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Palitoy
Founded in 1919 by A. E. Pallett, the company operated from Leicester and Coalville, being noted for Palitoy dolls. Acquired by General Mills in 1968, and later taking over Chad Valley, the brand became famous for Action Man. On being acquired by Kenner-Parker the name of Palitoy ceased.

Pathfinder
A range of 1/43rd scale cars produced largely during the 1990s. New products, generally in production runs of 500, have been made at a steady rate, with the decision taken to provide just 36 different vehicles in the series.

Paul's Model Art
Paul's Model Art formally came into being in 1990. The founder, Paul Günter Lang, had been involved in the production of 1/43rd scale metal kits since 1970, these being marketed under the name of Danhaussn, a famous model shop based in Aachen.

In 1989 die-cast production was started, using the name of Minichamps. In 1990 production was moved to the Far East.

The name of Minichamps is associated with high quality models, mainly to 1/43rd scale, but both larger and smaller scales have been adopted. At one time much of the product of the range focused on Formula One, but other vehicles, notably cars, are also produced, often of current vehicles.

Paya
Manufacturer of tin plate toys in Spain during the first half of the 20th century. Later the company produced modern examples of its early toys.

Peak Horse
Producers of models of the trams and buses as seen in Hong Kong. The trams have die-casts bodies, with plastic chassis and are 1/76th scale. The buses, such as the Dennis Dragon, are plastic, to 1/87th scale.

Peterbilt
Peterbilt finds its origins in 1915 with Frank and William Fageol building cars, buses and trucks. In 1929 Fageol went into bankruptcy; in 1938 Sterling Motors bought Fageol. In 1939 Sterling/Fageol was bought by T. A. Peterman to build his own trucks, and the first Peterbilt trucks were produced.

Companies that offer American trucks usually include Peterbilt within the range.

M. Persaud Ltd
Producers of souvenir items, this company produces in the Far East a version of the London Transport Routemaster which looks similar to the Budgie Toys version.

Peugeot
Armand Peugeot started by producing a steam-driven car, before being persuaded to use a Daimler engine. Armand's cousin Robert also started car production (under the name of Lion-Peugeot) but in 1910 the two merged.

Pickfords
A noted name in the field of heavy and domestic haulage, models that bear the Pickfords brand name are particularly popular with collectors. While companies such as Corgi Classics offer a wide range of Pickfords vehicles, there are older, more obscure models to be found, such as that by Kemlow.

Police
The Police car is a familiar sight throughout the world. As a result, many toy ranges have at least one Police car. Both Corgi and Dinky Toys included not only British Police cars but also American versions within their ranges. Other overseas Police forces have also been represented.

Polistil
The range known as Polistil in fact began life as Politoys, launched in Italy in 1960. At first the products were plastic, but in 1965 a move was made into 1/43rd scale die-cast. There was even a first step into 1/25th.

A liaison between Politoys and Palitoy saw the brand name change to Polistil. Gradually the move into larger scales, including motorcycles, was consolidated, in which the company obviously saw the future. However, it also produced such ranges as 1/32nd scale racing cars, and the Penny Series of smaller (1/66th) scale toys. Among these ranges are some worthwhile Formula One cars.

There have also been 1/40th scale cars aimed at the lower price end of the market.

Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche was born in 1875: his name is associated with many car manufacturers. He was in his 70s when he produced the first car to bear his name. He was joined in the business by his son and Karl Rabe: a wealth of famous sports cars followed.

Portugal, made in
Until fairly recently manufacture in Portugal was still undertaken, mainly by the Vitesse Group. However, Vitesse production is now undertaken in the Far East, but Troféu still produces in Portugal.

Post Office vehicles
Red Royal Mail vans have long been a familiar sight on the streets of Britain, so it is not surprising that most toy manufacturers have included such a van within their ranges, albeit not always authentic vehicles as used by the Post Office.

Nevertheless, there have been many examples of genuine vehicles being modelled, notably from Dinky Toys.

In more recent times the Corgi Classics range has extensively featured Royal Mail vehicles (including those of ParcelForce) generally offering models of vehicles which have indeed been used by the Post Office.

The interest extends overseas, and again it is possible to find authentic models of vehicles as used by many overseas Post Offices particularly on the Continent, with Germany and Switzerland being particularly well represented.

There have also been some excellent white metal Post Office vehicles produced.

Prameta
A range of five die-cast cars produced in Germany in the 1950s. Clockwork, the toys have a variable speed and steering mechanism. The cars produced, which were from 1/30th to 1/40th scale, were Buick 405 Sedan, Mercedes Benz 500, Jaguar XK120, Opel Kapitän, and a Volkswagen (only available on a limited basis).

Pressomeccanica
A small range of just three vehicles, in 1/40th scale, produced in Italy in the early 1940s. The vehicles chosen were a streamlined racing car, Lancia Ardea van and vehicles based around the O. M. Taurus cab.

Promotionals
Models produced to promote a product or event. Examples include items provided as a result of 'on-pack' offers which usually involve collecting a number of tokens as proof of purchase of the product concerned.

Other promotionals are used to raise funds for an event or charity, or simply to provide publicity.

A number of companies have been prepared to offer special runs of models for promotional purposes, often in fairly limited quantities.

The key players in this market have tended to be Lledo (who used their Models of Days Gone dies for a series called Promotionals - later known as ProMotors), Corgi (who developed a range initially called Cameos and later titled Motoring Memories for such purposes) and Oxford Die-Cast Ltd (whose main output has so far been for the promotional market).

Over the years many other manufacturers have also undertaken similar ventures, but for many low production runs are not financially viable, and so requests are refused.

By their very nature, it is not always easy for collectors to keep up to date with information relating to such promotional models.

 

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