Matchbox Superfast MB7 Ford D series Refuse Truck

The Ford D series Refuse Truck joined the Superfast series in 1970 for just over a year and was packaged only in G boxes or USA and Canada blisterpacks with copyright dates 1969-71.
It retained its regular wheels colours intially however the shades were soon given more contrast with the orange initially being lighter than the RW shade and then darkening ,getting closer to a tomato orange shade. The gray plastic box section darkens in the same degrees as the box on the 37 Cattle truck which used the same plastic.
However there is also an alternative viewpoint that the gray plastic darkens ,discolours & yellows with age or exposure to heat or light and that all left Lesney in the same shade of gray but this is not quite true as the grey plastic will not lighten or darken but it will actually turn brown if exposed to ultra-violet light for extended periods and the paint pigment will fade or can actually change colour on some models so care should be taken to display all Matchbox toys out of direct sunlight. It should be noted that there are the inevitable shade variations between different batches of plastic.
There was one modification to the bodyshell with a T shape cast into the rear of the chassis slide channel.
It was fitted with thin 12.5mm 4 slot truck tyres which were later superceded by wide wheels of the same size and pattern for the final issues.
Wheels were secured by plastic clips are normally black but can also be found in maroon.
As a result it is easy to straighten bent axles on this and swap wheels swiftly without leaving obvious signs so any other wheel patterns found on this casting should not attract any price premium and were probably fitted outside the factory unless sealed blisterpack evidence can be found .