52b BRM racing car

Moko Lesney Matchbox 52b BRM racing car

The Lesney model of the BRM joined the Matchbox 1-75 series in 1965.
It's usual colour was a darkish blue and it carried racing number "5" decals or labels or less commonly number "3" decals or labels. It had a silver plated baseplate and a white or off white driver which is not that well attached so is not unusual to find the BRM driverless.
It was fitted with yellow plastic wheels with 12.5 x 72 tyres on the front and 14 x 72 tyres on the rear but it is not uncommon to find the tyres fitted to the wrong axles, ie the larger tyres to the front & the smaller tyres to the rear,
Dome head axles with rounded ends were always used on this model, The BRM was recoloured just for the G4 "Race n Rally" gift set, This was usually to medium red but a dark red issue was also used.

There were a few casting variations, The first was to the exhaust pipes where Lesney added braces between the top of the pipes and the rear suspension arms, For some reason the next alteration was an increase in the size of the word "matchbox" on the base, The other words were kept to the regular size, Possibly this is just a variation between the dies that made the different bases used but it is not a very common variation,
The final modification to the base was to the ribs around the gearbox, These were reduced from twelve ribs to eleven ribs but the easier way of deciding which variation you have is by counting the ribs along the lower edge, The twelve rib has four ribs along the lower edge and the eleven rib has three ribs to the lower edge.
The body had one casting modification which was the addition of decal/ label locating guides cast on to the front and the sides.
The blue version is very common but the red one is hard to find, the dark red is quite scarce. The BRM was sold in type 'E' and 'F' boxes and dispite the very similar 19 lotus being converted to superfast the BRM was not converted so it was deleted from the range in 1969.

A red version of the BRM with number 3 labels was seen at a major auction house, It received very few bids and may not have been original so this variation has not been included in the listing unless others should come to light.
Updated: 18-01-10, A blue BRM with a '3' decal, exhaust brackets, large baseplate text, decal guides and 4 rib gearbox was recently discovered by Hugh Stiles, It has been added to the listing table at the new code 7.
Updated: 13-04-11, Jon (Biggles) and Louis (Carb) from the forum have both reported a blue BRM but with a '5' decal, exhaust brackets, large baseplate text, decal guides and 4 rib gearbox, It has been added to the listing table at the new code 8.

above: the common blue version shown with the medium red.

above: dark blue and blue BRM's with
two different illustrations on the 'F' type box
photo courtesy George Marshall

above: dark blue and blue BRM's with
two different racing numbers

above: left, with exhaust brackets. right, without brackets

above: left, with decal guides. right, without decal guides

above: small "Matchbox" baseplate text

above: large "Matchbox" baseplate text

code number	general	decal/label	base	decal guides
code 1	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 decal	no exhaust brackets, 4 ribs, small text	no guides
code 2	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 decal	no exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, small text	no guides
code 3	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 decal	exhaust brackets, 4 ribs, small text	no guides
code 4	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 decal	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, large text	no guides
code 5	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	3 decal	exhaust brackets, 4 ribs, small text	no guides
code 6	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	3 decal	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, large text	no guides
code 7 NEW	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	3 decal	exhaust brackets, 4 ribs, large text	with guides
code 8 NEW	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 4 ribs, large text	no guides
code 9	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 4 ribs, small text	no guides
code 10	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, large text	no guides
code 11	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, large text	with guides
code 12	blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, small text	with guides
code 13	dark blue body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 4 ribs, small text	no guides
code 14	red body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 decal	exhaust brackets, 4 ribs, small text	no guides
code 15	red body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 decal	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, large text	no guides
code 16	red body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	3 decal	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, small text	no guides
code 17	red body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, large text	no guides
code 18	red body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, large text	with guides
code 19	red body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	exhaust brackets, 3 ribs, small text	with guides
code 20	dark red body, silver base, 12.5 x 72 and 14 x 72 tyres	5 label	?, info needed	with guides

box types	notes
E1	two blue sides, "new model"
E1	light blue sides,
E3	light blue sides,
E4	light blue sides,
E4R	light blue sides,
F2	A Lesney Product, car facing right
F2	A Lesney Product,trademark to end flap closers, car facing left
F2	Lesney Products & Co Ltd London England, car facing left

values

dark red £250

red £120

blue with #3 decal / label £ 80

all other models £25

values are for mint models in mint boxes

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