The latest Matchbox Magic Auction at Teesside saleroom Vectis (22.5% buyer’s premium) on January 20 included as the highest-estimated lot a Matchbox Regular Wheels 62c Mercury Cougar, dubbed overall a “nice example of a genuine rare model”.
It was catalogued as “Rare Stannard Code 1”, referring to the standard collecting guide terminology (early Lesney models identified by Michael J Stannard’s 1985 catalogue system for Regular Wheels Matchbox), so was not an unknown model.
The condition was “excellent with just a few tiny chips mostly to front of wings” and the car was offered in the “good ‘New Model’ type E4 box”.
Vectis said: “This is a rare model due to the colour; this model has a pale yellow body (commonly referred to as cream). This is a first issue colour and wasn’t produced for very long before changing colours, the standard is a metallic lime green body. It also has clear windows without windscreen wipers and without a rear-view mirror, which confirms it is an early casting and hasn’t been repainted.”
The Regular Wheels line was produced from 1953, the advent of Matchbox, to 1969 when the Superfast range took over using wheels made of slightly softer plastic on very thin spring-loaded axles.
Pitched at a punchy £3000-4000, the Cougar car roared away to a remarkable £18,000 hammer price - or £22,050 including the premium - to set a world record.
During the Matchbox Magic sale in January last year Vectis took an £11,000 hammer price for a Regular Wheels 13d Dodge BP Wreck Truck that came from a very limited run in terms of colour – part of the Graham Hamilton collection. Back in May 2021, again as part of that Graham Hamilton collection, a Superfast 31c Lincoln Continental Pre-production trial model (Superfast 32a) was knocked down at £13,000.
