Marcel van Cleemput (2 May 1926 – 15 March 2013) often known as Mr. Corgi was a French toy designer and author who worked mainly in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He won the Toy of the Year award in 1965.

Early life

In 1935, aged 9, he journeyed to England with his father, speaking only two words of English "yes" and "

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

. " He lived with his father in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and attended

Huddersfield Technical College Kirklees College is a further education college with two main centres in the towns of Dewsbury and Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. History The college was formed on 1 August 2008 after the Dewsbury College Dissolution order approved ...

from 1940, where he worked on aircraft design. In 1947, he served in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

, and attended officer training.

Career

In 1954 he joined

Mettoy Mettoy (an abbreviation of "Metal Toy") was a British manufacturing company founded in 1933 by German émigré Philip Ullmann, who was later joined by South African-born German Arthur Katz who had previously worked for Ullmann at his toy company T ...

and designed the first

Corgi The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name ''corgi'' is derived from the Welsh words and (which is mutated to ), mean ...

model, of a

Ford Consul The Ford Consul is a car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1951 until 1962. The name was later revived for a model produced by Ford in both the UK and in Germany from 1972 until 1975. Between 1951 and 1962, the Consul was the four-cyl ...

. In 1956, he wowed the crowds at the

British Industries Fair The British Industries Fair was an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. The large complex of buildings was built in 1920 and was situated between Castle Bromwich Aerodrome and the railway line. For two weeks every year it was the most visite ...

and continued to innovate technically. Notable models of his include the "Chitty Chitty Bang car, the 1966 Barris TV Batmobile and the Aston Martin DB5". He was with Corgi until it closed in 1984. His collection of prototypes and standard models was featured in two books that he published as well as for a while in a museum open to the public.

Sources

2013 deaths People from Lille 1926 births French Army soldiers French emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century British inventors 20th-century French inventors Toy designers {{UK-engineer-stub