Maker record
River Series
River Series was a British range of die-cast toys made by Jordan & Lewden Ltd. Its products included model cars, trucks, military vehicles and railway locomotives. The cars, based on real vehicles from 1953 and 1954, were about 1:40 scale and initially came with friction motors. Trucks used interchangeable bodies, with clockwork motors on some versions; the range also included military sets and locomotives cast in two halves to retain detail with simple dies. In the early 1960s, many River Series dies were sold to the Israeli maker Gamda.
- Locations
- Homerton, London, England
The story of River Series
River Series was made by Jordan & Lewden Ltd., a London toy manufacturer whose incorporation is dated to around 1950. The identification was confirmed by Lewden Metal Products Ltd. after a collector traced the initials on a River Series clockwork key to Jordan & Lewden. River Series is sometimes attributed to Die Casting Machine Tools Ltd., but that attribution is incorrect; the shared association with the name River Works led to the confusion.
The car range included six models based on vehicles from 1953 and 1954: the Austin A40 Somerset, Ford Prefect 100E, Standard Vanguard saloon and estate, Daimler Conquest, and Buick coupe. They were about 1:40 scale and initially used friction motors. Later versions included non-motorised cars. The wider range comprised forward-control trucks with interchangeable bodies, articulated trucks and trailers, military vehicles and sets, and railway locomotives. Some truck versions used clockwork motors; the locomotives were cast in two halves.
In the late 1950s, Lincoln Industries made at least three River Series cars in New Zealand. Many of the British dies were sold to Israel in the early 1960s and used by Gamda, which issued revised versions of several cars and trucks. The River Series range ended with the transfer of those dies.