1926 Morris Cowley Bullnose (Y8):

This is Y8, the Morris Cowley Bullnose. This is a fairly simple casting, and the real car doesn’t have headlights, so they’re not missing! Note the spare tire, with fully-spoked wheel, and brass box on the running board.

This is a very early issue of the Morris Cowley Bullnose, numbered Y8 in the MoYY numbering system. The Bullnose earned its name from the odd shape of the engine cowling and radiator.  A common feature of early MoYYs was to provide some useful historical information on the subject right on the box. This is similar to the writeups one finds on the sides of model boxes, rather than what one expects on a toy car. This further distinguishes the MoYY line as being an adult collectible, although it would be very informative for a younger owner as well!

Learn all about what’s in the box! Note that there’s even a scale given! Perfect for modellers like us!

Interestingly, most MoYYs do not have working features. However, the Bullnose has a working rumble seat, or as the British call it, a Dickie Seat. On the Bullnose, the dickie seat opens and closes on fine hinge pins, something sure to be snapped off easily by a hamfisted younger user. In keeping with the detail-centricity of the line, both the seat cushion and the back of the cover are “padded”. The padding on the rumble seat cover is done in metal and is not painted to match the seat cushion, but it is there.

Here you can see the detail of the padding on the Bullnose’s dickie seat. Note how small and fragile the hinges are; bad plan for rugged play!

Equally interesting is the fact that the Bullnose does NOT have an interior. This is odd, since most MoYYs did, but that’s how you can tell it was an early one. Let’s face it, Dinky Toys didn’t have interiors either!

From this angle, you can clearly see that there’s no interior in the Bullnose. Note, too, how the left side is devoid of “extras” while the right has them all. That’s just how it was with old cars!

The early boxes for the MoYYs were quite similar to the mainline Matchbox cars of the time. They were the traditional “matchbox” shape and printed in blue and yellow,  with a simple black and white illustration on the front. Notice that nowhere does it say that the Model of Yesteryear line is actually part of the Matchbox line. At this point, Lesney were trying to keep things “separate but together”, further indicating the more adult nature of the MoYY series.

Here is the Morris Cowley Bullnose on its box. Note the simplicity of the illustration, and compare that to those of later MoYY cars on the other pages!