An unusually colored sea green 1966 Opel Diplomat, a 1968 crane truck with a 360-degree swing arm radius, and a Swinging London double decker bus are only a few of the rare Matchbox cars that collectors worldwide dream of adding to their miniature car collections.
The First Matchbox Car
Shortly after World War II, Leslie and Rodney Smith began Lensey Products and were soon joined by Jack O’dell, a tool and die maker. From 1947 to 1953 the company manufactured larger die-cast vehicles and other toys to market to the London shops for Christmas. Their first die-cast toy was a road roller manufactured in 1947. It was this toy that became the first Matchbox vehicle, when Jack O’dell made a smaller version of it for his daughter to take to school. The school had a rule that only toys allowed in school had to be small enough to fit into a matchbox. From there the idea of marketing the little vehicles inside a box similar to a matchbox began.
The miniature road roller is #1 in the original 1-75 series. Released as a three-model set the other two miniatures were a dump truck and a cement mixer. These three matchbox vehicles are extremely rare. Recreations of these and other early Matchbox cars have been released. The following are authentic recreations of the Matchbox originals released as limited editions in 1992:
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