Moko Lesney Matchbox 34b Volkswagen caravette

The 34b Volkswagen caravette replaced the earlier 34a Volkswagen van in mid 1962.
It was painted light green with silver trim to the headlights and the VW emblem on the front. The baseplate was painted dark green and the table in the interior was part of the casting, The baseplate had five lines of text and the seats for the interior were a seperate castings and they were rivited to the inside of the baseplate.
To add play value the twin barn door type side doors were also a seperate castings and they were hinged to the body so they can be opened.
The windows were light green tinted plastic and they included the large roof window as part of the molding.
The first issue was fitted with silver plastic wheels on dome head axles with rounded ends and this variation is extremely rare and is seldom seen.
Soon the wheels were changed to knobbly grey plastic and this variation is the most common.
Later the wheel type was changed again to knobbly black plastic and this variation is quite common.
The last two wheel variations were fitted with either fine tread grey plastic or fine tread black plastic wheels and both of these variations are fairly hard to find.
Later the baseplate was redesigned so the seats were included as part of the casting and the baseplate inscription was changed from 5 lines of text to six lines when the words "Matchbox series" was added, Also the rivets that held the seats in were not on the new new type of baseplate.
There were also two casting modifications to the opening side doors, Firstly the storage box on the inside of the right door was reduced from being 2mm deep to just 0.75mm deep and the door pillars were thickened resulting in the new type doors having a smaller window opening and a ridge around the window frame on the inside of the doors.There are two gems to look out for, First is the rare silver plastic wheeled version and the other one is the 'E' type box which was in use for a very short time.
The VW was packaged in 'C', 'D' and 'E' type boxes, It was replaced by the next VW camper van, The 34c in early 1967.

above: early issue with 11 x 45 grey plastic wheels

above: the early version with 2mm thick storage box on the right door

above: the very rare and extremely desirable
early issue with silver plastic wheels.

above: black and grey 10 x 24 wheels

code number	general	wheel type	baseplate	side door type
code 1	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green windows	9 x 20 silver plastic	with rivets + 5 lines of text	2mm box + thin frames
code 2	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green tinted windows	10 x 24 grey plastic	with rivets + 5 lines of text	2mm box + thin frames
code 3	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green tinted windows	10 x 24 black plastic	with rivets + 5 lines of text	2mm box + thin frames
code 4	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green tinted windows	11 x 45 grey plastic	with rivets + 5 lines of text	2mm box + thin frames
code 5	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green tinted windows	11 x 45 black plastic	with rivets + 5 lines of text	2mm box + thin frames
code 6	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green tinted windows	11 x 45 grey plastic	no rivets + 6 lines of text	2mm box + thin frames
code 7	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green tinted windows	11 x 45 black plastic	no rivets + 6 lines of text	2mm box + thin frames
code 8	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green tinted windows	11 x 45 grey plastic	no rivets + 6 lines of text	0.75mm box + thick frames
code 9	pale green body, dark green base, silver trim, green tinted windows	11 x 45 black plastic	no rivets + 6 lines of text	0.75mm box + thick frames

box types	notes
C	"new model"
D1	one black side one blue
D2	one black side one blue
D2	two blue sides
D2	light blue sides
E3	light blue sides

values

green body, knobbly grey plastic wheels £35

green body, knobbly black plastic wheels £45

green body, fine grey plastic wheels £70

green body, fine black plastic wheels £100

green body, silver plastic wheels £2000+

values are for mint models in mint boxes

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