Toy Car

For almost 50 years a factory in Northampton produced toys for Mettoy, one of Britain’s major manufacturers of miniature toy cars in the last century.

Philip Ullmann and Arthur Katz founded Mettoy Company Ltd. in the UK in the early 1930s and began making tinplate lithographed toys, some with clockwork motors, in Northampton in 1934. They had previously worked in Nuremburg, Germany, where there was a large toy industry, but moved to Britain to escape the rise of the Nazi Party. They started British production in a factory owned by Bassett-Lowke and switched their production to war supplies during the Second World War. This allowed the company to develop new processes and techniques, moving away from the traditions of Nuremberg style toys. After the war, Mettoy expanded its production to Swansea, Wales and went on to develop its popular Corgi toy car range, using a diecast method.

This large windup toy car is a fine example of the tinplate lithographed toys that Ullman and Katz learned how to make in Nuremberg. Made in Northampton in the 1950s, it was sold as a ‘Giant Racing Car’ with a driver, clockwork motor, brakes and steering wheel control. Contemporary advertisements boasted an ‘exhaust noise effect’ produced when used. Despite their worldwide success in the 1960s, American competitors and the emergence of video games saw Mettoy’s decline in the 1970s until trading ceased in 1983.

Number 91 of the objects selected for the A History of Northamptonshire in 100 Objects exhibition 2025.