Lesney Matchbox 13d Dodge wreck truck

Moko Lesney Matchbox 13d Dodge wreck truck

The very first Lesney Matchbox model of the dodge wrecker had the colours reversed from the regular issue so it had a green cab and a yellow back. The B.P. company who were paying Lesney to advertise the company name by adding B.P. decals to the model did not like the colour scheme and had the design changed, so the deleted green cabbed dodge became one of the rarest and most desirable regular wheeled models, at the same time as the colour change the crane booms were made thicker to add extra strength.

In 1970 unknown to the Lesney bosses some fake reverse colour dodges were assembled by lesney workers at the Lesney factory, these were made to sell to collectors and have crimped axles instead of rounded and also have the thicker crane booms, B.P. labels were fitted instead of decals and these models have gone on to become collectors items in their own right.

The regular issue of wreckers had decals on the first issues including one variation with shield shaped decals from the 25c and later paper labels were used including the square cut label from the 32c as well as a smaller label with an angled cut corner. Mask sprayed silver trim was only applied to the first three runs, the windows are tinted light bluish green and the roof beacon light is red, They used a variety of labels and decals and also the hooks used can be different colours and designs,
I have included the yellow hook in the listing, I'm not sure if the dodge was ever issued with yellow hooks but as the hooks are easy to swap so the yellow hook version undoubtedly does exist, only one type of wheel was fitted to the dodge that was 11.5 x 45 black plastic and these were on dome head rounded axles with the exception of the 'factory fake' reverse colour version which had crimped axles even though by 1970 when the fakes were made crimped axles had not been used by Lesney for about 10 years or so

The Dodge was in the range from 1965 until 1970 when it was converted to superfast wheels,
It was deleted a year later, it was sold in 'E' and 'F' type boxes, the earliest 'E' type boxes have a picture of the reversed colour variant on them, it was quite a good seller and was a very popular model.

Updated: 04-06-10,
Two examples of the Dodge Wrecker have been found painted in non corporate BP yellow, These have been added to the listing table at the new number 5 and 12.

above, back row left to right, regular decal & grey hook, decal from 25c and red hook,
regular label and twin wire red hook, regular label & red hook, front, square label (from 32c) & red hook

above: left, E box with reverse colour model shown. center E box with regular model, right F box
Right rear shows the non BP corporate yellow painted model.

above: very rare reverse colour model

above: early issue with silver trim to the front number plate

code number	general	wheels / axles	decal / label	jib / boom type	hook type
code 1	green cab, yellow back silver trim	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	decal	thin boom	grey plastic hook
code 2	yellow cab, green back silver trim	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	decal	thin boom	grey plastic hook
code 3	yellow cab, green back silver trim	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	decal	thick boom	grey plastic hook
code 4	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	decal	thick boom	grey plastic hook
code 5 NEW	darker yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	decal	thick boom	grey plastic hook
code 6	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	decal	thick boom	red plastic hook
code 7	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	shield shaped decal (25c)	thick boom	red plastic hook
code 8	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	decal	thick boom	two wire red plastic hook
code 9	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	label	thick boom	yellow plastic hook
code 10	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	small label (with cut corner)	thick boom	yellow plastic hook
code 11	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	small label (with cut corner)	thick boom	red plastic hook
code 12 NEW	darker yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	small label (with cut corner)	thick boom	red plastic hook
code 13	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	square label (32c)	thick boom	red plastic hook
code 14	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	label	thick boom	red plastic hook
code 15	yellow cab, green back	11.5 x 45 bpw rounded	label	thick boom	two wire red plastic hook
code 16	green cab, yellow back (factory fake)	11.5 x 45 bpw crimped	label	thick boom	red plastic hook

box types	notes
E2	green cab
E2	two blue sides, yellow cab
E2	light blue sides
E3	light blue sides
E3R	light blue sides
E4R	light blue sides
F2	A Lesney Product
F2	"Matchbox" is the reg'd TM of Lesney Products& Co Ltd London England

values

reversed colour with thin boom, rounded axles & decals £4000+

reversed colour with thick booms, crimped axles and labels £2000

regular colours with BP decal without white background (from 25c) £150

regular colours with grey or yellow hook £40

all other models £25

values are for mint models in mint boxes

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