Autocar isn't a name you hear much anymore, but they were among the earliest heavy truck builders and Autocar Trucks could be found for many decades in some of the hardest working areas.

As I recall, this piece was a gift all the way from Finland from Random, and it is appreciated...it fills a spot that was missing as I tried to flesh out the evolution of this series of castings. And I have Jim Reid to thank for bringing the line to my attention. It all started with a broken road grader found on a flea market table.

The condensed version of the story is that this model and others began life in Italy, some of which made their way across the pond to be made and released as Gibbs Metal Miniatures and Lit'l Toy, before the line being whittled down still more and ending up in Hong Kong where they were then made for the Mini Dinky line, ending up almost 25 years after the initial Italian release being sold under Universal and Kidco before finally fading into the diecast twilight.

The Autocar Dump Truck never made it as far as Mini Dinky, subsequently it is a bit more scarce on the ground than some of its stablemates. Which may explain why I haven't acquired another just yet.