<p>Hello All</p>
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<p>Can anyone confirm if the Dinky no.172 Fiat 2300 Station Wagon (like this one at www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360826384771) was originally fitted with plastic fold down tailgate and lift up rear window? Or did  the model ever come with these parts being metal?</p>
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They were always plastic on the Dinky model as made

Thanx Andy. That's what I thought but wanted to be sure. Dinky made other models with similar opening tailgates that were diecast. The plastic rear pieces dont have the fit and finish as metal and dont stay closed well
I just recently got one and wondered if it were a later version or possible after market.

There was a (fortunately brief) period when Dinky seemed to try opening features in plastic - the mini van had rear plastic doors and was released about the same time, and both the Ford Mustang and DeLuxe VW Beetle had infernal plastic hinges which were not very resilient.
As a general rule the opening parts on Dinky models were not as well engineered as those on, for example, Corgi models - the Dinky parts were generally unsprung and as the dies wore could become very ill-fitting - late issues of the 168 Escort and 183/250 Mini had very badly fitting doors for example.