67b Volkswagen 1600 TL

[GHOSTHUNTER]

My last picture (originally posted by "Venture Al"), shows a model with 'Tow Guide', (A) Stamping, 'Patent No.', 'Seperate' Hubs with seperate tyres, but with 'Superfast' wheels at the front! is this model coming straight out of 1969 and was accompanied by something like... "lets see how these new 'Low Friction' wheels fit the current baseplate"...from a Lesney engineer?

GHOSTHUNTER.

[motorman]

That last image Ghosty posted makes no sense to me at all, the RW wheels on the rear show no wear at all, but the front SF wheels are worn to buggery! Furthermore how is the thinner superfast axel being held in place on an RW baseplate. What am i missing (i did a 14 hour shift at work today so tiredness may be the reason!!) Seriously though this model is very confusing.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Hello Alex, Yes it is and the original poster was asking similar questions and wanted to know more, I have the other pictures that accompanied the base picture but they don' reveal anything and I don't believe anyone came forward with any comment or views about it.

14 hour work shift, that's absurd, how on earth did you manage to get away with such a short shift, while driving recovery trucks, I was often on a 17 hour shift and even then I was frequently called back out of bed once my shift finished at Midnight, to rescue someone stuck on the Motorway or a crashed vehicle laying on it's roof in a dark and wet ditch!!!

Ghosty.

[motorman]

Come and join me on the beat in Glasgow on a Saturday Night trying to keep the peace when the clubs spill and the fights start Ghosty, i can guarantee you would gladly jump back to your 17 hour shift in a nice cosy recovery truck without any protest!!

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Agreed, if the TV shows are anything like what you have to put up with, I don't envy you Alex, BTW...you have one last posting left, then you will have hit the Magic 1500 posts mark and as far as I know, Nick has to present you with something, OR...you have to leave the forum for a Year to allow others to catch up.
Can't quite remember which it is...

Ghosty.

[motorman]

Thanks for remindimg me Ghosty.... Yes Nick i think i win the prize, which for me would be, if i had the choice, an SF#8 Mustang in White, red int, with thin 10.5 x 2 mm wheels.

I thank you in advance of my prize giving!!

I am writing my speech as we speak and i have a lot of people to thank!!!!

[motorman]

Damb it i have just gone over 1500, shucks!

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Yeah! you silly bugger, now when Nick looks at your posting count, he will see you've gone over the 1500 mark, thereby voiding the chance for a prize, DOH!

Ghosty.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Here is Christian's picture again of the early baseplate, I say early because as Christian pointed out, it does not have the little (A) Stamp by the rear axle housing and I firmly believe this model is bordering on 'Pre-Pro' or very early production, just missing out on having the (A) Stamp being cast onto the base. The #24c Rolls-Royce saloon introduced in March 1967, does have the (A) Stamp, the 1966 issued #8e Ford Mustang has the (A) Stamping. Without the 'Tow Guide', 'Patent No.' and the dull grey bare Mazac metal baseplate it is looking more likely to be a model of the above status.

I believe the little (A) Stamp was introduced to the baseplates of the '1-75 Series' to denote the product line of most significance to the whole output from Lesney Products Ltd and could be used by Lesney to confirm the true identity of a "Matchbox" SERIES product in the event of copies from other companies, meaning if a model was brought to the attention of Lesney, suspected of being a copy and the copy has the (A) Stamp, lawyers for Lesney would take action against the company making the copy(s) and this move led to the "Matchbox" name being reconised as a 'Trade Mark' (additional little TM letters appear around the box artwork from this point onwards), and even this was taken further by registering the name "MATCHBOX" so even this could not be used by the copiers. A little 'R' in a circle appeared on the boxes, Pocket Catalogues, Trade Catalogues, and Display Stands etc in 1968.

The 'A' in the (A) means nothing more than the 'A-LINE', the product line more important to Lesney, making more money than the other model ranges, and it appears on a very few new models introduced in 1966.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[Idris]

My understanding is that the (A) was a belated attempt by Lesney to differentiate between models with the same number in the 1-75 series, the idea being that subsequent models would carry a (B) and so on.