Produced from 1971 through to 1974, Corgi records show the company released 287,000 of the 807 ‘Dougal’s Car. It was the first to be produced from the “Magic Roundabout” set, which I’m sure we can all remember from our childhood.

The Citroen car used for the ‘character’ release was a revamp of the 1970 issue Citroen Tour de France, modified from the original and now minus the roof aerial, with a reworked interior and a change of road wheels.
The example we have here came to us from our Corgi Collector magazine editor, Susan Pownall - her own daughter’s toy many years back - which had suffered (as most toys do) from some rough handling, at the same time much love - and I would imagine many “miles on the clock”.

I undertook the restoration for Susan so she could re-present it to her daughter - born in June 1971 - on the occasion of her 40th birthday. At the same time, I thought it would make a great restoration article for Corgi Collector too. Although it’s not one for the novice restorer, the end product is very pleasing.

The first job, as with most restoration projects, is to release the base plate to allow disassembling of the model. So with a 2.5mm drill bit I drilled into the front rivet head (about 4mm deep). Changing the drill bit now for a 5mm countersink fashion, I removed the mushroom part of the rivet carefully, so as not to drill into the base casting itself. Once free, the base was lifted off and the interior and figures removed. A good tip here is to make yourself a pattern/drawing of where everything comes off from/belongs, to aid your memory when the refitting begins! Time to remove the hollow rivets from the interior to release the figures; take care here, as they will be needed to refit Dougal and Dylan, who are trapped together with one rivet. I used a small pointed pair of pliers, gently prising open the flange of the rivet. With the three figures, interior and glazing removed, it was time to tackle the paintwork.

The body shell was coated with a household paint stripper and thanks to its previous hard life all the paint came away first time. As I washed away the first coat of stripper (sometimes more than one coat will be needed), and after drying with a paper towel, a small wooden handled wire brush was used to gain a clean casting around the door lines. The last remaining paint residue was removed from the creases and corners with a small craft knife. Two fine coats of white primer were applied and left to dry for a day or so. Another tip - white primer aids lighter colours. Once dry and checked for blemishes, three light coats of yellow were applied by aerosol. Don’t spray a heavy coat or you will finish up with more runs than a cricket match! Allow the casting to dry in a warm and dust free environment.

Upon refitting, I began with the window unit, then Brian the Snail. Be aware he can be very tricky to refit as he has to fit into the front seats of the interior and also has his head peering out through the
left hand window. Once he was securely fitted, Dylan and Dougal can be positioned into place using the old rivets (providing you have managed to remove them successfully. If not you may need to source some pop rivets to replace them) and glue them into position. I then placed the baseplate into position, clipping into the slot at the rear and securing in place with a rivet head at the front into the predrilled hole. Now on to the final stage - the decoration. Silver detail can now be added, such as headlamps and bumper, a new set of stickers applied and “Hey Presto”, you’re ready for another trip around the Magic Roundabout!

Corgi Steve specialises in model restorations as well as the supply of a wide range of decals, glazing, white metal components and Corgi replacement parts (particularly from the Mettoy era). Contact him at Steve Flowers Model Supplies Ltd., 25 Pennant Close, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8LL.
Tel: 0116 233 2288,
Fax: 0116 224 4035.
Email: info@model-supplies.co.uk
or visit the website at www.model-supplies.co.uk

Tags: Corgi