Benbros Mighty Midgets
No.43 Articulated Box Van
At the end of the Mighty Midget series, Benbros produced a range of Bedford articulated models starting with No.43 Articulated Box Van. This must have been a popular toy as there were at least eleven variations made.
The first two variations were unusual in having fully painted Bedford Cabs including underneath and inside, either yellow or red to match the trailers. After this, Benbros only painted the upper side of the cabs on this and all subsequent articulated models.
Using the Bedford Cab as the tractor unit, Benbros designed a simple box van trailer cast in one piece without rear doors. On the sides were simulated 'up-and-over' sliding doors and after a short time 'Dunlop' decals were added. Unusually, Benbros did not put any identification under the trailer.
The wheels, on a single axle, were attached directly to the trailer. The cab-trailer coupling was a simple peg with fore & aft lugs which slotted laterally into a hole on the Bedford Cab. Overall when connected the model measured 62mm in length.
No.43 Box Van was not a particularly exciting model so Benbros enhanced it by painting it in a variety of colours. Usually these were different from the cab but the first issues had matching cab and trailer, either yellow, red, or pale blue. These had unpainted metal wheels but no decals.
Within a short time, Benbros brightened No.43 Box Van models with contrasting colours for cab and trailer and with 'Dunlop' decals on each side. Trailer colours were red, beige or pale-blue (some with dark-blue undersides), all with red cabs and matching metal wheels on cabs and trailers.
Next, Benbros switched to black plastic wheels which were fitted to pale blue, dark blue, beige or red cabs, and to yellow, green, pale-blue or dark-blue trailers.
Benbros used two different 'Dunlop' decals for the Articulated Box Van. These always had a 'leaning' shape which could be leaning 'left' or 'right'. On the first type 'Dunlop' was printed in black on a yellow or orange-yellow backgound using an upright font without a logo added. Both 'left' & 'right' decals seem to have been used together so that some models had just one type on both sides whilst others had both, one on each side.
The second type of decal had the font in italics on a yellow background and included the Dunlop logo at the left end. These decals were always leaning to the right and were the same on both sides of the model.
Several versions of No.43 Articulated Box Van are scarce and mint boxed models rare. The last blue issue (variation 11) is the most common.
Variation 1 : yellow cab & trailer, cab with painted underside, no decals, umw
Benbros No.43 Articulated Box Van
Trailer variations (with frequent cab colours)
All models had Mighty Midget boxes
(1) YELLOW trailer without decals, matching YELLOW cab (painted underside), umw
(2) RED trailer without decals, matching RED cab (painted underside), umw
(3) PALE-BLUE trailer without decals, matching PALE-BLUE cab, umw
(4) RED trailer, DUNLOP decals (no logo), RED cab, umw
(5) BEIGE trailer, DUNLOP decals (no logo), RED cab, umw
(6) PALE-BLUE trailer, DUNLOP decals (no logo), RED cab, umw
(7) DARK-BLUE trailer, DUNLOP decals (no logo), BEIGE cab, bpw
(8) GREEN trailer, DUNLOP decals (no logo), BEIGE or RED cab, bpw
(9) YELLOW trailer, DUNLOP decals (no logo), BLUE cab, bpw
(10) YELLOW trailer, DUNLOP decals WITH logo, DARK-BLUE cab, bpw
(11) DARK-BLUE trailer, DUNLOP decals WITH logo, BEIGE cab, bpw
Variation 2 : red cab & trailer, cab with painted underside, no decals, umw
Variation 4: red trailer and cab, 'right' type 1 decals, umw
Variation 5 : beige trailer with both 'left' and 'right' decals without logo, red cab, umw
Variation 6 : pale-blue trailer with both 'left' & 'right' decals without logo, red cab, umw
Variation 7: dark-blue trailer, 'left' decals without logo, beige cab, bpw
Variation 8 : green trailer with 'right' decals without logo, beige cab, bpw
Variation 9 : Yellow trailer with 'left' decals without logo, blue cab, bpw
Variation 10: Yellow trailer, 'right' decals with logo, dark-blue cab, bpw
Variation 11 : Dark-blue trailer, 'right' decals with logo, beige cab, bpw
No decals and 'Dunlop' decals with/without logo
Left & right leaning decals and font variations
Variation 6 : Trailers with pale-blue and dark-blue undersides
Trailer underside & coupling detail