The Lesney model of the 4d dodge 'K' series stake truck joined the Matchbox 1-75 series in 1966,
It had a yellow cab and chassis and a silver plated baseplate that was held in place by two rivets, One was in the center of the baseplate and one towards the rear and by the grille & headlights which were part of the baseplate locating through holes in the front of the body which meant that silver trim was not needed on the lights and grille,
It was fitted with 12.5 x 48 black plastic wheels on dome head rounded axles and featured blue-green tinted windows,
The first issues had a blue plastic stake body and these are quite rare and they mostly seem to turn up in the UK,
Later issues were fitted with a green plastic stake bed. there were a few casting alterations made to the baseplate,
The first was to the strengthening ribs that run along the edges, On very early pieces these were 0.75mm wide and tapered. These were thickened to either 1mm or 1.25mm wide and the taper was removed,
Later a towing bracket was added and to make room for it the lettering on the baseplate had to be reduced in size.
Except for the blue stakes variant the dodge is a very common toy,
It was packaged in 'E' and 'F' type boxes and it was converted to Superfast wheels in 69-70 where kept its regular wheel colour scheme,
It stayed in the superfast range for many years.
|
|
