Matchbox/Lesney 53b; Mercedes-Benz 220SE; Maroon, Silver Plastic Wheels

The old 220SE is a lovely proportioned car and the slightly older model with the little pointy tail fins would be in my all time favourites garage, it is certainly my favourite Mercedes. I almost bought myself a (full size) E280 a while back, but it had none of the style or class of this old coupe. I eventually chose a Jaguar S Type, sadly now gone - now that had style in buckets.

The Matchbox Merc 220SE was released in 1963 coloured maroon, it was later changed to dark red. Wheels can be silver, black or grey plastic. This was a new departure for Matchbox having opening doors and being larger than the Matchboxes had been to date. The model remained in production to 1968 and is a fairly commonly found model with no very valuable versions. Of the ones listed the hardest to find is maroon with black wheels.

This Matchbox/Lesney was sourced in November 2013 from Lacy Scott & Knight auctioneers