Worthington's Bottle Car:

History: The Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington & Co. and Worthington's, was founded by William Worthington in the English Midlands town of Burton upon Trent in 1761. It is the second oldest continuously brewed beer brand in the country after Whitbread. The company merged with its major Burton rival Bass in 1927. Throughout the 1920s until the 1960s the brand, in bottled form, ranked alongside Bass and Guinness as one of only three beers with nationwide distribution. However, bottled beer sales declined as keg beer grew in popularity throughout the 1960s, and the Worthington brewery was closed in 1965. The beers continued to be brewed elsewhere, and Bass used the Worthington brand for its principal keg bitter offerings from the 1960s onward, first as Worthington E, then as Worthington Best Bitter from the 1980s, and Worthington Creamflow from the 1990s to the present. The Worthington brand was purchased from Bass by the American brewing company Coors in 2002, which following a merger became Molson Coors in 2005.

This is one of the earliest examples of a "Bottle Vehicle". It was built in the 1920s to advertise Worthington Beer in England. The five vehicles were fitted out with boiler plate bodies to resemble the shape of a bottle laid on its side and each one weighed about 2.3 tons. When Bass took over Worthington in 1927, they inherited the five of these Daimler TL30 lorries, built in the early 1920s on a 4,962cc 6-cylinder chassis. The very popular Daimlers were eventually replaced by two large and expensive Seddon diesel lorries with the body facing the other way so that the driver peered through the base of the bottle. They proved unsuccessful and have not survived into preservation.

Description: This model is the Matchbox Yesteryear Y13-3 Crossley (1918) in the guise of a Worthington's Beer Bottle Truck. This model is a limited edition model issued by Chris King Diecast Models, castings produced by Autocraft. It is packed in an original type I straw coloured box with Special Code 3 Reproduction label and a separate label indicating it was produced by Chris King Diecast Models. The model is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity stating it is model #0062 of 2500 and is part of The Norfolk Range produced by Chris King Diecast Models. The certificate indicates it is a Code 3 model based on parts from a Y13 or Y26 model (type E chassis). The box also contains a small photograph of the real vehicle in the red and black livery.

The model has no opening or operating parts. The cab, bonnet, and rear appear to be cast as a single unit, the seats appear to be a new casting or the backs have been taken from another model, the steering wheel looks like a Yesteryear item and the radiator grille is cast into the main body casting. There is no glazing. The bonnet carries the bottle neck and cap (with white shield top), the rear bottle body carries the Worthington's Pale India Ale "label" and, just behind the cab side window the words "Worthington White Shield" in white lettering, and the rear (bottle bottom) has been decorated with a further, smaller, Worthington's Pale India Ale label.

Other Comments/Identifying Features: The model chassis has type "B" front springs (additional strengthening web has been added), and the type "E" baseplate. The base is held in place with glue. The front and rear have white on black background number plates [XU 177].

Scale: 1:47