In 1954 Lesney introduced the first model from their new "Major scale series" which was a superb model of the Massy Harris tractor that measured 230mm (8 inches) long. It was painted red with gold trim to the engine and the exhaust and inlet pipes and the name "Massey Harris" on the side of the fuel tank was picked out in white, The wheels and front axle assembly were painted a light brown and it had very authentic looking rubber tyres, The rear wheels can be attached by a rivet or cross head screw.
The steering wheel had a linkage which passed through the tractor body to connect with the front wheels and it had a towing hitch.
There were two similar but slightly different boxes made which stated that it was "Made in England by Lesney products & Co Ltd" which made no mention of Moko.
Two more models were planned to join the major scale series but got no further than the prototype stage, these include a Euclid dump truck and a Showmans traction engine, Only one example of the Euclid is known to exist and no traction engines were completed, The models were fabulous toys but they took up a lot of space just when the 1-75 series of miniatures were taking off so the two later models were shelved indefinately.
The tractor is probably one of the most desirable of the early Lesney toys, it is not as rare as some of the early issues but still fetches a high price.
The Massey Harris was scaled down to become the 4a Massey Harris tractor in the new Matchbox 1-75 series and the Euclid went on to become the 6a quarry truck.
|
