank Hornby's daughter. Another version is that when one of Hornby's daughters-in-law first saw the models, she called them "dinky", a Scottish word meaning "neat" or "fine". Please watch the YouTube video linked top left of this page.
Credit: Wikipedia - Dinky toys
A Dinky Toys double-deck bus and road roller that are included in our Education/Memory Box which is available to borrow via Sefton Libraries - see details on our home page.
A heritage Dinky Toys poster photographed at the Frank Hornby Pub in Maghull. Yes, Maghull even has a pub named after the Town’s most famous resident. It’s on Eastway about three-quarters a mile from the FHHC.
A set of 3 Dinky Toys donated to our Trust (one from the French Meccano Factory) and on display at our Heritage Centre
Donated Dinky Toys in our Heritage Centre
Dinky Toys Electric Dairy Van in our collection
1951 Dinky Toys 63b Mercury Seaplane on loan 01 24 to FHHC