[REVIEW] Lesney Matchbox Austin 200 Gallon Water Truck

Lesney Matchbox time is here again, after a Car Week hiatus. Today we examine Matchbox 71a, the Austin 200 gallon water truck . This casting entered the range in 1959, remaining until 1964, and is a precise model:

The Matchbox line featured a host of military vehicles in the 50s and 60s. I haven’t really touched on these yet, and a few will be seen in this batch of boxed reviews. 71a is a fine example of the casting art produced by Lesney at this time. Fine line casting detail is abundant - casting of this quality at this scale is hard if not impossible to beat today, and this is 60 years old. This dates just before the models jumped in tech to include moving parts, glazing, etc, so it is a hollow cast with no moving parts. However, being a military model must have given it play value, and I suspect a lot of these also found their way into model railroad layouts. Scale is hard to estimate, maybe around 1:65-1:70. The spare tire behind the cab being an actual wheel is a nice touch. From all angles, the attention to detail is apparent, this is a realistic casting:

Front and rear have similar fine line casting detail to spare, and just a little mask sprayed silver paint on the bumper (a military vehicle shouldn’t have too much brightwork):

The base is typical for the era, with complete identifying and maker data:

This example is lucky enough to live in its original Type B box, which dates it to 1959-60. This casting also featured a free gift, a “Matchbox Collector” pinback button, which I was able to find and unite with this model. The buttons are often missing, but somehow inexpensive - I don’t think I paid more than $10 or so for this button. A fun piece of ephemera:

I am pleased to have this model in my collection. The quality is laudable, the condition is virtually as-new, and the button adds interest. Hard to believe this is as old as it is:

And a 1:1 of a similar truck from pinterest: