[REVIEW] Lesney Matchbox Wolseley 1500

Lesney Matchbox time is here again, and time again for another classic. Today we examine Matchbox 57a, the Wolseley 1500. This casting entered the range in 1958, remaining only until 1961, a short run. Although this model had a short tenure and is of diminutive size, it has plenty of charm:

Welcome to 1958. No glazing, no interiors, no moving parts, but a remarkable amount of fine line detailing for a casting of this size, especially one primarily intended to be a toy. And even with the fine detail, this model has the soft mellow charm 50s Lesney Matchbox products are known for. Scale is hard to estimate, I suspect in the upper 1:60s, this is a small casting, but the real world car isn’t huge either. One may notice a casting quirk on the driver’s (RHD) side, showing that this still the early years of precision diecast. From all angles, this is a sweet little car:

Front and rear have similar detail, with the grille being nicely cast indeed. The hand-applied trim paint has aged well for being roughly 60 years old:

The base is basic, as was the style of the time, and contains identifying data. I believe this model was only offered with grey plastic wheels:

This example is lucky enough to live in its original long style Type B box. With this box type, it was likely made around 1960:

This is another one I am glad to have in my collection. A true classic from the early years of the Matchbox line, with vintage appeal to spare.  This model also concludes this batch of boxed Matchbox - the next installment will be loose cars, and some of other brands too:

Some 1:1 images from wikimedia and waimakclassiccars.co.nz: