The Adventures Of Tintin – The Tintin Model Cars – 1/24 Scale – The Complete Set Of 71 – First Editions

Author: Hergé & Editions Moulinsart
Price: £6995.00
Manufacturer: Editions Moulinsart
Format: Original pictorial wrappers with car on plinth in perspex case
Condition: New. In excellent condition. Model cars and books are all unopened
Edition: First Edition
Dates: Various

Description:

A brand new set comprising 71 vehicles in total. All unopened. Materials: Painted metal with resin and plastic. Each car comes in a perspex case in a grey outer box with accompanying brochure in French and English. Brand new. Mint condition. Overseas shipping will be substantially more than our website default rate. Postage in the UK remains free of charge. Complete sets from the first edition of these vehicles in their original packaging are exceptionally scarce.

Motor Cars In The Adventures Of Tintin: A Brief Overview

Motor cars play a central visual and narrative role throughout The Adventures of Tintin. Hergé was a passionate observer of real-world vehicles, and his meticulous ligne claire style made him one of the finest illustrators of classic automobiles in twentieth-century comics. Cars in Tintin are never mere background decoration — they are tools of plot, symbols of character, and markers of historical context.

Below is a detailed, British-English overview of motor cars in the Tintin universe, grouped by theme and highlighting important examples.

1. Hergé’s Approach to Cars

Hergé insisted on accuracy and recognisability. He built a reference library of magazines, brochures, and photographs, and sometimes used scale models to ensure correct proportions. Vehicles are drawn with:

• exact body lines,
• realistic shadows,
• factory-accurate wheels and grilles,
• and period-correct liveries.

This precision helps place each adventure firmly in its era — from 1930s tourers to 1950s and 60s saloons.

2. The 1930s: Early Tintin and Classic European Tourers

Ford Model T – Tintin in the Congo

A symbol of colonial-era motoring: simple, rugged, and ubiquitous.

Alfa Romeo P3 – Tintin in the Congo (cartoonish early appearance)

Drawn loosely in early style, but referenced later as a true racing icon.

Luxury European Tourers – The Blue Lotus, The Broken Ear

Large British and American saloons populate Shanghai, the Andes, and European cities, reflecting the status of diplomats, businessmen, and villains.

Rolls-Royce Phantom II – King Ottokar’s Sceptre

Used by Bordurian agents; one of the earliest clear examples of Hergé’s car research.

3. The 1940s and 1950s: The Golden Age of Motoring Detail

The Calculus Affair (1956) – arguably the richest Tintin book for motoring enthusiasts

Hergé’s Cold War thriller includes:

• The Red Bolide – an Alfa- or Lancia-inspired Italian GT used by Bordurian agents: low, fast, aggressive.
• Yellow Chrysler New Yorker – the glamorous American tourer abandoned outside the Nyon hotel.
• Gibbons’s Convertible (La Décapotable de Gibbons) – a suave, expensive British sports car symbolising espionage and duplicity.
• Thomson & Thompson’s Citroën 2CV – perfect comic contrast to the villains’ powerful cars.

The Black Island (1966 edition)

This album includes superbly drawn 1950s and early 60s British vehicles:

• Ford Anglia,
• Hillman Minx,
• Wolseley police saloon,
• MG roadster,
• and many more.

The mid-century British motoring landscape is depicted with extraordinary authenticity.

4. American Cars in Tintin

Hergé loved the flamboyance of American automobiles:

Packard Twelve – King Muskar’s car in King Ottokar’s Sceptre

A grand, stately Packard symbolising monarchy and ceremony.

Dodge Coronet – Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon

Typical of American post-war engineering: rugged and practical.

Boeing, Lockheed, and other American aeroplanes

Though not cars, these reinforce the strong American presence in Hergé’s technological vision.

5. British Icons

Britain’s most distinctive vehicles appear across the albums.

Jaguar Mk X – The Castafiore Emerald

A luxurious, modern saloon that perfectly suits the Shakespearean melodrama of the plot.

Land Rover Series II/IIA – Prisoners of the Sun, Tintin and the Picaros

No comic artist ever drew a Land Rover better. It is rendered square, clean, and indestructible.

Morris, Austin, Rover, Bentley

Common throughout European scenes, reinforcing period realism.

