Model: Matchbox MB071 Ferrari 308GTB
Release: 1981 MB70
Why is it in the collection: Memories of when I first saw it
My parents may remember this story if they were to read this article. It is a memory that stuck with me. I would have been 8 or 9. I was born in the middle of the year, so couldn’t say if the model was found before or after my 9th birthday. Not all the memory is crystal clear, but some parts are. Every 2-3 weeks my parents used to drag myself and my sister to a town called Wellingborough. It wasn’t too far from where we lived, but they found that it was better for shopping, parking was free and easy (it still is), and was better than heading into the local town each week.
We had a car park we would always use, and then it was a quick walk through a row of small independent shops to the main shopping area. As you reached this zone, there would be a pelican crossing (a UK name for a crossing zone) to get across the main road, and immediately as you crossed, there would be a hobby shop on the corner. It was the best part of the trip for me. We always used to pop in there at first, and for a lot of the time, there would be a Matchbox display on the end of the first aisle as you headed in. That would be my first (and often only) port of call. It was THE best place to find all the newest stuff. Sadly it is no longer there (it is a McDonald’s now). I still remember when the Ferrari first appeared. The display in this store was mainly a rack style with long vertical strips going down made of wires, and it was just full of boxes with models inside. The end flaps would be facing front and you would just scan down the models to see what was there. They had a vague order for them from 1-75. I scanned through, and right near the end was this new Ferrari. OMG!
I pulled the box out, opened it and was in awe. This thing was lovely. I pleaded, my parents relented and bought it for me. Thanks mum and dad. We then proceeded to head off into the main shopping area. But I couldn’t help myself. The model was out, and was being rolled along every surface going. While in one department store I could see patterns in the carpeted area which I used for rolling the model along pretending they were a road. There I was busy rolling the model around other people who were trying to get by. All the time having my parents shouting at me to stop being a nuisance and get up off the floor. Sorry guys. I stopped. As soon as their backs were turned, I was on the floor again. I was having fun. I was extremely lucky they didn’t just take the model away from me. But as we walked around the shopping centre this car was rolled along floors, down steps, along railings, basically anything going.
I have to admit, this is not the original model. This is a later purchase of a mint replacement. But this brings me to the second part of the tale of this model. When first released, the model was supposed to have the same upper paint job as lower paint job. The factory at Lesney had a very difficult time matching them up.
The upper half would more often than not be a darker shade to the lower half. They tried during the first year to get it right, gave up and decided to go with some tampo printing to cover it up, and when that wasn’t enough they just went with a silver lower half.
So the all orange, no tampo variant was only around during the first year. It wasn’t actually a planned change, just they were trying their best to cover up the issues in production. This was also the first year of the new style to bases. Lesney England, instead of Lesney Products & Co Ltd, Made in England, becoming the new shortened write-up. The Superfast logo going. Plus, they started adding scales to the models too. But daft fact. Did you know this was close to being copyrighted in 1980 and was going to be sold as MB8? Pre-production samples exist with the copyright year of 198 (as they didn’t know when it was going to be dated) and No. 8 on the model. But as was often the case, things got switched around late in the day, and it got moved to MB70, so 8 was wiped and 70 added. A 1 ended up being added to the end of the year too. Because these bases were also orange, there are a few random ones that ended up being sent out. Very rare. I am not worried about finding them. Mine is a regular-detailed base.
But whenever I see this model I still remember that first look of enjoyment when I opened the box and saw this. Good times.
This was a great model. When it came out I’d just started work in Manchester as a model maker. (They’d done work for Dinky, but before I started) Sadly I can’t remember where I got mine – Woolies, WHSmith, Bradford Model Railway Exchange (Which was in Manchester) Beatties? As I remember tis model was a step forward with the seat unit also forming the trim line.