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None of the NAMC’s “Catalog of all Series Matchbox Models” (second edition), the AIM's “1-75 Series Regular Wheels” catalogue (second printing, 1983), Stannard, Houghton, or Leake ("Concise Catalogue of 75 Series Matchbox Toys by Lesney" (4th edition, reprinted 2006)) lists any variation not already catalogued by Nick.
U.K. Matchbox did not examine the model.
However, there are significant differences in how the model's colour is treated:
- The NAMC’s “Catalog of all Series Matchbox Models” (second edition) recognises three colours: bright, medium, and dark blue,
- The AIM's “1-75 Series Regular Wheels” catalogue (second printing, 1983) has a Note, reading: "model comes in various shades of dark, medium, and light blue",
- Stannard states that the "body colour varies from medium to dark metallic blue",
- Houghton only lists dark metallic blue, and
- Leake ("Concise Catalogue of 75 Series Matchbox Toys by Lesney" (4th edition, reprinted 2006)) catalogues metallic blue and metallic dark blue.
Interestingly, no other cataloguer lists Nick's white interior variation, lending credence to the suggestion that this is a pre-production component.

I have looked at 100's of ISO's over the years searching for the elusive white interior, but haven't seen one yet. Does anyone have one in their collection or a photo of one? Nick has no photo of one in the guide. Do they really exist in the wild?

mbox2000 wrote:I have looked at 100's of ISO's over the years searching for the elusive white interior, but haven't seen one yet. Does anyone have one in their collection or a photo of one? Nick has no photo of one in the guide. Do they really exist in the wild?

Well! Would you believe it? Eric Jonkers has just listed one on Ebay, and at a bargain price too! What a coincidence!

I have one from my childhood, with a beater box.

Eric Jonkers. What a surprise, and I missed the auction. Taxidad, I would love to see a photo, from one Coloradoan to another

Jay

mbox2000 wrote:Eric Jonkers. What a surprise...

The surprise is that it sold.
If the purchaser is a reader of this thread, then I strongly suggest you have a good look at the axle ends and also closely examine the baseplate rivet!

Iso pics

The overlength axles are interesting since (in my experience) they are a lot more common on pre-production models than on examples coming from a normal production run.
Also, the first photograph gives the impression that the body might have been painted with the doors closed. Is there any overspray on the inside of the door or bodyshell?

I think I got this from my mom and dad when they went out of the country but not certain. They bought me a lot of Matchbox however from all over where ever they could find them in the 50's and 60's.

I would like to mention some unlisted variations. As it was mentioned there are various shades of light, medium, dark 1 and dark 2 blue.
Antonin