48a Meteor Sportsman Mk II & trailer

Moko Lesney Matchbox 48a meteor sportsman Mk II & trailer

Lesney were always looking for something unusual to add interest in the 1-75 series so in 1958 the first of the speedboats joined the range,
The 48a Meteor sports boat is of all metal construction as is the trailer and on the first issues the wheels were metal too,
The boat can be found with the deck in either light or dark tan, The hull is in mid blue but shades can vary.
The trailer was painted black and it had a towing eye which would attach the trailer to any vehicle that was equipped with a towing hook so it was able to attach to almost all the cars in the 1-75 series.
There are no casting variations to the boat and the trailer only had one minor casting modification which was to add small strengthening braces to the underneath,
The trailer was fitted with either grey metal wheels, Grey plastic wheels or occasionally with silver plastic wheels,
Originally it had domed head axles with crimped ends but this was later changed to domed head axles with rounded ends,

The metal wheeled version is common, The grey wheel less so and the silver wheeled model is quite rare although it does not usually fetch very high prices,
The speedboat would attach to the trailer by a metal peg on the top of the trailer which would locate into a hole in the bottom of the hull and this did a fairly good job of holding the two parts together while it was being played with.
The 48a Meteor sportsman is quite a common model and in my opinion probably more common than the second boat which replaced it, The 48b.
The Meteor was sold in 'B' type boxes and it was in production for three years, From 1958 until 1961 until it was replaced by the second speedboat the all plastic 48b sports boat with a metal outboard motor and trailer. .
Updated: 18-07-13,
Flat head axle variations added.

above: the three wheel types shown, also note the light
& dark shades of tan and the two different box illustrations

above: the small triangular braces on the bottom of the trailer were not cast in on the first issue.
Photo courtesy Christian Falkensteiner.

code number	boat colour	wheels	axles	trailer braces
code 1	light tan	grey metal 7.5 x 18	flat head crimped ends	no trailer braces
code 2	dark tan	grey metal 7.5 x 18	flat head crimped ends	no trailer braces
code 3	light tan	grey metal 7.5 x 18	domed head crimped ends	no trailer braces
code 4	dark tan	grey metal 7.5 x 18	domed head crimped ends	no trailer braces
code 5	light tan	grey metal 7.5 x 18	domed head crimped ends	with trailer braces
code 6	dark tan	grey metal 7.5 x 18	domed head crimped ends	with trailer braces
code 7	light tan	grey plastic 7.5 x 18	domed head crimped ends	with trailer braces
code 8	dark tan	grey plastic 7.5 x 18	domed head crimped ends	with trailer braces
code 9	light tan	grey plastic 7.5 x 18	domed head rounded ends	with trailer braces
code 10	dark tan	grey plastic 7.5 x 18	domed head rounded ends	with trailer braces
code 11	light tan	silver plastic 7.5 x 18	domed head rounded ends	with trailer braces
code 12	dark tan	silver plastic 7.5 x 18	domed head rounded ends	with trailer braces

box types	notes
B2	none
B3	none
B4	nose pointing upwards
B4	nose pointing downwards
B5	"Meteor Sports Boat"
B5	Meteor Sports Boat

values

grey metal wheels £30

grey plastic wheels £45

silver plastic wheels £120

values are for mint models in mint boxes

price guide gallery

box gallery

picture gallery