6. French Classics

As a Belgian artist in a Francophone community, Hergé naturally included French marques.

Citroën 2CV – The Calculus Affair

Driven by the bumbling Thomson and Thompson. Its comic role stems from its cheerful slowness and extreme body roll.

Citroën Traction Avant – appears in many albums

A favourite of gangsters, detectives, and intelligence agents across Europe.

Renault and Peugeot utility cars

Seen in rural scenes, factories, and police fleets.

7. Cars as Character Symbols

Tintin

Tintin seldom owns cars but often borrows them. His vehicles are practical, modest, and unpretentious.
Examples:

• Land Rover (expeditions)
• Jeep (Middle East)
• modest European saloons (Belgium)

Tintin is defined by resourcefulness, not wealth.

Captain Haddock

Often ends up with:

• dignified European saloons,
• his own convertible in The Calculus Affair,
• and occasional luxury vehicles that reflect his Marlinspike status.

Villains

Villains almost always drive:

• faster cars,
• flashier cars,
• American cars,
• or overpowered touring machines.

The Red Bolide, the yellow Chrysler, and Rastapopoulos’s limousines all underline menace and mobility.

8. Vehicles as Plot Devices

Cars drive the narrative — literally.

High-speed chases

Hergé choreographs them with cinematic clarity: narrow roads, mountain passes, skidding tyres, precise panel composition.

Symbolic meanings

Cars indicate wealth, power, nationality—or in the Thomson twins’ case, cheerful incompetence.

Spycraft

The 1950s Tintin albums use cars to reinforce Cold War paranoia:
luxury saloons tailing Tintin, strangers pretending to be tourists, mysterious convertibles waiting outside hotels.

9. Hergé’s Precision and Realism

Hergé’s accuracy is extraordinary:

• Correct grille patterns
• Correct badges
• Faithful wheel arches and tread patterns
• Proper visibility through windows
• Accurate dashboards and interiors

His drawing is so precise that many readers identify cars instantly — even when they have only a few panels of exposure.

Conclusion

Motor cars in The Adventures of Tintin are far more than background decoration.
They are:

• symbols of character,
• expressions of geopolitical atmosphere,
• tools of espionage,
• anchors of period realism,
• and masterfully drawn works of industrial art.

From humble Citroëns to stately Packards, from rugged Land Rovers to sinister Italian coupés, Hergé’s cars are an essential part of Tintin’s visual identity and narrative intensity.

Full Chronological Guide To Tintin’s Vehicles

1. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (1930)

The earliest album features stylised, loosely drawn 1920s European cars, including:

• Open-top tourers
• Boxy saloons typical of inter-war Eastern Europe
  Tintin drives and escapes in a number of generic vehicles; none are drawn with the detailed realism of later works.

2. Tintin in the Congo (1931)

Ford Model T

The first truly identifiable Tintin car. It reflects colonial-era motoring and Tintin’s resourcefulness.
Also seen: early trucks, buses, and overland tourers.

3. Tintin in America (1932)

American cars of the 1920s–30s appear, including:

• Cadillac-type limousines
• Large gangster sedans
• Police cars with distinctive running boards
  Hergé’s fascination with American motor culture begins here.

4. Cigars of the Pharaoh (1934)

Vehicles are sparse, but include:

• Desert cars and trucks
• Egyptian colonial tourers
  This album marks Hergé’s first major travel epic, where cars serve primarily as scene-setting tools.

5. The Blue Lotus (1936)

An explosion of automotive accuracy.

• Shanghai taxis
• American limousines in the International Settlement
• Chinese officer cars
• Elegant 1930s tourers
  This is the first album where cars help express political tension and social class.

6. The Broken Ear (1937)

Vehicles include:

• South American military trucks
• Diplomatic limousines
• Plantation utility cars
  Hergé captures the diversity of pre-war Latin American motoring.

7. The Black Island (1938 – revised 1966)

The 1966 redesign includes superb British vehicles:

• Ford Anglia
• Hillman Minx
• MG roadsters
• Wolseley police saloons
• Austin and Morris vans
  It is one of the most richly illustrated motoring albums of the series.

8. King Ottokar’s Sceptre (1939)

Striking pre-war cars:

• Packard Twelve used for King Muskar
• Elegant state limousines
• Touring cars of Bordurian agents
  Cars enhance the political drama and royal ceremony.

