Lesney Matchbox time is here again. Today we examine Lesney Matchbox 22b, the 1958 Vauxhall Cresta. This model entered the range in 1958, remaining until 1965, and is a real classic:
Back to a passenger car - as models progressed up the 1-75 series by number, passenger cars became more common, as Lesney realized this was a key source of demand. This model replaced 22a, an earlier Cresta. 22b, the PA Cresta, is a model of a real world vehicle that is kind of cult classic or iconic car today, with flamboyant Americanized styling. This casting had a long run, and bridged the gap between hollow 1950s castings and more detailed 60s models, gaining glazing along the way, and existing in numerous variants - with paint and wheel variations, I believe over two dozen variants were made, some of them quite rare today. This model has enough fine line casting detail and accurate proportion to have been current in the era when Matchbox models became much more realistic and perhaps the best quality diecast of their era. This model was always popular with collectors, and can be hard to find and expensive today even in common variants. I suspect scale is in the 1:60s, probably close to standard small scale. From all angles, one can imagine this flashy ride out for a night on the town or zooming down a period Motorway:
Front and rear have ample detail, with the nicely cast grille and "Vauxhall" on the hood being nice touches, along with the red detail on the rear lights (the high/sharp points on this casting are known for chipping even in box - storage wear):
The base identifies the maker and model - one of a very few 1-75 castings to indicate a model year, and shows off the silver plastic wheels:
This model is fortunate to live a nice original Type C box, indicating production around 1961:
I'm quite happy to have this model in my collection - as mentioned before, these are sought-after, and I mostly lucked into the examples in my collection. Pictured with an old dime for scale:
A 1:1 from Wikimedia commons:
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