Lesney Matchbox 17e AEC horsebox

Moko Lesney Matchbox 17e AEC horsebox

1969 saw the introduction of the Lesney model of the AEC horsebox into the Matchbox 1-75 series.
It had a red painted cab and chassis and a dark green plastic horsebox with a grey plastic drop down ramp.
The baseplate which incorporated the towing bracket was made from chromed plastic and was located by the grille which was molded as part of the baseplate locating into an opening in the front panel of the cab and by a single round rivet at the rear of the baseplate.
It was fitted with 11.5 x 45 black plastic wheels on dome head rounded axles,
The window unit was dark blue tinted plastic and to add to play value it came with two white plastic horses,

There were two alterations to the model, one to the plastic horsebox and one to the die cast chassis,
The horsebox can be found with or without two very small slots either side of the drop down ramp,
The chassis had two small raised braces added to the underneath to give some extra support the where the drop down door hinges,
The drop down ramp on the side was the same one that was used on the 43c Horsebox which has two different moldings of the handle but I am not sure if both handle types were used on this model
It was sold in 'F' type boxes and was later fitted with superfast wheels,
It stayed in that range until 1972. It has no rare variations except for a pre production issue (details below) and it is very common.

above: a very hard to find pre-production issue that has different colour
plastic body and the drop down door does not have the fingernail slot in
the top, Also the cab / chassis casting does not have the text cast behind
the rear axle and the plastic baseplate has no towing guide,
from the Dave Rogers collection.

photographs courtesy Dave Rogers

code number	general	base	box
code 1	red cab, green box, grey ramp, blue tinted windows, chromed base, 11.5 x45 black plastic wheels	flat brace	with groove
code 2	red cab, green box, grey ramp, blue tinted windows, chromed base, 11.5 x45 black plastic wheels	flat brace	no groove
code 3	red cab, green box, grey ramp, blue tinted windows, chromed base, 11.5 x45 black plastic wheels	sloping brace	with groove
code 4	red cab, green box, grey ramp, blue tinted windows, chromed base, 11.5 x45 black plastic wheels	sloping brace	no groove

box types	notes
F2	none

values

all models £25

grey pre pro issue £700

values are for mint models in mint boxes

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