French Dinky Toys

Follwing the success of Dinky Toys, Frank Hornby set up an office in Paris on Rue Ambroise Thomas to import Meccano toys to France in 1912. The French market proved to be so successful that production of Meccano began in Paris at the newly opened factory on Rue Rebeval, with another plant opening in 1931 in Bobigny where production of the Dinky Toys range would be based.

Initially producing the same model range as Dinky Toys, by the late 1930s the French Dinky Toys range diversified from that of it’s British parent company, concentrating on the products of the French motor manufacturers specific to the region. The French Dinky models that resulted from this period off some unique and interesting models that vary from the British published models.