History

Launched in 1996, by Jack Odell and his company, Lledo, (Lledo is Odell spelled backwards) Vanguards is a series of die-cast 1:43 (and 1:64 commercial) scale model vehicles designed for the adult collector spanning half a century of motoring in Britain. Originally sometimes called the "Fifties and Sixties Classic Collection" and with the motto 'Setting the standard'. They were first produced from 1996-1999 under the ownership of Lledo, with the first model being the VA1000 Navy Blue Ford Anglia 105E. Since 2008, Vanguards have been produced under the ownership of Hornby PLC.

By 1998, Vanguard's parent company, Lledo PLC, was the largest die-cast model making company still manufacturing in Great Britain employing around 300 people, and producing over 6 million models per year.

Even though sales remained strong, Lledo could not compete with cheaper imported models produced in China, and in late 1998, Lledo' s own parent company, HCG Group collapsed; making 250 workers redundant in the process. After HCG Group's bankruptcy, Lledo continued production whilst a buyout for the company was being sought, Although, with no buyout prospects, Lledo PLC was forced to call in the receivers in November 1999. Almost immediately, rival diecast model maker Corgi International (A then subsidiary of Zindart International) started discussions with the official receiver and agreed to purchase Lledo and all its assets for £1.95 million. Just six weeks later, Lledo Collectables, as it was now called, previewed its first products at the 2000 British Toy & Hobbies Fair at the Olympia exhibition theatre in London. The last tooling designed by the original Lledo team was the VA40000 Singer Chamois Coupe, but was only brought into production once under Corgi International ownership.

In 2000, main production was moved from Enfield, UK, to China in order to maintain competitive prices (Although production did overlap for a year or two with some models being produced in the far-east as early as 1998.). And the once proud slogan "Designed and Built in England" was changed to "Precision Die-cast replica" following the moving of production. Although, design and development of models still takes place in the UK to this day. The first model to be produced in China was the VA02700 Rover 2000 P6 Saloon, and the first model to be released under Corgi's ownership was the aforementioned VA40000 Singer Chamois. This too was developed and designed by the original Lledo team, but was never released before hand due to financial trouble at Lledo prior to the acquisition by Corgi. The Chamois also being produced in China. According to a Corgi Diecast Diaries blog post from 2017, The Singer Chamois was first designed as a cost effective way to bring a new model into the range, seeing as it shared many parts, such as the chassis and lights that had already been developed with an existing Vanguards release; The VA26000 Hillman Imp

Under Corgi's new ownership, several changes were made to the Vanguards line-up. In order to increase the desirability of the range to collectors, a limited edition policy was introduced with all future tooling's being shipped with a limited edition collectors card with the exception of the first model release of a specific casting. Clear themes were also introduced, with such sections as Saloon Cars, Race and Rally, Police vehicles and Sporting Classics. Each section would have its own place in the bi-annual Vanguards catalogue, as well as different coloured boxes to distinguish between them. Following a significant investment into new tooling, overall quality and detail of the vehicles improved too, with photo-etched chrome details, jewelled headlights, functioning suspension, more detailed interiors and detailed chassis being fitted. The quality and depth of paint was improved too.

The first catalogue released under Corgi ownership contained no fewer than six new model tooling's. These included the Vauxhall Victor F Series Mk.I, Singer Chamois, Austin A60 Cambridge, Ford Zephyr 6 Mk.III, Morris 1300 Estate and Austin Allegro. Although, the first model to be fully designed and developed by Corgi was the VA04100 Ford Cortina Mk.II GT launched in Q1 2001

In the summer of 2003 a major new concept was formulated for the Vanguards range. This concept aimed to introduce much more contemporary models into the range. Before then, the Vanguards series had always been marketed for producing vehicles from the 50s, 60s and 70s. But this new update planned to bring the Vanguards range into the 21st century starting off with the introduction of the VA09100 2003 Jaguar XJR, followed by other modern designs such as the Rover 75/MG ZT, Vauxhall Astra MK.V and Range Rover L322. Another major change was to separate the models into brands, not vehicle classes as previous. These new models launched in 2004.

In January 2004, Corgi completely redesigned the packaging for the entire Vanguards range, doing away with the classic two-piece box design and replacing it with a more modern style of packaging, featuring a plinth and acrylic case with cardboard window tuck-end box. The reason for this change was that it was actually cheaper to produce an acrylic tuck-end box than the previous cardboard box design. 2005 saw the Vanguards range being re-branded from 'Lledo Vanguards' to 'Corgi Vanguards'.

2007 Saw the launch of the Drive Time collection. (see 'Collections' page)

In 2008, Vanguard's parent company, Corgi Classics, was acquired by the British model railway firm Hornby Railways for £7.5 million. 2012 saw an updated style of packaging for the Vanguard models, which re-designed the packaging to incorporate a transparent plastic box and a different style cardboard sleeve making the model visible even when inside the packaging.

The Lledo name was dropped entirely in 2009 after 27 years, with the 'Celebrating 50 Mini years' Austin Mini van being the last model to carry the Lledo name. This model was originally only available to purchase at the 2009 annual Enfield Pageant of Motoring event. The Lledo name did appear once more at the 2011 Enfield Pageant of Motoring, but was sold as a Days Gone Chevrolet Van (DG30) and was not a Vanguards model.

In a 2012 interview, Martyn Weaver (marketing manager of Corgi at the time) revealed that the VA108 Ford Capri MK III was the best selling Vanguards model of all time.

January 2021 saw a new style of packaging, which makes the model visible from ALL sides (front, rear, left side and right side). The first models to be shipped in this updated style box were the VA10318 Ford Cortina MK3 2000 GT & VA09527 Ford Escort MK1 RS2000.