Matchbox 14e; Mini Ha Ha

I often say in these pages that I suspect there was substance abuse at the Lesney factory back in the 1970s. Some of the weird things they made must have been designed whilst in an illegal state of mind. Here we seem to have an oversized aviator poking his head through the roof of a cartoon Mini 1000 with what appears to be the top half of an eight cylinder radial aero engine sticking up out of the bonnet. They do all that and then give it a realistic registration plate for authenticity.

These are always red, but you do get colour variation in the driver and the opaque windows.

The Mini Ha Ha (14e) staggered into the range in 1975 and remained there until 1982 when it was allowed peacefully to slip away. It should have stickers on the side looking vaguely like RAF roundels. The two-colour (red and blue) stickers are rarest and make the car worth a little more. With four colour stickers (red, white, blue and yellow) you should look for dark blue windows and a purple driver.