52b BRM Racing Car
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 5:28 pm
What a nightmare! Not only a complicated listing, but errors in Nick's listing and a rare mistake in Houghton too! (This one took two sheets of paper for the comparison.)
The NAMC’s “Catalog of all Series Matchbox Models” (second edition) does not have any variations not already listed by Nick and neither does the AIM “1-75 Series Regular Wheels” catalogue (second printing, 1983). Both catalogues note the existence of two different positions of the base text, but explain these away as paired moulds in use during the whole of the model's lifetime.
Nick's listing contains a mistake: the with and without decal guide body variations are reversed, so apparently the majority of models carrying decals did not have guides, whilst those bearing labels did! Taking that into account, Stannard lists a variation at 52(B) 2-12 not in Nick's list: red/5 label/exhaust brackets/4 pips/small text/with guides. This would slot in as code 18.
Houghton contains a rare mistake: his type 3 base is listed as exhaust brackets/4 pips/large text. However, I believe that this should read exhaust brackets/3 pips/large text. Working on that basis, there is only a single variation not covered by Nick: 52b-12 is red/5 label/exhaust brackets/4 pips/small text/with guides. This matches the missing Stannard code. (Unsurprising since Houghton's listings are, for the most part, based on Stannard.)
U.K. Matchbox did not cover the model in any depth, although a pre-production example with a plain base is pictured and examined in Vol 2, no. 2 (Apr. '78) p34
The NAMC’s “Catalog of all Series Matchbox Models” (second edition) does not have any variations not already listed by Nick and neither does the AIM “1-75 Series Regular Wheels” catalogue (second printing, 1983). Both catalogues note the existence of two different positions of the base text, but explain these away as paired moulds in use during the whole of the model's lifetime.
Nick's listing contains a mistake: the with and without decal guide body variations are reversed, so apparently the majority of models carrying decals did not have guides, whilst those bearing labels did! Taking that into account, Stannard lists a variation at 52(B) 2-12 not in Nick's list: red/5 label/exhaust brackets/4 pips/small text/with guides. This would slot in as code 18.
Houghton contains a rare mistake: his type 3 base is listed as exhaust brackets/4 pips/large text. However, I believe that this should read exhaust brackets/3 pips/large text. Working on that basis, there is only a single variation not covered by Nick: 52b-12 is red/5 label/exhaust brackets/4 pips/small text/with guides. This matches the missing Stannard code. (Unsurprising since Houghton's listings are, for the most part, based on Stannard.)
U.K. Matchbox did not cover the model in any depth, although a pre-production example with a plain base is pictured and examined in Vol 2, no. 2 (Apr. '78) p34
