IXO 1:43 1960 Bedford TK Tractor/Trailer: Dinky / Mecanno Toys

The Bedford TK is a truck that was produced by Bedford. Launched in 1959 to replace the Bedford S type, the TK was scheduled to be replaced by the Bedford TL in 1981, but manufacturing of the TK continued as a cheaper alternative. A military 4x4 version called the Bedford MK (later MJ) was also produced. After Bedford's Dunstable factory was sold in 1987 to AWD, the TK restarted production for military only use until 1992 when AWD went into receivership.

The TK range replaced the S type in 1959, and served as the basis for a variety of derivatives, including fire engines, military, horse boxes, tippers, flatbed trucks, and other specialist utilities. A General Post Office (later British Telecom) version used for installing telegraph poles was known as the "Polecat".

Available with an inline four or inline six cylinder petrol and diesel engines - the TK was the quintessential light truck in the UK through most of the 1960s and 1970s, competing with the similar Ford D series. It was available in rigid form, and also as a light tractor unit normally using the Scammell coupling form of semi-trailer attachment.

In 1981, Bedford introduced turbocharging to the "Red Series" 3.6-litre and 5.4-litre diesel engines, now producing 72 bhp and 102 bhp respectively.

TKs were assembled for many years by General Motors New Zealand Limited at its Petone truck plant. The model was very popular and competed with the like of the also locally assembled Ford D series. It was succeeded by the TM series and GMNZ later switched source to launch a range of Bedford-by-Isuzu models assembledlocally from kits shipped from Japan.

Dinky Toys was the brand name for a range of die-cast zamac zinc alloy miniature vehicles produced by Meccano Ltd. They were made in England from 1934 to 1979, at a factory in Binns Road in Liverpool. Dinky Toys were among the most popular diecast vehicles ever made – pre-dating other popular diecast marques, including Corgi, Matchbox and Mattel's Hot Wheels.

Frank Hornby established Meccano Ltd. in 1908 to make metal construction sets. The company later moved into model railways with their first O gauge clockwork trains appearing in 1920.

In the early 1930s, Meccano had made many types of tin plate and other metal cars, like its Morgan and BSA three-wheelers, mostly in kit form. In 1933 Meccano Ltd issued a series of railway and trackside accessories to complement their O scale (1/45) Hornby Trains model train sets. These 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 (Meccano Magazine 1934 p. 332) in August 1935, the name Meccano was dropped and the marque became DINKY TOYS until 1971. By December 1934 the Dinky name was also used for the "Dinky Builder" sets where coloured flat metal pieces could be hinged together to make buildings and vehicles 

Having been well known before the war, Dinky Toys were popular in the United Kingdom in the early 1950s. The smaller cars were in a scale of 1:45, while the larger cars and many Supertoys, as stated above, were in a scale of 1:48, which blended in with O scale railway sets, but many buses and lorries were scaled down further. The scale of the Dinky Toys land vehicles range from 1/27 for the Lunar Roving Vehicle ref. 355 and 1/99 for the Duple Viceroy Luxury coach ref. 293 / 296. Because of the introduction of data processing, the British Dinky Toys range was reorganized in 1954 with a new numbering system – previously model numbers were commonly followed by letters and often sold in sets with several vehicles. Now each model had its own unique three digit catalogue number (with no letters), and cars were now sold in individual boxes. The renumbering also happened in France, but in 1959.

In 1969, two years after appearing in America, Mattel's Hot Wheels entered the U.K. model car market. Their low-friction axles and bright paint schemes gave new play value and appeal. Dinky and other British brands rushed to catch up, usually unsuccessfully. Each manufacturer responded with its own version of Hot Wheels innovations–Dinky's name was "Speedwheels" (Force 1988, p. 8). The company continued to make innovative models, with all four doors opening (a first in British toy cars), retractable radio aerials (another first), new metallic paints, and jeweled headlights (pretty, but not very realistic). Such features, however, were expensive to manufacture and toy prices could only be kept low if the quantity was high, and in the face of Mattel's creation, Dinky faced an uphill battle.

Though the writing was on the wall, Dinky's offerings in the 1970s covered the entire spectrum of vehicles, both real and fictitious. Besides the normal gamut of passenger, sports and racing cars, buses, farm, emergency and military vehicles – cars, aeroplanes and spacecraft were also offered from popular (mostly British) TV shows of the time like Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, UFO, Thunderbirds, the Pink Panther, The Secret Service, and Joe 90 (Dinky Toys 1974). It could be argued, though, that it was too little too late, as Corgi Toys had already been offering for several years vehicles from far more well-known shows and movies in the United States like Batman, The Saint, Daktari, James Bond, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Dinky's seemingly weaker standing made it all the more susceptible to Mattel's unstoppable Hot Wheels onslaught. At least the Corgi name still survives as a well-known collectible brand.