Send an answer to a topic: Matchbox Cars in the USA & Other Left-Hand Drive countries
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Matchbox and Lesney toy cars were probably my favourites. Majorette and Siku were also quality brands.
On downhill races Mattel or Majorette cars usully won. In school we had races and for a short while I was quite succesful with a Majorette Peugeot 405 T16 Dakar racer untill I made a bad trade. The winner was he who got the car to the longest distance on downhill without assisting it in any way.
At home my favourite hobby was to smash cars
I didn't destroy anything valuable but quite a lot of cheaper ones. There were few methods which I used. One is to put the car on workbench and slowly turn the screw untill you have a cool-looking 'crashed' car. Or put the car in vertical position on a rock and drop another rock against it. Maybe the funniest way was to stuff the car with leaves and put a driver inside (if there is room) and then ignite it and drop it from a cliff 
On downhill races Mattel or Majorette cars usully won. In school we had races and for a short while I was quite succesful with a Majorette Peugeot 405 T16 Dakar racer untill I made a bad trade. The winner was he who got the car to the longest distance on downhill without assisting it in any way.
At home my favourite hobby was to smash cars
I didn't destroy anything valuable but quite a lot of cheaper ones. There were few methods which I used. One is to put the car on workbench and slowly turn the screw untill you have a cool-looking 'crashed' car. Or put the car in vertical position on a rock and drop another rock against it. Maybe the funniest way was to stuff the car with leaves and put a driver inside (if there is room) and then ignite it and drop it from a cliff Here are some of the vehicles that have puzzled me since I saw them when I was a kid:
http://www.matchbox1-75.com/images/1971/1971_22.jpg
Now, is there any chance that any of these vehicles are based on real models?
http://www.matchbox1-75.com/images/1971/1971_22.jpg
Now, is there any chance that any of these vehicles are based on real models?
I believe all the vehicles you listed are 'Fantasy' (dreamed up by the Matchbox designers to compete with some of the weird custom cars being produced by Hot wheels) Except for (maybe?) the Freeman Inter-city commuter (from the name, it doesn't appear to be a fictious vehicle) my guess would be it was probably a real design/prototype or something like the competition winning 'Vauxhall Guildsman'.
@marioman: I still have these two, too. 
And the Freeway Gas Tanker.
The fact, that many of the Matchbox-toys were phantasy-cars, made me disliking them, also the not correct scale. I've preferred authentic cars.
Am I right, that Matchbx started with these phantasy-toys around 1970? I remember the older ones, which my uncle (born in 1955) had owned. Often the scale was not correct, but the were based on real cars, mainly British ones.
And the Freeway Gas Tanker.The fact, that many of the Matchbox-toys were phantasy-cars, made me disliking them, also the not correct scale. I've preferred authentic cars.
Am I right, that Matchbx started with these phantasy-toys around 1970? I remember the older ones, which my uncle (born in 1955) had owned. Often the scale was not correct, but the were based on real cars, mainly British ones.
Very strange in the eyes of collector's is the fact, that in some countries have been toy-cars produced and sold, which were never in reality on that countries roads.
So in the Soviet Union there was made a plenty of 1:43 NSU RO 80, a Simca Coupé, too. Why?
A few days ago, I've bought that stuff at eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=20025- 0808673
The toy-car, the Opel Manta, wasn't interesting for me, it even doesn't belong the to box. The only interesting thing for me was the flyer, because it's from the Brazilian company REI.
In 1977/78, the old, traditional German company Schuco was going into bankrupcy (the actual company "Schuco" is just the re-animated name). The tools of the actual "model-range" were sold to Brazil. For a few years they continued the production.
The fascinating thing of the REI-toys is, that the majority of the models, they made and have sold (mainly only in Southern and Northern America, USA, too, as I know), were never running on Brazilian or other American streets! Strange!
The small flyer says, that here are shown 12 of 36 models, they are producing. I don't know Portuguese, but this I could unterstand.
Shown are here: Mercedes 250 CE, Audi 100 LS, VW K 70, Opel Ascona Voyage, BMW 2800, BMW 2002 tii touring, Mercedes 350 SL, Ford Capri II, Mercedes C 111, Audi 100 Coupe`S, Ford Granada (MKII) and VW Porsche 914. In the original REI-box was originally an Opel Manta B GTE.
Nearly all of these toys must be unknown for Brazilian, Argentinian, Mexican or US-kids!
REI-toys were never sold in Germany. I even didn't know, that they were existing. I've heard about them at first in the 90ies, when my K 70-friends were very keen on the REI-K 70.
For a time, this toy was something like that for us:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quastenflosser
"Noone has seen it, but someone has heard, that it shall existing"
Later, since the Internet and Ebay have come, it was getting better. So some of these toys were coming to the collections. But still REI-toys are more expensive than the original Schuco's.
They even are in worse quality. You clearly can see, that the old Schuco-tools were worn out more and more.
So in the Soviet Union there was made a plenty of 1:43 NSU RO 80, a Simca Coupé, too. Why?
A few days ago, I've bought that stuff at eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=20025- 0808673
The toy-car, the Opel Manta, wasn't interesting for me, it even doesn't belong the to box. The only interesting thing for me was the flyer, because it's from the Brazilian company REI.
