| Lesney Matchbox Major pack M8b Guy car transporter |
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The M8b Guy Warrior tractor and Farnborough Measham car transporter joined the Majors range in 1964 when it replaced the Mobilgas petrol tanker, The Guy had a turquoise painted cab and an orange trailer, The cab had clear or light green tinted windows and silver trim to the grille, headlights and front bumper, The baseplate was black and it had suspension to all axles. The trailer was made so that the top deck was hinged on regular axle pins so it would lower to allow loading and it had a drop down rear ramp which was also hinged on an axle pin, The wheels were orange plastic hubs with grey or later black plastic wheels on dome head axles with rounded ends. The trailer also had suspension to the axle. The trailer had two decals applied to each side, The upper deck had "Farnborough Measham" and the lower deck "Car Auction Collection" which were originally in black lettering with a white shading but this was later changed to white lettering with a black outline, In the center of the upper deck decal was a circular motif fot the "Southern Counties Car Auctions Limited". Casting modifications to the cab consisted of the addition of a crossmember on the chassis between the rear wheel arches and two triangular braces at the lower rear of the cab. The trailer had the rear fold down arms that supported the top deck thickened, A triangular brace on the underneath of the top deck was strengthened, The crossmember beneath the drop down rear ramp was thickened and braces were added to the axle housings. The drop down rear ramp was also modified when a strengthening brace was added to each side of the hole for the top deck locking tab. Guys with a blue painted cab and metal hubs are pre production models which are very rare and seldom seen. The model was a very popular toy and many were sold so it is quite easy to find today, The grey tyred version is slighty harder to find than the black tyred version, It was packaged in an 'E' type box and when the Major pack range was deleted in 1967 it was transfered to the Kingsize range where it had the baseplate altered to show it was now part of the Kingsize range. |
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 A rare colour trial / pre production model Photo courtesy Angela H |
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collectable toy specialists. |
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collectable toy specialists. |
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collectable toy specialists. |
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collectable toy specialists. |
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collectable toy specialists. |
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collectable toy specialists. |
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collectable toy specialists. |
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collectable toy specialists. |
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