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I can't think of any model in the entire 1-75 range that was "enhanced," in any way, in order to give it new life, with the hopes of continuing is production run and generating further sales. It just wasn't done. When a model became outdated and/or was no longer selling, it was simply replaced by a new model. It is certainly reasonable to think that testing and prototyping did occur for the newer models. However, as has been pointed out the casting in question, is one that has features of a late casting and not and early one.

zBret

You Germans I dunno, hilarious

zBret wrote:I can't think of any model in the entire 1-75 range that was "enhanced," in any way, in order to give it new life, with the hopes of continuing is production run and generating further sales. It just wasn't done. When a model became outdated and/or was no longer selling, it was simply replaced by a new model. It is certainly reasonable to think that testing and prototyping did occur for the newer models. However, as has been pointed out the casting in question, is one that has features of a late casting and not and early one.

zBret

I can,t see that in that picture can you re post an image with out the pen marks

Miller wrote:Its neither a Mercedes nor a T-Bird! If we really want to become petty..
"Matchbox is prototyping a car with ...

zBret

Hi Milton.
Thank you for showing us your casting, I believe that it was produced from an obsolete 75a die, most dies were scrapped and melted down so we don't have proof either way that Lesney ever recut obsolete dies or not. or let apprentice diecutters loose on them.

(The only dies that have ever been salvaged are for the 12a Land Rover, I believe these were found in a London scrapyard according to the Matchbox 40 year book)
The fact that none of the dies have surfaced apart from the 14a means that your casting was produced at the time that the 75b was pulled from production, If the dies were recut before production was deleted then a very expensive and usable set of dies were ruined and for what reason?. it does not make sense.

We may not have proof in diesets but we do have proof in our collections that Lesney never altered a five year old casting to coax a few more sales out of it, a five year old model is long overdue replacement. Several new models were in development at any given time so there were always new replacements available. After a 5 year run the Thunderbird sales must have been flagging. It's far easier to replace it with an exciting new model.

I'm sorry if you thought I was belittling it by calling it an apprentice piece, but you could not be further from the truth, your model does not need the Bronner provinence, It is far beyond that, this is the actual craftsmans handwork, very very few pieces like this ever come to light, it is a rembrandt, complete with its makers greasy fingerprints, (probably)
In 35 years of searching I have been lucky enough to find two 'one off' castings like these, others exist but they are extremely rare, but yours comes from the other end of the timeline to the rest, It is not just a (almost) unique Thunderbird, it is also a unique example of what happened to outdated dies once they had outlived their use.
It's an unpainted casting of something that would never have gone into full production, so like a Rembrandt, some of his work was only drawings, but is it any less valuable.

I'm guessing that you purchased this piece from Paul Carr, he is a big time dealer in Lesney /Matchbox pre pros, he only lives a few miles from the Pageant showground, I have been going to the Pageant since about 1977, I can't recall seeing Paul at the Pageant but I have missed a few over the years, my last as an exhibitor was in about 94 when I took the smoke city chopped Routemaster bus.

My Aunt, Brother, Sister and dozens of my neighbours worked for Lesney, It was a happy place to work, with lots of illicit shagging going on in various packing cases,
Jack Odell was well known for his scrimping and saving, as time went on he removed the red trim from the tailights, then the silver trim from the rear axle, then less trim at the front, a saving of one tenth of a penny per model times a couple of million units comes to... well, lets say lots.

Coincidentally, One of my 'one offs' the mustang came from the Pageant, but not from Paul, I found it in a junk box under a Dinky dealers table.
Absolutely the best year was when the show was cancelled just hours before it was due to open, We walked around the back and climbed over the fence, the place was deserted except for lots traders who were very keen to sell us anything, I had the whole place to myself, found a 15 prime mover with 10x gpw and a roof cross lomas for £4,
anyway, congrats on your super casting, It certainly put a firework under our forum!.

My last pageant was 88, I took my 53 Cadillac eldorado not pre entered, they refused entry to me
I said this is a 53 eldo and the gate staff said I couldn't,t care less if it was a Bugatti royale that was the last time I went

Oh yes, Lesney were been expert diecasters, they did not need to try out their casting techniques, they done it once and got it right, that's why I think that the link with the FIAT is a coincidence, red herring, or us seeing things that are not there.
it's a diamond in the rough, milton. I wish I was at the pageant that year..

my one off casting

nickjones wrote:Oh yes, Lesney were been expert diecasters, they did not need to try out their casting techniques, they done it once and got it right, that's why I think that the link with the FIAT is a coincidence, red herring, or us seeing things that are not there.
it's a diamond in the rough, milton. I wish I was at the pageant that year..

The man selling was late 50's early 60,s in 1983

that would be too old to have been Paul Carr then. but we are still only 5 to 8 miles from Lesneys various factories and complexes so there must be quite a few ex Lesney employees living in close proximity to the Pageant.
1983 was also the year that Lesney / Matchbox production finally came to an end and the R & D department was cleared out.