In 1977/78, the old, traditional German company Schuco was going into bankrupcy (the actual company "Schuco" is just the re-animated name). The tools of the actual "model-range" were sold to Brazil. For a few years they continued the production.
The fascinating thing of the REI-toys is, that the majority of the models, they made and have sold (mainly only in Southern and Northern America, USA, too, as I know), were never running on Brazilian or other American streets! Strange!
The small flyer says, that here are shown 12 of 36 models, they are producing. I don't know Portuguese, but this I could unterstand.
Shown are here: Mercedes 250 CE, Audi 100 LS, VW K 70, Opel Ascona Voyage, BMW 2800, BMW 2002 tii touring, Mercedes 350 SL, Ford Capri II, Mercedes C 111, Audi 100 Coupe`S, Ford Granada (MKII) and VW Porsche 914. In the original REI-box was originally an Opel Manta B GTE.
Nearly all of these toys must be unknown for Brazilian, Argentinian, Mexican or US-kids!
REI-toys were never sold in Germany. I even didn't know, that they were existing. I've heard about them at first in the 90ies, when my K 70-friends were very keen on the REI-K 70.
For a time, this toy was something like that for us:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quastenflosser
"Noone has seen it, but someone has heard, that it shall existing"
Later, since the Internet and Ebay have come, it was getting better. So some of these toys were coming to the collections. But still REI-toys are more expensive than the original Schuco's.
They even are in worse quality. You clearly can see, that the old Schuco-tools were worn out more and more.
I've seen, that the range of available toy-cars was different in different countries. So when I look at oldtimer-markets or toy-collector-events at the stuff, toy-collector's or -dealers from Holland or Sweden for example, are offering, it's often different than the toys from local dealers.
Nowadays the differences aren't that big any more. Here you can find all these China-made stuff, which you can find everywhere else, too.
But in the past, so ca.until the end of the 80ies, it was different. Yes, Matchbox was well known, but they have sold just the toys, as they've produced. No special models for other countries. Corgi was similar, too.
A bit strange for German kids of the 60ies and early 70ies because the most models, they never have seen in reality on the streets.
I still have the 1:43(?) Corgi-Police-Ford Cortina GXL. I remember, that, when I was small, I was wondering about that strange Ford Taunus. I've recognized the car as Taunus, but the little different shape has irritated me indeed
My toy-cars from the 70ies were (still are, the most of them have survived) mainly from SIKU and Majorette, Matchbox, too. I also have some single cars from Corgi, Norev, Schuco, Efsi, etc. Except the ca.400 WIKING, which I've collected in the 80ies.
A propos special toy-versions for different countries: were there some companies, which realy have made them? I remember just WIKING, which, for example, had sold in Denmark and Switzerland the local post-cars and -buses.
At my childhood in the 70ies, good toy-shops had WIKING, MÄRKLIN, SCHUCO, also SIKU and Matchbox for sale (and some minor popular brands, too). SIKU and Matchbox were available in supermarkets, too. Sometimes supermarkets had Majorette, too. Majorette often you could find at gas-stations either.
Norev was harder to find, more at dealers on open markets, not in shops. From Norev I own a Citroen Dyane and a Chrysler 180.
I was interested in Majorette, too, so I was always happy, when we went on vacations to Holland - there the Majorette-variety was bigger.
A propos Holland: as a special holiday-souvenir I've bought in 1983 in Middelburg the ANWB-wegenwacht-Renault 4 from Bburago. I thought, that this was something very special, which my friends will never get
Nowadays the differences aren't that big any more. Here you can find all these China-made stuff, which you can find everywhere else, too.
But in the past, so ca.until the end of the 80ies, it was different. Yes, Matchbox was well known, but they have sold just the toys, as they've produced. No special models for other countries. Corgi was similar, too.
A bit strange for German kids of the 60ies and early 70ies because the most models, they never have seen in reality on the streets.
I still have the 1:43(?) Corgi-Police-Ford Cortina GXL. I remember, that, when I was small, I was wondering about that strange Ford Taunus. I've recognized the car as Taunus, but the little different shape has irritated me indeed
My toy-cars from the 70ies were (still are, the most of them have survived) mainly from SIKU and Majorette, Matchbox, too. I also have some single cars from Corgi, Norev, Schuco, Efsi, etc. Except the ca.400 WIKING, which I've collected in the 80ies.
A propos special toy-versions for different countries: were there some companies, which realy have made them? I remember just WIKING, which, for example, had sold in Denmark and Switzerland the local post-cars and -buses.
At my childhood in the 70ies, good toy-shops had WIKING, MÄRKLIN, SCHUCO, also SIKU and Matchbox for sale (and some minor popular brands, too). SIKU and Matchbox were available in supermarkets, too. Sometimes supermarkets had Majorette, too. Majorette often you could find at gas-stations either.
Norev was harder to find, more at dealers on open markets, not in shops. From Norev I own a Citroen Dyane and a Chrysler 180.
I was interested in Majorette, too, so I was always happy, when we went on vacations to Holland - there the Majorette-variety was bigger.
A propos Holland: as a special holiday-souvenir I've bought in 1983 in Middelburg the ANWB-wegenwacht-Renault 4 from Bburago. I thought, that this was something very special, which my friends will never get