Dugu Miniautotoys
Dugu Miniautotoys was a brand of diecast metal models, mostly in 1:43 scale, made in Varallo Sesia, Vercelli Province, Piedmont, Italy, north of Turin and west of Lake Orto. The company made models for the Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia Automobile Museum in Turin (Museo dell'automobile Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, Torino). They were made from approximately 1961-1975, and perhaps a few years longer (Sweetman 2008).
History and rationale
In the early 1960s, Bartolomeo Chiodo, an auto enthusiast, named his company Dugu from the name of one of the two districts of Varallo Sesia that was Mr. Chiodo's home - 'Dugu' means owl (the other district was 'falcet' - meaning falcon; Sweetman 2008). So, 'Owl Models' was born in 1961 and the logo for the company became a stylized angular owl with large round yellow eyes. It is interesting that this follows somewhat of a tradition of other European toy companies naming named their lines after cute or diminutive animals (e.g. Corgi, Husky, or Budgie).
The first Dugu Miniautotoys were made by Stampopolastica for a year. In 1962, Stampopolastica started making its own models under the Rio name (Sweetman 2008). Chiodo then started making his own models and thus the Dugu line was similar in concept to Rio Models, Brumm, or Minialuxe in concept, making mainly Italian makes from the turn of the twentieth century for the Ruffia Automobile Museum. The models were mostly vehicles featured in the museum and sold in the museum store. 1970s collector Cecil Gibson stated that normal Dugus for retail sale were more complex, while the ones available for the Museum (the 'Museo' series) were less detailed, which seems 'cart before the horse' (Gibson 1971, p. 49). Still, the company was similar to the German Cursor Models or French RAMI by J.M.K. which mainly made models for the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Germany and, respectively, models in the Malartre collection in the Chateau Rochatailles in France.
Marques
Marques reproduced were mainly Italian, like FIAT, Lancia, Itala, SAME and FIAT tractors, Legnano, Brixia, Cisitalia, and Bernardi, but French and German makes like Peugeot, Darracq, DeDion, and Benz were also produced. A couple of Deusenbergs also appeared, with the input and encouragement of American diecast marketer, David Sinclair, who was responsible for introducing many of these more obscure European brands to American soil (Sinclair 1979, p. 387). In the Dugu catalog, the Bernardi was proudly hailed as the first Italian motorized vehicle, made in 1896, and the 1899 FIAT 3.5 hp heralded as the first FIAT produced - ever (Dugu catalog).
As with Rio and Brumm, many models were made in 'top up' or 'top down' versions, though Dugu models, while respected, were generally not seen as quite up to the standards of Rio (Sinclair 1979, p. 387). The 1911 FIAT 4 was listed as giving important service in World War I. The tractor models were produced in 1:15 scale. Apparently, with the urging of the Pennsylvanian model collector and importer David Sinclair, two American models were also made - a Duesenberg town car and a Cord 812 (Sinclair 1979, p. 387).
The Cisitalia 202
An analysis of one nice Dugu offering is the 1946 Cisitalia 202 by Peninfarina - a sleek car that was to completely change sports car design during the 1950s (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, p. 36). Like most Dugus it was offered in 1:43 scale about the year 1974. The shape of the car is perfectly rendered in miniature with some details very strikingly portrayed while others seem overgeneralized. For example, the grille is oversimplified with large chrome bars. Though the hood is a separate piece - it does not open and there is no engine detail. Dugus were more crude and simplistic than colorful Safirs, all metal RAMI or Rio Models which commonly had opening parts. The tubes of the exhaust ports on the front fenders just behind the wheel wells were impressively blacked out and the Peninfarina logo just below them was accurately portrayed in blue and white, if made a bit large in order to catch the eye.
The interior is black plastic, as is the base for the chassis. The interior is not very detailed, but it is not very visible in any case. With the instrument cowell on the right side, the car modeled appears to have been right hand drive. The body paint is shiny, but slightly uneven. The wire wheels are plastic unlike those of the Politoys M series, but they are authentic looking being darkened between the spokes and with 'spinner' caps, though the plastic of their rims is not finished smoothly or evenly.
The car's 'bulbish' headlights are clear plastic which is usually realistic and probably better than the gemstone approach taken by Dinky and Corgi, but though glass-like, on close inspection they protrude, fish-like and make the car look nearsighted. Authentic looking license plates top it all off. It is a very effective model if one doesn't gripe about the details.
Other details were finer than those of models produced by other companies. Sometimes detailed chains were seen in drive systems. Steering wheels were accurate to the real vehicles portrayed and in the case of the 1907 FIAT F2 race car, copper wiring was actually used to show copper tubing to and from the gas tank of the actual vehicle.
Packaging
Dugu packaging is intriguing and apparently done to mimic other 1:43 scale modelers, but also to be appropriate for museum sales. The Cisitalia's box panels alternate in blue and yellow with the name of the museum on the blue sides. The round seal of the museum appears on the end flaps with a representation of the 1899 'first' FIAT. The flat yellow sides of the box show the Cisistalia in profile and the opposite side names the car with bookman-like type font in blue. The overall packaging effect looks more like something from the 1950s than the 1970s.
This box design rather mimics blue and yellow themes seen with other 1:43 diecast producers like Corgi, but lacks much marketing ornamentation or flair - perhaps emphasizing that this model was to be more of an 'official' museum offering. Also the Dugu owl logo only appears in one place on the yellow boxes. Later models were packaged under more clear plastic and the earlier yellow and blue or yellow and green packaging colors gave way to more of a subtle and less toy-like black, white and minimalist yellow paper colors under clear plastic display cases usually with black plastic bases.
Demise
The Dugu company apparently changed its name to Sispla in 1974, struggling on through 1975.
References
Dugu Miniautotoys catalog. No date. Company Catalog. Varallo Sesia, Vercelli, Italy. (from approximately 1970).
Gardiner, Gordon, and O'Neill, Richard. 1996. The Collector's Guide to Toy Cars: An International Survey of Tinplate and Diecast Cars from 1900. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. ISBN 0-517-15977-5.
Gibson, Cecil. 1971. Model Veteran and Vintage Cars. New York: A Studio Book, Viking Press. SBN: 670-48251-X.
Sinclair, David. 1979. Scale 1:43, a Survey for Collectors, in Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 4, Pp. 384-399. Princeton, New Jersey: Automobile Quarterly, Inc. in Association with the Princeton Institute for Historic Research.
Sweetman, Chris. 2008. Dugu Bernardi 3.5 hp, 1896. Hobby Talk forum. See important references on this webpage.