Matchbox cars of the mid 1960’s to the early 1970’s were among the most cherished of all the toys I had as a child. The cars themselves were relatively cheap to buy during this time with individual cars costing from 7d (3p) to 2/- (10p) which was on par with the cost of a British weekly comic and a chocolate bar and was within the spending power of your average child’s pocket money even if you had to save up to buy the latest car over a few weeks. I have long forgotten what the first Matchbox car was that I purchased but it would have almost certainly have been procured from the local Woolworths store where I used to live. The entire process of buying a Matchbox car at this time was a visual delight with cars stacked high in their yellow boxes with the tantalising picture of the car inside beautifully rendered on the front of each box. In most shops along with the neatly stacked row of yellow boxes was a separate glass display case that would showcase a selection of Matchbox cars out of their boxes with the vehicles doors fully opened, bonnets ajar showing the car engine detail and any other accessories clearly on show.
My favourite Matchbox cars from this time were a red E- type Jaguar (above) a white Mustang Fastback that had a small plastic lever at the side of the car from which you could position the front wheels, a red Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and a white Ford GT 40 (all pictured below) . Owning a hard to find Matchbox car like the Ford GT 40 in the 1960’s carried with it a certain gravitas and I remember a school pal offering me a stack of 12 US comics and an Action Man for my car, which I declined.
However it was in 1969 that the greatest Matchbox accessory of them all appeared, the Matchbox Motorway set which allowed you to turn all your Matchbox cars into slot cars. The Motorway operated by means of a spring that ran under the entire length of the track and silver foil stickers were provided which you applied to the bottom of any of your Matchbox cars with a plastic pin that would attach to the spring which pulled the cars around the figure of “8” track. As a motorway the cars off course went in different direction but you could also set it up like a racetrack with both lanes going in the same direction, just like with mini Scalextric. To this very day I can still vividly remember the shock and excitement at receiving a Matchbox Motorway set which was a relatively expensive purchase in 1969, as my “big” Christmas present.
Like most things from childhood my interest in Matchbox cars eventually faded from my life to be replaced by the joy, pain and expense of owning a real car. However the memories those little diecast models gave to me as a child are still as strong as ever and if I close my eyes I can still see those iconic yellow boxes neatly stacked in Woolworths and my cars whizzing around my Matchbox Motorway set on Christmas day over 50 years ago.
I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he...
Following on from my last post featuring some of my favourite Marvel comic book covers from 1973, I thought I would show some of DC's ...
Nearly a half-century on I still consider 1973 to be the year that cemented my destiny in becoming a lifetime comic book fan. It was a yea...
I've got a nice wee collection of Matchbox toys which I bought from Woolies. Thing is, they were (official) repro cars (with boxes) of much earlier models, and were on sale in the '90s I think. I must dig them out one day (when I remember where they are) and post them on the blog.
ReplyDeleteI think I've seen these in markets being sold at inflated prices I recall a £25 price tag on one. I also saw an original Matchbox E type Jaguar at an antique shop in Edinburgh for £70 and it was really scuffed and although it had the box that send OTT. It would be good to see your cars on Crivens when you have time.
DeleteMy Matchbox car collecting heyday was in the same period, McScotty. I had about 3 of those blue "suitcase" styled official collectors cases that held 24 matchbox cars in each case. I also kept the individual cardboard boxes safely in a cupboard. I have a photo of all of my cars sat on the dining room table which I must scan. All gone now, of course. I do remember that slot racing addition with the spring inside the slot (a friend had one), but I don't think it was very effective. Back in 1968/69 Matchbox were desperately trying to compete with Hot Wheels and I must confess that my affections were transferred to the glitz, glamour and red-stripe "mag" wheels of "Silhouette", "Hot Heap" and "Beatnik Bandit".
ReplyDeleteSadly I binned most of my Matchbox boxes not long after I bought the cars. Like yourself I got did of all my cars when I was about 11 years old, maybe 12. I heard there were issues with the Matchbox Motorway but my memory of mine was that it was pretty good but I do remember the cars coming off the track at times. Yeah Hot Wheels were much better for speed but Matchbox had a certain charm and detail but they started to look old compared to Hit Wheels. I also remember Corgi tried to edge into the Hot Wheels market with a series called "Rockets" that had a key to tune up the car, it never worked for me. It would be good to see that photo on your blog.
ReplyDelete