9. The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941)

• Moroccan staff cars
• Trucks and desert vehicles
  The shift to wartime austerity is noticeable; vehicles are utilitarian rather than luxurious.

10. The Shooting Star (1942)

• European expedition cars
• State limousines
  Given the wartime context, vehicles are fewer, but drawn with greater precision.

11. The Secret of the Unicorn (1943)

• Belgian police cars
• City saloons
  Cars play a modest role; the real “vehicles” are ships and historical craft.

12. Red Rackham’s Treasure (1944)

Minimal car usage; focus shifts to maritime and aerial transport.

13. The Seven Crystal Balls (1948)

Post-war Belgium sees:

• Leaf-sprung saloons
• Touring cars in Marlinspike
  Cars symbolise the renewed prosperity of late 1940s Europe.

14. Prisoners of the Sun (1949)

Most notable vehicle:

Land Rover (early Series I)

Used in Andean and jungle scenes — one of Hergé’s most accurate drawings of an early 4×4.

Also includes:

• Military trucks
• Andean lorries

15. Land of Black Gold (1950 / revised 1971)

A showcase of mid-20th-century motoring:

• Jeeps
• British Army vehicles
• Oilfield Land Rovers
• Middle Eastern staff cars
  The 1971 revised version improves accuracy dramatically.

16. Destination Moon (1953)

Cars supporting the Syldavian scientific base:

• Dodge Coronet
• Mid-century American sedans
• Utility trucks

17. Explorers on the Moon (1954)

Minimal ground vehicles (focus on spaceflight), but the American sedans and base trucks continue.

18. The Calculus Affair (1956)

The greatest Tintin album for car enthusiasts.

Key vehicles:

• The Red Bolide (Italian GT inspired by Alfa Romeo or Lancia)
• Citroën 2CV (Thomson & Thompson)
• Yellow Chrysler New Yorker
• Gibbons’s convertible (stylish British sports car)
• Swiss police cars
• Luxury Bordurian limousines

Vehicles carry the Cold War espionage tone.

19. The Red Sea Sharks (1958)

Features:

• Land Rovers
• Arabian state limousines
• Jeep patrols
• American post-war saloons
  Cars support themes of war, trafficking, and political duplicity.

20. Tintin in Tibet (1960)

Very few cars:

• Airport taxis
• Utility trucks
  This is a story of mountains, friendship, and spiritual purity, not machinery.

21. The Castafiore Emerald (1963)

A more domestic setting:

• Jaguar Mk X (the standout car of the album)
• TV station vans
• Marlinspike service vehicles

22. Flight 714 (1968)

• Airport limousines
• Luxury Indonesian and Australian cars
  The book focuses more on aircraft than land vehicles.

23. Tintin and the Picaros (1976)

A return to rugged transport:

• Land Rover Series II / IIA (Picaros camp)
• Military trucks
• South American staff cars
  Vehicles highlight the gritty, political realism of Tintin’s final adventure.

Summary Timeline

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Cataloguer: Daniel Hornsey

Daniel Hornsey has specialised in fine and rare books, ephemera, and collectors’ editions for over thirty years. As a long-standing member of the antiquarian book trade, he has advised private collectors, curated catalogues, and sourced works for leading dealers, libraries and institutions across the world.

His fascination with Hergé’s work — especially ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ — began in childhood. Daniel recalls reading Tintin in original European editions and quickly recognising that these were not merely children’s books, but finely illustrated narratives crafted with artistic depth and wit.

As noted by the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve, Hergé’s ‘ligne claire’ style has influenced generations of European comic artists and his original drawings and paintings command very high prices with his painting of ‘The Blue Lotus’ jar fetching £2.8m at auction in 2021.

By presenting these works through Hornseys’, he hopes to contribute to the continued appreciation of one of the 20th century’s most influential illustrators, helping new generations discover the artistry and legacy of Hergé.

Hornseys’ exhibit regularly at book and map fairs in London and throughout the UK and as long-established specialists in fine books, maps, prints and ephemera, Hornseys maintains full professional membership of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association (PBFA). The PBFA is one of the most respected trade bodies in the rare and antiquarian book world, with strict standards of expertise, authenticity and ethical trading. Our verified member listing can be viewed here: Hornseys – PBFA Member Profile.