[REVIEW] Lesney Matchbox ERF Petrol Tanker

Lesney Matchbox time is here again. A while back, someone posted a Matchbox Originals ERF petrol tanker. Today we examine Lesney Matchbox 11a, the ERF petrol tanker. This casting entered the range in 1955, and remained until 1958, when it was replaced by a nearly identical slightly larger tanker. I forget if the Matchbox Originals is modeled after an 11a or 11b. This casting puts a light on the early days of Lesney Matchbox production, as this was the 11th casting to enter the 1-75 series:

This is a perfect example what one expects for a product of the early years. Scale is tiny, I think almost certainly smaller than 1:100. There’s no glazing, no baseplate, as those were for the future. It features metal wheels, crimped axles, and hand-applied gold trim as was usual for the era. Even with this old fashioned feature set, it manages to include a nice amount of fine detail from all angles. One could see that Lesney was aiming to be a quality product:

The front and rear feature similar detail. The “ERF” (a brand now always associated with Richard Hammond) grille logo is a nice touch, and the Esso decal has withstood the test of time:

The base is quite basic, as was the case for all 1955 1-75 models. Identifying data is limited to “Lesney”:

This example is lucky enough to live in its very nice original earlier type B box. With this and the red color and other details of the model (earlier ones were green or yellow, both scarce), this was likely made around 1957:

Definitely one I am glad to have in my collection. It is a piece of history, and is a must-have if one also has an 11b (for future review):

I couldn’t find an image of a 1:1 ERF tanker of this style, so here’s a truck with a similar cab, from pinterest: