Playmobil Autos, 1977-93

[GrahamB]

Edit 24 April 2020. For unwatermarked pictures, please visit this webpage

From 1977 to 1993, Playmobil released  17 sets containing small, simple cars of a dozen different types.  All had the same basic design and varied mainly in the colour of the body and roof, with stickers or printing and additional parts which distinguished them as police cars, ambulance cars, fire chief cars, roadside assistance vehicles, rally cars or just everyday saloons.
In the picture below are the 12 different Autos, plus (in the centre) two additional versions of the green police car.



Over a similar period, 36 sets released by licensees in other countries (Antex (Argentina) 3, Trol (Brazil) 7, Lyra (Greece) 2, Aurimat  (Mexico) 2, Famobil  (Spain) 8, Marx (UK) 6, Schaper (USA)  8) contained similar cars, sometimes in completely different colours, but often identical to German releases. I have concentrated here on the German releases (including export exclusives), hence the topic title.

Autos: The basic components.
•   Two pairs of wheels on metal axles. Earlier sets have grey wheels, later ones have black and white (black and yellow in one case).


•   A body in blue, green, white, yellow, red, orange or grey. Three versions exist.
Type 1 has a small hole (a on the pictures below) at the rear on the right representing a petrol filler-hole. Type 2 has a socket for a rear aerial (b), a rectangular hole where a parcel shelf fits (c), two extra supports under the bonnet (hood) (d), two notches at the front to fit a front spoiler (e) and two holes for the rear end of tubular roll-bars (f). Type 3 is similar to type 2 (and has the same mold number, 3133802) but with an extra foot-support for the front right hand seat (g).





•   A black chassis (one is dark blue). This forms the front radiator, headlamps and rear lights. There is a simple tow-bar at the rear and clips (rear) or short posts (front) onto which the bumpers (fenders) clip. Three versions exist. Type 1 has a single socket (h) for a fire extinguisher behind the front seats. Type 2 has extra 2 sockets for roll-bars (i).

Type 3 (mold number 3133902) has foot-grips for both front seats (j) as well as the 2 extra roll-bar sockets..

All three types have the date 1976 on the panel underneath. Types 1 and 2 have the word ‘system’ as well:



•   A roof in black or white (and one in dark blue). The white roofs have a matt surface, the black and dark blue ones are shiny. All except the dark blue one have a clip to hold a roof-rack or sign. Mold number for black roof 3134002.


•   A windscreen (unglazed) in black (one in white)- on the left of the picture below. Mold number on some later ones 3134501.
•   A roll bar in black (missing in a couple of later sets which have tubular roll-bars). Mold number on later ones 3134602. Below right.
•   Front (left) and rear (right) bumpers (fenders) in black. Three of the later vehicles have neither, but instead a front spoiler (mold number 3174020) with two fog-lamps.


•   A short black aerial on the left hand side of the bonnet (hood). These are often broken or missing. I made a few from old-style walkie-talkie aerials and black tape.
•   A long rear aerial (later versions only)


•   A black steering wheel and grey (black in one car) holder.


•   A roof sign (4) in black, white, red or green, or a lamp holder in white (2) or a roof rack in black (3) or white (1), or a ski rack in grey (1). The police, fire and ambulance vehicles have a roof sign with a pair of grey siren horns and a blue light. The lamp holders hold a yellow lamp



•   Stickers for the roof sign, number plates, bodywork. This example is from 3215 version 4 or 5;


Number plates
I have included the plate numbers (number plate, vehicle registration plate, index plate) shown in box art pictures. It is possible other plate stickers were supplied in some sets. For example, I found the following numbers online, but not on box pictures: N-JA 133, S-B 6348, B-TO 739, A-KL 518.
The first letter is a city code: A-Augsberg, B-Berlin, DO-Dortmund, H-Hannover, M-München, N-Nürnberg, S-Stuttgart

Sources
All the pictures are based on Playmobil box art and promotional pictures, reinforced for all but 5 sets (3158x, 3702, 3149, 3961 and 3753) by set contents displayed at the Datenbank-Setinhalt on klickywelt.de (site membership required for access).

[GrahamB]

The twelve Autos
Group 1, 1977; 5 Autos
The first five vehicles came in 1977, all with grey wheels and no rear aerial. The Police and Fire Chief vehicles have stickers in English and may have been intended for international sales (though Shaper in the US produced a Fire Chief’s car in 1977 (set 076) almost identical to 3216x and Marx in the UK produced a blue police car (set 1757) at about this time; a green police car may have been thought marketable in other parts of the world), whereas the  Notartz and ADAC vehicles would not perhaps have a wide appeal outside Germany (English speakers may even think Notartz has something to do with the Queen of Hearts’ culinary larceny experience).

3210x A blue saloon car with a black roof-rack and plate number H-PS 718. One careful lady owner with luggage. Reissued in 1978 as 3152x with plate M-VU 842 towing a caravan, two ladies in the later set.






3215 version 1 Plate number D-PA 957. A green police car, with green roof sign and ‘Police’ stickers on the bodywork and roof sign. It is possible other stickers were supplied. This was perhaps aimed at an international market as the Police Officer has a helmet also with the word ‘Police’. Version 2 in 1980 differed only in the box style. Versions 3 to 5 are covered below.







3216x A red fire chief’s car with red roof sign and plate number A-RD 749 and a fire chief resplendent in gold hat. Although only one version of this set is listed in Collector, the roof sign sticker has two versions. The later type has a much ‘chunkier’ font.








3217x A white vehicle for a mobile emergency doctor (Notarzt) with plate number N-AN 874 and white roof sign. Stickers in German only. 






3219x Plate number M-HD 545. An ADAC Strassenwacht (road patrol) car in yellow, with a yellow roof light. ADAC, Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil-Club Eingetragener Verein (All Germany automobile club registered association) is the largest automobile club in Europe. It is affiliated to the Automobile Association in the UK, the AAA  in the US and RACE in Spain, amongst others.  It offers roadside assistance (in yellow vehicles called ‘Yellow Angels’) and many other services, including having the largest fleet of rescue helicopters (also yellow) in Germany and air ambulance jets (yellow) used to transport ‘Plus’ members back home from foreign locations. ADAC also hosts major motor-racing events including the 24 hour Nürburgring.

[GrahamB]

Group 2 1978-9: 3 Autos

6 sets issued in 1978 and 1979 had autos, all (except one) with grey wheels and no rear aerial. 3 of the sets (3158x, 3702 and 3152x) had cars which were effectively duplicates of those in other sets.

3473 An orange car with black and white wheels  and a small yellow roof light. Bosch stickers and plate number B-R 4859. The set came with a green towtruck bearing the inscription ‘Strassendienst. Im Auftrag des ADAC’ (Street service on behalf of ADAC) and ‘AUTOCAR-SERVICE’, showing this to be another roadside assistance vehicle. Bosch is a well-known German company, the world’s largest manufacturer of automotive components. The company may have sponsored roadside assistance services, but the stickers on the car probably refer to the components supplied by the service operator. My example of this orange car has the later style of bodywork piece (with rear hole for an antenna) suggesting it is from a later version of the set (although on photos shown at klickywelt Datenbank-Setinhalt of version 2 (from 1980) there is no rear hole).







3158x A rare ‘exclusive’ set issued in 1978 (with a second verison in 1980) with a green car (apparently identical to 3215 version 1 shown above, with the same plate number), a blue and grey police officer and a yellow helicopter bearing the sticker ‘Helicopter Service’ and ‘SAR’ (Search and Rescue). Collector does not say for whom Playmobil created this set, perhaps it was for a department store such as Kaufhof, but it did not appear in regular PM catalogues. Here is my mock-up of the set.




3680 A color set with plate number M-VU 842. The car has a white body, white roof and grey steering wheel holder, but all other parts are black. The roof-rack may have been white in some examples (of two shown at Klickywelt, one is black and the other is white). 





3702 is another color set similar to 3680, an exclusive set with plate number H- PS 718 (sealed set shown at klickypedia.com) and extra accessories (dog, 2 parasols, extra luggage, 2 extra klickies). The fire extinguisher in this set is white, as is the roof-rack. I had to use Photoshop® to create the fire extinguisher, roof-rack, extra parasol and 3 extra doctor bags.




3152x A blue car with plate number M-VU 842, similar to 3210x above. This came with a caravan and two ladies.




3187x A 1979 orange car with a special grey roof-rack to hold skis and ski-poles. Plate number uncertain, possibly B-R4859.  The skis have yellow and red stickers (shown) or white and blue stickers (which I don’t have). The large sledge is different from later sledges.

[GrahamB]

Group 3 1981-1993. 4 Autos

From 1981 to 1993 there were four more Autos, plus two new versions of set 3215. All these vehicles have black and white wheels (black and yellow in one case) and a rear aerial hole. Three have front spoilers and no bumpers (fenders).

