Corgi Rockets ad from 1971

Corgi Toys first appeared in July 1956, manufactured by Mettoy Playcraft Ltd. in Swansea, Wales, as direct competition to Meccano’s Dinky Toys model vehicles, which had dominated the British toy car market for many years.

The Mettoy company was founded by German emigree Philip Ullmann in 1933 who set up a business in Stimpson Avenue, Northampton, England. Ullmann had twenty one years experience running his own toy company called Tipp in Germany, and he was soon joined by South African born German, Arthur Katz who had worked for him there.

Info gleaned from Wikipedia