lesney matchbox 47a Trojan van "Brooke Bond tea"

Moko Lesney Matchbox 47a Trojan van "Brooke Bond tea"

The Lesney model of the 47a Trojan van joined the Matchbox 1-75 series in 1958. It appeared in just the one livery which was all over dark red with decals which read "Brooke Bond tea" on the sides of the body and a Brooke Bond tealeaf motif on each of the front doors.
The first run had 10 x 18 grey metal wheels on dome head axles with crimped ends,
It had silver trim to just the headlights and a flat black baseplate.
The metal wheels were soon replaced by grey plastic wheels which could be 10 x 24 or 9.5 x 20,
Usually the finer tread wheels replaced the coarser ones but on the Trojan the 9.5 x 20 were the last ones to be used. The next few issues can be found with flat or gloss black baseplates.
Next came the only casting modification where the tongue that secured the rear of the baseplate to the body was thickened from 0.75mm to 1mm and a casting line appeared on the body when the slot at the rear was enlarged to take the thickened tongue.

Next the flat black of the baseplate was replaced by gloss black for all the remaining versions.
The next issue had the crimped axles replaced by axles with rounded ends and the final run now had mask sprayed silver trim to the headlights and the radiator grille as well.
The Trojan was packaged in two types of boxes, the 'B' type and the 'D' type, for some reason it missed the 'C' type altogether, The 'C' type is very common but the 'D' type is quite scarce and very sought after by collectors.
All versions of the Trojan are not really that hard to find with perhaps the silver grille model being the most difficult but none fetch much of a premium, The only really valuable version being the rare 'D' type box.
After a five year run the Trojan was replaced by the 47b Commer "Lyons Maid" ice cream van in early 1963.
For modellers - in real life the exact same livery that was used on the Trojan was also used on the Ford Thames (70a) and the later Ford Transit.

Above: with the rare 'D' type box.

code number	general	wheel type	axle type	baseplate colour	silver trim	casting
code 1	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	10 x 18 grey metal	dome head crimped	flat black	headlights only	0.75mm tongue
code 2	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	10 x 24 grey plastic	dome head crimped	flat black	headlights only	0.75mm tongue
code 3	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	10 x 24 grey plastic	dome head crimped	gloss black	headlights only	0.75mm tongue
code 4	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head crimped	flat black	headlights only	0.75mm tongue
code 5	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head crimped	gloss black	headlights only	0.75mm tongue
code 6	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head crimped	flat black	headlights only	1mm tongue
code 7	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head crimped	gloss black	headlights only	1mm tongue
code 8	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head rounded	gloss black	headlights only	1mm tongue
code 9	dark red body, "brooke Bond Tea" decals	9.5 x 20 grey plastic	dome head rounded	gloss black	headlights + grille	1mm tongue

box types	notes
B2	none
B3	none
B4	none
B5	lower case letters
B5	upper case letters
D1	one black side one blue

values

grey metal wheels £40

grey plastic wheels, crimped or rounded axles £40

grey plastic wheels, crimped axles + silver grille, 'C' box £50

grey plastic wheels, crimped axles + silver grille, 'D' box £400+

values are for mint models in mint boxes

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