#101 MATCHBOX – REFUSE TRUCK and COACH (Nrs. 7 and 66) (1966 and 1967)

Two more examples of late Lesney’s “matchbox” series die-cast miniatures

The “Refuse Truck” (also refered as Refuse Truck v2, since there is an older model with the same name) is nr. 7 issued in 1966. This one is the first version, the same model was re-released in 1970 with superfast “skinny” wheels, while this one is carrying the “original” wheels. This model was only released in orange with grey/metallic base and dumper. The re-release maintained those colours. The windshields are blue.

Note that the dumper can be shifted backwards to place it as if it was dumping the waste out of the container. At the front it can also be read that this truck is a Ford model, although in the base is not specified. This truck was the third miniature to carry the reference number 7, that’s why it is often referred as 7C.

The “Coach” is nr. 66 issued in 1967, and is sometimes referred as “Greyhound Bus” for obvious reasons. As the previous model, it was re-released with skinny superfast wheels, but it remained always grey with a black base and orange or clear windshields.

Since there were previous models with the reference number 66, the Coach is also known as 66C

Both are very nice models and are still labelled as “Matchbox series (Nr.) (Model) - Made in England by Lesney”. This way to label the miniatures changed in 1969, in which the cars were labelled “Matchbox Series (Nr.) (Model) © (Year) Lesney Products & Co. Ltd.”

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: REFUSE TRUCK and COACH (Nrs. 7C and 66C)
• Scale: 1:100 (approx.)
• Year: 1966 and 1967
• Company: Matchbox (G. Britain)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm