It’s television folklore captured by Corgi. Who hasn’t seen the sketch of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) giving his Austin 1300 Traveller ‘a damn good thrashing’ with the branch of a tree after it refused to start. And who hasn’t felt like doing the same at some point? This model captures that moment, in the episode ‘Gourmet Night’, well, helped by the backdrop included in the pack. For those whose memory needs a jog the even is detailed on the model’s box: With a drunken chef and a missing lobster, there is no choice but to drive to a local restaurant to collect an available duck. It’s then that the car breaks down.
The Austin model is well reproduced and the hand painted white metal figure of Basil Fawlty is fair- we’ve seen worse. Like the series, this model is a laugh.
If you have heard rumours about specially packaged versions, they are true. In a flash of genius Corgi has released an exceptionally small number of the models with variations on the ‘Fawlty Towers’ hotel name, to read ‘Fatty Owls’ and other, less polite, variations, following a running joke in the actual series.