A classic toy car has sold on eBay for almost £1,000 after inspiring a mini bidding war from 29 collectors.

The Dinky Toy Oldsmobile fetched £992 when it sold on the online auction site earlier this week.

The hefty price tag was despite “small paint chips and ingrained dirt” as the toy was still adjudged to be in “good condition”.

The seller revealed the car had originally belonged to their grandfather, who collected the Dinky Toys while in the UK, working in South Africa as a railway engineer, and while in Canada.

Hereford Times:

And they admitted that the piece could do with some “careful cleaning”.

They said: “My late Grandfathers collection of Dinky Toys purchased from UK, South Africa (where he was a railway engineer) and from Canada.

“Many were used on his model train layout, and these old Dinky's have been stored away in my parents loft since the 1970's.

“Dinky Lincoln Zephyr Coupe - No 39CU

“US/Canada export issue. Cream (light beige) colour body with black wings. Black ridged hubs. Black rubber tyres which are hard with some cracking but in good shape with no flat spots. Straight baseplate with light tarnishing, open at rear. Light rust on axles.

“Has some paint chips and ingrained dirt, as can be seen in the photographs.

“Would benefit from some careful cleaning.

“A nice example of this scarce version which would display well.”

What are Dinky Toys?

Mattel explains: “Dinky is an historic brand die-cast cars that originated in England in 1934 when it was owned by the Meccano toy company.

“Mattel issued the Matchbox / Dinky collection of larger, beautifully crafted collector editions of vintage cars like the Model-T European classics.”

Auctioneers Warwick & Warwick added: "Pre-war models are worth a lot of money today.

"This is because they tended to suffer from cracking, discolouration and quality issues, making them very rare. Post-war Dinky toys are still valuable but it depends on their condition and rarity."