63c Dodge crane truck

Moko Lesney Matchbox 63c Dodge crane truck

The Lesney model of the British built Dodge K series crane joined the Matchbox 1-75 series late in 1968,
It was painted bright yellow all over including the crane body and jib although one pre production model is known to have been painted light blue.
It had a black plastic baseplate which incorporated the headlights and grill detail as part of the molding which was then located into openings in the front body panel which helped to secure the baseplate so a single rivet in the back of the baseplate was all that was needed to hold it all together,
After a while the baseplate had a towing guide molded into it,
The Dodge was always fitted with 12.5 x 48 black plastic wheels on dome head axles with rounded ends, The front axle was fixed to the plastic baseplate and the rear axles to the yellow painted metal chassis
Both the lorry cab and crane cab were fitted with light green tinted plastic window units.

Three different types of crane hooks were used so the model can be found with either a twin rope red plastic hook or a single rope hook in either red or yellow plastic but the hooks are easily interchangeable with other models so the hook type should probably not influence the price you should pay for a model.
On the underneath of the lorry and also the crane unit can have the die numbers 1 or 2 cast in.
There was only one known casting variation to the underneath of the crane body, The crane originally had a brace running down the front of the rivet post that secured the crane cab to the chassis, Later an additional brace was added to the rear of the rivet post that can be seen on the inside of the crane cab.
Late in it's life a repair was carried out to the crane die, it was not a very neat repair which does stand out in the casting of the crane cab but this variation has not been listed in the variation guide,
The Dodge was sold in 'F' type boxes and was converted to superfast wheels in 1970 where it kept its old regular wheels livery of bright yellow. It was finally deleted in 1972/3 to make way for the freeway gas tanker

code number	general	wheel type	crane brace	baseplate	hook type
code 1	yellow body & crane, black base, green tinted windows	12.5 x 48 black plastic	without brace	without towguide	twin rope red plastic
code 2	yellow body & crane, black base, green tinted windows	12.5 x 48 black plastic	without brace	without towguide	single rope red plastic
code 3	yellow body & crane, black base, green tinted windows	12.5 x 48 black plastic	without brace	with towguide	twin rope red plastic
code 4	yellow body & crane, black base, green tinted windows	12.5 x 48 black plastic	without brace	with towguide	single rope red plastic
code 5	yellow body & crane, black base, green tinted windows	12.5 x 48 black plastic	with brace	with towguide	single rope red plastic
code 6	yellow body & crane, black base, green tinted windows	12.5 x 48 black plastic	with brace	with towguide	single rope yellow plastic

box types	notes
F1	A Lesney Product
F1	A Lesney Product, trademark to end flap closers
F1	"Matchbox" is the reg'd TM of Lesney Products& Co Ltd London England

values

all models £25

values are for mint models in mint boxes

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