Found this oddball, Tootsietoy-like casting, in roughly 1/87 scale, at my favorite diecast car dealer, More of Everything Racing Collectibles, and was pleasantly surprised to see the logo of one-time major player in the low-priced toy vehicle market Zee Toys, also known as Zylmex, cast into the body.
Zylmex had its beginnings in Hong Kong in the early 1970s, and started out making fairly crude but likable small-scale diecast cars patterned after major brands like Matchbox, Corgi, Tomica and Siku. Their castings were highly popular into the 1980s, with inexpensive and fairly crude but well-made "Dynawheels" selling at 3 for almost the same price as a single Hot Wheels or Matchbox casting, but in the 1990s their popularity waned and the company's toolings were sold off. The Zylmex name and logo are no longer trademarked, but an unknown company (presumably successor company Redbox/Motormax) still holds the rights to the Zee Toys name and logos.
A photo of a full set of Zylmex Mini Wild Cars from the 1980s can be seen below showing a brighter-colored version of this casting. Could this have been a preproduction version of the Mini Wild Cars TR3A?
Photo (c) ambassador84 on Flickr.
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