Lamley Daily: Matchbox Florida Highway Patrol Ford LTD

I've accumulated a few different releases of the Matchbox Ford LTD police car, but this Premiere World Class release from 1997, in authentic Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) deco, is the one I like best

Building a 1:64 Kyosho Ferrari 575 GTC

I’d always wondered how easy it was to put together a 1:64 Kyosho Ferrari and I wasn’t sure whether a kit model would hit the same heights as the pre-assembled ones. When a Ferrari 575 GTC came up for sale for a good price, I decided it was time to find out.

Lamley Daily: Matchbox Chevrolet Avalanche

Chevy trucks are a hot collecting trend right now but amidst the scramble to collect the (ahem) avalanche of vintage Squarebodies, Stepsides and more being issued by the likes of Hot Wheels, Auto World, M2 and Greenlight, I don’t see a lot of love for the Avalanche.

Lamley Daily: Tomica Mazda Bongo Friendee

The Bongo Friendee is one of my favourite Tomica castings. It’s a solid lump of metal and has the fantastic ‘Auto Free Top’ extendable roof for great play value. It also comes in paint finishes that reflect real-life colours, complete with the correct graphics

Matchbox Formula 1 grid walk, Part 2: 1970s-1990s

Welcome to Part 2 of my walkthrough of Matchbox’s Formula 1 cars. We’d reached 1978 and the demise of the Team Matchbox, a generic formula car that had been part of the Superfast range since 1973. That left the No.36 Formula 5000 as the only single-seater in the lineup, but some of the best Matchbox F1 cars were still to come

Matchbox Formula 1 grid walk, Part 1: 1950s-1970s

I began writing this article with the intention of covering Matchbox’s Formula 1 history, based on cars in my collection. The more I dug into the topic, the more there was to say, so I’m splitting the story into two parts. This is Part 1 and covers the 1950s, 60s and 70s, from the Maserati 4CLT to the Team Matchbox

Lamley Daily: Evel Knievel’s Chevy-powered Aston Martin Lagonda

This Johnny Lightning Aston Martin Lagonda is a bit of an oddity. Its modified look includes side pipes and a rear wing, because the original version was issued as the only car in a 1998, four-model set of Evel Knievel’s vehicles. Knievel owned a Lagonda that had had its original 5.3-liter Aston V8 swapped for an 8.2-liter, big-block Chevy

Lamley Daily: Shelby Collectibles Aston Martin DBR1 (2009)

I’m looking forward to the Top Gun-related Matchbox DBR1 that’s coming later this year, but until then this silver Shelby Collectibles issue is the only 1:64 DBR1 in my collection. The detail is great, with an opening bonnet (hood) and doors. Carroll Shelby famously won at Le Mans in a DBR1, in 1959. The sister car of Stirling Moss retired after six hours but he won in the car at Goodwood and the Nürburgring

Guest Post: Cold War Classics Made in West Germany: The beautiful 1:66 diecast of Schuco (by Graham Heeps)

It has been awhile since we have had a guest post here on Lamley, but I am always game, especially when the post relates to models I don't collect.  That means we could have endless guest posts, so if you have an idea, send it over. Graham Heeps is one of those collectors with a …

Guest Feature: My pursuit for 800 Matchbox, by Graham Heeps.

In 30+ years my collection has veered off at various tangents – Models of Yesteryear (still great, now largely worthless), Royal Mail vans (sold to fund a custom-built display cabinet), Corgi Juniors, Tomica, Majorette, Schuco, CM's rally cars and – especially since I moved to Canada two years ago – a few Hot Wheels, too. But Matchbox miniatures will always form the bulk of my collection, which currently stands at around 3,000