The split rear window on the Volkswagen Beetle was replaced with an oval window in March of 1953 and was then later replaced with a “big” window in the 1958 model year of the Volkswagen Sedan. Although the Oval Window Volkswagen Sedan was only produced for five years, some toy manufacturers wanted to keep their toy Volkswagen product line up to date and produced the new style Oval Window VW in miniature form as well. Can you imagine playing with a “new from the toy store” Split Window VW plastic toy in 1957 when all your friends were into the Oval Window stuff? At least you could break out the bar in the Split Window, instant update, and be cool on the playground. Well, a toy manufacturer from Spain was perhaps aware of the above-mentioned situation and actually tooled up to produce a genuine Oval Window Volkswagen toy in miniature. The Manufacturer was named COMANDO and the VW toy was listed as JUGUETE No. 402 COMANDO. Not sure of the COMANDO name is this was not a wartime vehicle.
The COMANDO Oval VW Sedan had a plastic body produced from the plastic injection mold process and when looking closely at the body, there are some imperfections as if the mold did not receive enough molten plastic injection. The body has cut out windows and the edges are a little rough with some minor flashing. The translucent plastic window insert is attached to the inside of the body with melted tabs. The windshield has molded on the driver's side what appears to be a worn out wiper blade that has left groves in the windshield. The body mold includes the front hood indentations, hood trim, handle and VW emblem. There are seam lines for the doors and rain gutters. The rear section has the bumble bee wing rear deck lid and license plate frame. The air louvers under the rear Oval Window (thirteen to be exact) are a little on the crude side but definitely adds to the detailing of the body. There are raised rectangle taillights spray painted red and the rear license plate assembly is painted silver with a license plate registration of I-402. The front fenders have round clear plastic headlights and the VW hood emblem has a dab of silver paint. The front and rear bumpers are molded in the body with small bumper guards and are also painted silver.
The chassis is stamped out of tin plate and has an indentation suggesting a transmission, drive shaft and differential. The silver painted chassis is equipped with a friction motor mounted in the front to match the drive train stamped in the chassis. It is obvious the designer of this toy car had never been the owner of or had ever seen a real size Volkswagen Sedan. This is also deceiving for a child growing up playing with this toy thinking a real Volkswagen has the friction motor mounted under the front hood! Now, you have all heard the saying that a Volkswagen seems to run forever on a tank of gasoline. Well, the mechanical engineer of this toy must have heard that saying because the friction motor mounted on the chassis has a gigantic flywheel with metal cut gears. The heavy 1 ¾ inch round flywheel is made up of two steel disks stamped together in the center and when this motor is revved up, it seems to run forever (hmmm - sounds familiar). I have read in VW magazines where they are welding the fan blades in the air turbine of the motor to prevent disintegration and it may not be a bad idea to have the two disks of the round flywheel welded as well. I can only imagine the friction motor flywheel revving up to 1000 RPMs and coming loose and flying through the plastic body. The unpainted diecast rims with a VW in the casting have real rubber tires and are mounted to metal axles attached to the chassis. The front wheels have no steering. The front of the chassis is bent up to form the license plate with the registration number of I-403. The chassis is attached to the body with a metal screw and plastic rivets melted over.
The overall size of this COMANDO VW toy is 1/27 scale, 6 inches or 150 mm in length. The plastic body and diecast wheels becomes brittle over the years so the COMANDO should be handled with care and do not over rev the friction motor. The body is generally seen is an ivory color although it is available in red, blue or green and there is also a taxi version painted black and yellow. The shipping carton is very colorful and has three scenes depicting the Volkswagen Oval Window Sedan. On the carton itself, there are two holes on one side so you can see the color of the toy VW without opening the carton. The shipping carton is stamped COMANDO - JUGUETE NO 402 and the toy is easily identified with “COMANDO” stamped in the chassis.
