Lincoln Navigator and Ford Excursion Stretch Limos

Not sure if you remember these stretch limos from about 10 years ago...  They are LOOOONG stretch limos of luxury SUVs - a really cool idea for this typically un-modeled segment of the auto world. 

Unfortunately these limos don't have any opening parts - an opening door (like the ones on the stretch Lincoln Town Car limos done by Majorette about 25 years ago) - would have been a really nice touch.  (Of course, the oversize 1/55th scale of the Majorette limos made this attempt only partially succesful - and off-set the positive aspects of the opening doors). 

But these stretched SUVs had a much bigger problem in my eyes.  The toys were made with beautiful oversize alloy wheels (a plus), but with a massively lowered suspension that would never work in an actual limo.  Certain models seemed to be more lowered than others - you can see the furthest silver limo is almost scraping the ground.  For this reason I only ever bought 3 of these really cool limos. 

When I bought them, I was able to unscrew the base plate (screws!  no rivets!)  of the white Lincoln and artificially modify the suspension to make it ride higher.  Amazingly I was successful in this - you can see in the photo that it rides at a much more normal height. 

I intended to do the same to the other limos but never got around to it.  I guess I can always do it in the future. 

The most surprising thing about these limos was who made them...  Would you believe that Maisto's name is on the bottom!?!

My Favorite Models Post

Welcome to my First "Matchbox Frenzy" blog posting!

This wasn't supposed to be the first posting - the first one was going to be much more philosophical - detailing the impacts of Matchbox cars on my life - and how they fundamentally improved the entire history of human civilization. But somehow that posting never got much traction under it (I wonder why...) and so instead I'm doing the easier (and more fun) first posting where I discuss my favorite Matchbox models of all time...

So here goes: "Hello Fellow Matchbox Fans!!!"

Comments are welcome - let me know what your favorites are and whether you agree

with mine.

Favorite Toy Car Line/Manufacturer: Given that 75+% of my cars are Matchbox cars, that I love Matchbox cars, and that I would always call myself a "Matchbox Collector", the answer is supposed to be Matchbox! But instead I've got to pick Tomica - who produces such a phenomenol range of Japanese market cars - focusing on ordinary consumer cars rather than just exotic and/or muscle cars.

A few years ago Toyota brought out a slightly freshened version of the Crown/Camry.

Tomica promptly followed suit and brought out a new casting themselves.

The first photo shows 2 versions of the original Crown casting (in silver and police car) along with the newer green version. Next image shows the rear ends of the cars - where the rear lights are the most obvious clues as to the new casting.

Matchbox did this really only once in thier 50 year history (my opinion). It started with the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow - a great casting with the opening trunk - particularly the Transitional Superfast model. When Rolls Royce massaged the design and christened it the Silver Shadow II Matchbox created an entirely new casting - but the end product still closely resembled the original product - especially when painted a similar red. The above photo shows my set of Matchbox Silver Shadows (along with the stray Silver Spur at the top - included since it is again a similar shade of red), both regular wheel and superfast, with a few color variations. My favorite color for the SS II is the light gold one. I also have 2 of the more common silver versions of the SS II - but ran out of time to lay my hands on them. (But I was able to include the blue version... do you like it?).

Another vote for Tomica is their minivan series... I can count on one hand the number of (non-VW-transporter) mini-vans produced by Matchbox and Hot Wheels, but Tomica produces version after wonderful version of mini-vans, updating them almost as often the manufacturers themselves.

Favorite Car from childhood: Matchbox Audi Quattro. The beat-up white one with color blocks - # 20 - was my childhood version. It looks correct this way - aren't rally cars supposed to be scruffy? I think it looks cooler than the mint version beside it. Note also the nasty Maisto copy-cat version (#88). In the photo its a little hard to see how poorly the Maisto version compares to the Matchbox versions - although you can see how the grill/headlights are thicker and less in-scale.

Another favorite was the Matchbox Ruf Trek in brown. Its amazing to see how a body kit and more agressive wheels can transform the plebian Holden pick-up (background of the photo) into the Ruf Treks in the foreground.

Favorite '60's Matchbox car: Superfast Ford Pickup in red. The front one with the missing cap and slightly beat up condition is my favorite - pick-ups are supposed to be beat-up.

Favorite '70's Matchbox car: A tough choice - but at least for right now I'll say the Mercury sedan/wagon police/fire/consumer car... I can't decide which version I like best - probably the red superfast wagon in the foreground.

Favorite '80's Matchbox car: Easy choice - the Mercedes 500SEC AMG. My favorite is the red version with the Laser Wheels on the top rack of the car carrier. Note the 2 black versions in the left of the photo - version on top has the grey headlights/base with the brown interior while lower version has black headlights with the dark interior. Also note the wonderful triple decker Corgi car carrier - a prized element of my collection.

Favorite '90's Matchbox car: Un-decided as of yet - check back in for updates!

Favorite '00's Matchbox car: Mercedes E-Class wagon (not shown). A nice casting in its own right - made even better by the very uncommon metal base. This one will be highly prized in the future! The simple black version is my favorite.

Favorite '10's Matchbox car: Again - a hard choice. But one contender is the Lincoln Navigator (not shown) - I just bought a wonderful light blue version with nice alloy wheels. It came in several colors, including a nice dark blue and an unfortunate early version in maroon with blacked out windows and no interior.

Favorite Hot Wheels Redline: Police/Fire Cruiser. I have a tough time deciding whether Matchbox or Hot Wheels makes the better '60's/'70's fire chief car - especially when Matchbox has 2 cool contenders. But my vote has to go with the Hot Wheels version - it just looks tougher and more menacing.

Favorite '80's Hot Wheels: Lots of potential choices - the Jeep CJ, the Jeep Scrambler, the Dodge Omni 024, the Vanagon Sundowner, the Bronco... I just can't decide.

Favorite '90's Hot Wheels: Undecided...

Favorite '00's Hot Wheels: This was an easy choice (and a tie). When How Wheels brought out the Hot Wheels Classics series, most of the castings were repeats of old castings. But there were 2 in particular that I believe were new and never repeated (at least not in the basic $.99 Hot Wheels line). The Pontiac GTO (shown in 2 shades of red), and the Dodge Dart (shown in multiple colors). I can't figure out why there isn't more collector interest in these 2 models.

Favorite Tomica model of all time: Toyota Crown Athlete in silver (not pictured).

OK - so ends my first ever blog - and the first blog in the Matchbox Frenzy series. Thanks for reading and check back in for my next update!