1959 Bandai, Cadillac "Sedan" de Ville Convertible in Original Box
Beautiful! Immaculate one owner car. Cadillac Sedan de Ville Convertible, friction drive, tin litho, manufactured by Bandai. Purchased by a military service man at the production factory in Tokyo. Comes with original box plus factory insert bag! Vehicle has been stored since new. Never played with or used. Rich, deep gloss black litho surfaces augmented by those two awesome tail fins. This model has the tallest tail fin of any 1950's vehicle made by Bandai. Measures almost 1" from the rear trunk surface. It was also the last model to feature a panoramic windshield. In actuality, I've never seen a sedan convertible of this model. There's a good chance that it was never built. Typically it's the 2-door Coupe de Ville which made the scene. But in Bandai's case all they did was produce the hardtop sedan and remove the top; you have instant convertible! Produced only in either red or black, Bandai was able to capture the magnificence of this classic automobile in miniature. Surprisingly wide especially when compared with today's vehicles it features raised front fenders, a gigantic pair of shark-like tail fins with double bullet red tail lights, huge wrap-around chrome plated front bumper and grille, tin litho interior, and authentic front hood emblem. It has solid, black rubber whitewall tires with raised chrome hub caps, white plastic steering wheel, detailed interior, enclosed rear wheel wells, blue tinted celluloid windshield, and lotsa other chrome plated parts. It has a rear wheel friction driven motor and works great! "Cadillac" and the Bandai trademark are embossed on the underside chassis. Curiously it has a ½" wide die cut oval precisely located at the driver's seat position. No 1959 Bandai Cadillac that I'm aware of was produced with a driver. This had two possibilities; 1) it could've been intended to include a vinyl driver of some kind which never made it to production, or 2) it may have been designed to accommodate a battery operated "stick shift". The 1960 model had such a thing although the hole was located on the center dash board. Whatever they had in mind never made it past the concept stage. Anything could have been possible since it was originally acquired directly at the Bandai factory. It is not missing the driver. The original box was printed with an accurate representation of the actual toy. Note the illustration is 4-door car just like the toy. Although the Cadillac name appears on every panel, the Bandai trademark was used only on the front and rear cover aprons. Instead, Rosko Steel Inc. and the emblem from the Little Folks Creative Guild(?) marked approved are on the cover. One of the box bottom, short sides, has a neat metallic gold sticker with Japanese writing on it. Also included is an original Bandai factory bag. Printed in red on a clear plastic bag the Bandai trademark is easily recognized. The Japanese writing along side it is not. The car was packed inside the bag and then placed into the box. Size: 11-3/8". Sold: Sep. 2011
Price Sold: $ 681
