Matchbox 24c; Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

This is the series one Silver Shadow from 1967. It was a big departure for Rolls-Royce and their first modern car. It went into the Matchbox range in 1968 in metallic red with an opening boot and regular wheels, there being two types of wheels found, black wheels with plated hubcaps and plated hubs with black plastic tyres. Of these the silver hubcap variants can get a small premium.

In 1970 it was converted to Superfast wheels retaining the opening boot and remaining in metallic red, although dark and light shades are known. It remained in the range until 1973 without any significant changes other than changes in baseplate colour. The baseplate can be black, pink, grey or metallic green. They are all worth about the same except for the grey base which is a little more common and gets a lower price as a result.

There was a re-release in 1977/8 for the Japanese market in light metallic gold with either a black or unpainted base, unpainted being slightly preferable.