3524 A yellow Playmobil Rallye Team car first seen in 1981, with yellow wheel-hubs, yellow front spoiler, a pair of black fog-lamps, black rear aerial, black roof-rack, orange 3-piece internal tubular roll-bars, but no number plates or plate stickers. There is a grey ‘parcel shelf’ to fit over the rear seats, with space for a fuel can and a toolbox. The bodywork (and helmets) have printing and stickers endorsing Hella, Valvoline and  Koni. Some of the stickers on my car are damaged and I have attempted to repair them on the pictures using Photoshop®. Accessories include a navigator’s clipboard, a trolley jack and a black two-handled box which I assume is intended to be some kind of battery charger, unless it is a personal stereo, 1981 style!
The set is known in four versions, with later versions released in 1983, 1986 and 1991. Apart from minor box differences, as far as I can tell, version 2 (probably) and version 3 and 4 (certainly) had klickies with free wrists, but no other differences are apparent from the box pictures. It is possible that versions 3 and 4 had modern fire extinguishers, walkie-talkies and road signs, but these don’t appear on the box pictures. The last picture shows parts possibly found in versions 3 and 4.










3149 In 1986 a new Police car came out for the export market, the black and white livery which (along with the klicky’s uniform) was perhaps chosen to appeal to US children. There is a black roof sign and a rear aerial. The driver and front seat passenger have extra plastic ‘prongs’ to hold their feet in place. All stickers are in English. The number plate stickers read ‘Playmobil’. There is a good range of accessories for modern policing, including a modern-style fire extinguisher instead of the conical versions of earlier sets. Similar sets appeared in Argentina (Antex) and Spain (Playmobil) at the same time.






3961 This 1986 set contains a grey car with black roof, grey front spoiler, 2 black fog-lamps, a rear aerial , no bumpers but ‘Playmobil’ stickers for front and rear. There is nothing supplied to attach to the roof clip. The set contains a red tow-truck with no ADAC references in its stickers, 2 tow-truck operatives and a car passenger with a briefcase.








3753 The last new vehicle of this type appeared in 1993. This is a rally car, with a sticker showing it to be a representation of a car in the Paris-Dakar rally. New features included a dark blue chassis, a smooth dark blue roof without clip, a black steering wheel holder, a 3-piece tubular roll-bar in white and a white windscreen piece (unfortunately I do not have the windscreen nor the two smaller roll-bar pieces, so I have had to paint other parts white). The front spoiler is dark blue, there are two black fog-lamps, a rear aerial and no bumpers nor number plates. The driver and front seat passenger have extra plastic ‘prongs’ to hold their feet in place. Stickers and printing show endorsements from Spidan, GoodYear, Uvex, Bosch, Castrol, Blaupunkt, Shell, Hella, Valvoline,  Champion, Motorama and Afrikatours. The names Schwartz and Mattison appear on both doors. Perhaps these were the names of a German team in 1992 or 1993? I cannot trace them (they did not win a place on the podium in any year). The figures are printed front and back.









3215v3 1984 The third version of this set has a green-uniformed police officer and the car stickers are worded ‘Polizei’ (though one of the roof signs on mine is ‘Polis’, so perhaps other stickers were supplied too), so this was probably aimed more at the domestic market in Germany. There is a rear hole for an antenna, but no antenna supplied. In common with many later versions of sets, the accessories are reduced; in this case the two traffic cones and loud-hailer seem to have been omitted.





3215v4v5 1986 The fourth version has a completely different klicky, a new-style fire extinguisher, stop sign and walkie-talkie, with different stickers on the road sign and vehicle. The roof sign is white and the plate number, PL- 87 3215 is in line with the more modern vehicles from Playmobil, giving the year of release and the set number. White stickers to convert the lower sides of the bodywork were included. The 1993 version 5 has apparently only minor differences in the packaging from version 4.

[tahra]

That is soooo awesome GrahamB

What a trip down memory lane... I have quite a few of them, including a bunch as "parts"... That we bought in box, just the white police car and the rally ones.

Still have a color one mib.. didn't get there yet - decisions, decisions...

[Georgeag1972]

Amazing collection of Playmobil Autos!!! Well done GrahamB!!
Many thanks for sharing them with us!!

George.

[playmofire]

Thank you for another comprehensive review of a Playmobil item.   

[Rhalius]

Wow, there where more of them than I thought.

There's only the blue one here that I grew up with. It belonged to my sister and came with the caravan.

[Macruran]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Here I go, saying it! These masterful and learned disquisitions by Professor Graham should be collected in a special area for preservation and education of new generations.

[tahra]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Here I go, saying it! These masterful and learned disquisitions by Professor Graham should be collected in a special area for preservation and education of new generations.

True!