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I have sprayed a few light blue metalics over the years and it is a colour that sits very well as the flakes dont stand out.So they end up with a much more scale look about the paintwork..

DrJeep wrote:I'm sure there would also have been staff moving between these small companies, so lots of knowledge would have been shared that way.

That is the (apocryphal?) story I've heard to explain the 11a with side labels - apparently they were applied by a lady who had previously worked for Benbros.

It's been a while since I posted anything here! One very obvious omission is the Benbros and Matchbox 14b Daimler ambulance. In this case, the Benbros came first, in 1957, with the 14b following in 1958. Matchbox had, of course, introduced the much simpler and smaller 14a in 1955.
These two really are very similar, notably in size and colour. The Matchbox is a nicer casting, capturing the shape of the windows better. The base is also much better engineered on the Matchbox. The rear doors are very obviously much better on the Matchbox!
Benbros dropped the cream version fairly quickly and replaced it with a green military ambulance, with a variety of different wheels, including green painted and black plastic.The military version commands reasonable prices for a Benbros, I think because it is popular with military collectors. As always with Benbros, unlisted variations are easy to find. The black plastic wheeled ambulance is unlisted with a red cross on the rear door.

I have just acquired four versions of the benros army ambulance,there are 2 distinct greens,the pair with metal wheels ,one has the crosses the other does not,
the black plastic wheel one ,there are two sizes of wheel