Tintin 1/24 Model Car 29933 – La Dépanneuse Simoun – Tintin au Pays de l’Or Noir

Author: Hergé & Editions Moulinsart
Manufacturer: Editions Moulinsart
Format: 1/24 scale model vehicle on display plinth with illustrated diorama and clear perspex case
Condition: Fine. Ex-display model in fine condition. Complete with original grey and white outer box and explanatory booklet. The outer box has minor shelf-wear.

Description:

From the official Les Voitures de Tintin collection, this substantial 1/24 scale model of La Dépanneuse Simoun, reference 29933, recreates the vividly coloured breakdown truck driven by Thomson and Thompson in Hergé’s Tintin au pays de l’or noir (Land of Black Gold).

The bright red recovery truck bears the distinctive black “Simoun” lettering and number 53 to the cab door, with its rear-mounted crane and towing apparatus carefully reproduced. One of the detectives is shown driving, while the vehicle is presented on its original display plinth beneath a clear perspex case against a monochrome illustrated background derived from Hergé’s artwork.

Produced by Editions Moulinsart as number 33 in the 1/24 scale vehicle collection, the model was issued in 2020. The official Tintin boutique records the model as measuring approximately 20 cm long, 8 cm wide and 10 cm high, and confirms that it was supplied in a decorated crystal display case with an illustrated explanatory booklet in French and English. It was produced as a collectors’ model rather than a children’s toy and the edition was not individually numbered.

This example has previously been displayed but remains in fine condition. It retains its original clear presentation case, grey and white outer cardboard box and explanatory booklet. The outer box shows minor shelf-wear, but remains sound and complete.

Reference: 29933
Scale: 1/24
Date: 2020
Model: La Dépanneuse Simoun
Album: Tintin au pays de l’or noir
Vehicle: Simoun breakdown truck
Material: Resin and metal
Dimensions: Approximately 20 x 8 x 10 cm
Presentation: Display plinth with illustrated diorama and clear perspex case
Packaging: Original grey and white outer box, with minor shelf-wear
Documentation: Original illustrated explanatory booklet in French and English
Condition: Fine; ex-display
EAN: 2993300000000

La Dépanneuse Simoun: A Brief Account

The Simoun breakdown truck appears near the beginning of Tintin au pays de l’or noir and is central to one of the album’s funniest early episodes.

A mysterious wave of engine explosions has begun to affect vehicles, creating anxiety over the reliability of petrol supplies. Thomson and Thompson themselves become victims when the engine of their old Citroën explodes. Their suspicions fall, characteristically enough, upon the Simoun breakdown company, whom they imagine might somehow be causing the explosions in order to increase demand for their recovery service.

The official Tintin account confirms that the detectives subsequently obtain employment with the SIMOUN breakdown company as part of their investigation. Predictably, their attempt at undercover detective work is not an unqualified success: Hergé makes particular comic use of their unfamiliarity with the recovery vehicle, and the pair manage to damage the breakdown truck they are supposed to be operating.

The scene is an excellent example of Hergé’s treatment of Thomson and Thompson. The pair approach even the most implausible theory with complete seriousness, their formal manner and misplaced certainty heightening the comedy. Their incompetence with the Simoun truck transforms an otherwise utilitarian commercial vehicle into one of the more memorable machines encountered during the opening stages of the story.

The model reproduces the vehicle particularly effectively. The strongly coloured red body contrasts with the black Simoun script, while the exposed towing crane, cable and rear equipment give the model greater mechanical interest than a conventional passenger car.

The Simoun Breakdown Truck

The vehicle depicted by Hergé is generally identified by collectors as being based upon a 1930s Chevrolet pick-up adapted as a recovery truck, with earlier licensed Tintin models identifying the prototype as a Chevrolet pick-up of around 1936.

Such light commercial vehicles were readily adaptable for breakdown and recovery work. A crane and towing equipment could be mounted behind the cab while retaining a relatively compact chassis, making them well suited to urban garages and roadside recovery businesses.

Hergé’s depiction combines recognisable engineering with graphic simplicity. The truck is immediately readable as a working recovery vehicle, yet its shape remains perfectly suited to the clean outlines of the ligne claire technique.

This attention to vehicles forms an important part of the visual realism of The Adventures of Tintin. Cars, lorries, motorcycles, aircraft and ships rarely function merely as scenery. They are frequently incorporated directly into the action and often become memorable objects in their own right.

At 1/24 scale, the Moulinsart model allows details such as the crane, towing cable, cab interior, wheel configuration and Simoun signwriting to be reproduced with considerably greater presence than in the smaller-scale Tintin vehicle series.

Tintin au Pays de l’Or Noir: A Brief Account

Tintin au pays de l’or noir occupies a particularly interesting position within the history of The Adventures of Tintin. Hergé began the adventure before the Second World War, but its serial publication was abruptly interrupted by the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940.

Hergé returned to the story after the war. Serialisation resumed in Le Journal de Tintin, and the completed album was published in 1950. The changing political landscape later prompted Hergé to revise portions of the story again, producing a modified version in 1971. The official Tintin site confirms this unusually complicated publication history.

The story opens with a mysterious epidemic of engine explosions. Petrol appears to have been deliberately contaminated, threatening transport systems at a moment of mounting international tension. Tintin’s investigation eventually takes him to the Middle East and the fictional state of Khemed, where petroleum interests, political intrigue and the activities of Dr Müller converge.

Automobiles and mechanical failures are therefore integral to the plot from its very opening pages. The breakdown truck is not simply background decoration but forms part of Hergé’s comic exploration of the crisis. The detectives’ misguided investigation of Simoun provides a characteristically absurd counterpoint to the increasingly serious international conspiracy that Tintin uncovers.

Hergé, Vehicles and Ligne Claire

Hergé’s mechanical subjects were an important component of the visual credibility of Tintin’s world. He and his studio assembled substantial photographic and printed reference material, allowing vehicles to be represented with convincing proportions and identifiable period detail.

That documentary approach sits at the heart of ligne claire. Characters may be simplified and expressive, but the objects surrounding them are frequently grounded in carefully observed reality. A truck, aeroplane or motor car therefore carries genuine visual authority while remaining completely integrated within Hergé’s graphic language.

The Moulinsart 1/24 series translates that relationship between character, machinery and setting into three dimensions. The printed backdrop recreates the visual environment of the comic strip, while the comparatively large scale gives the vehicle considerable display presence.

The official Moulinsart issue comprises the vehicle on its plinth, decorated clear case and illustrated booklet. The booklet includes contextual information concerning the vehicle and its appearance within the Tintin adventure, together with material relating to the creation of the model.

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Our Tintin collection is personally curated by Daniel Hornsey, whose interest in Hergé and The Adventures of Tintin extends back to childhood. Individual models are examined for condition, correct accessories, packaging and documentation before being offered for sale.

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Cataloguer: Daniel Hornsey

Daniel Hornsey has specialised in fine and rare books, maps, ephemera, artworks and collectors’ items for over thirty years. Hornseys was established in 1976 and, in its fiftieth year, continues to research and catalogue every item individually from its gallery and bookshop in Ripon, North Yorkshire.