In 1958 the Lesney model of the DUKW became the third military vehicle to join the Matchbox 1-75 series in that year, It was followed by eight more military vehicles in 1959 which did not sell as well as had been hoped, by 1965 only one of them was still in production.
The DUKW was an unusual choice for a vehicle in the 1-75 range as it was not a vehicle that would have been familiar with Children and being as it was in real life a large amphibious truck it scaled down to a rather uninspiring and bland model.
The real DUKW was built for the USA military and was used in the invasion of Sicily, the south of France, Normandy and in the Pacific theatre as well.
The Lesney model was painted military olive green to match the other military vehicles in the range, The baseplate was flat black on the first two issues and gloss black on the following issues.The wheels were 7.5 x 18 grey metal and progressed through grey plastic and black plastic, The axles were dome head with crimped ends on the first issues and dome head with rounded ands on the later ones.
The front axle was different to the usual axle as it had neither a domed head or a crimped or rounded end and consisted of a simple round metal bar that was retained by the bodywork covering the axle ends and stopping the front wheels coming adrift or the axle working its way out during play. The model was not enhanced with decals or silver trim and it had no working parts.
There were no casting variations and there are no rare versions to collect,
It was packaged in 'B', 'C' and 'D' type boxes, the 'B' and 'C' type boxes are fairly common but the 'D' type box has to be one of the rarest boxes and is not seen very often and of course it is eagerly sought by collectors.
The DUKW was replaced by the ever popular 55b Ford Fairlane police car in 1963.
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