Beaters of a Bygone Age: The Matchbox Ferrari Testarossa...

Mattel have been separated from Ferrari for over a year and a half now, and I'm surprisingly not having much of a problem with it. Despite having 40+ Ferraris in my collection, it would seem to me that the lack of Ferrari has opened Hot Wheels up to the return of the likes of Jaguar and McLaren, and the continuation of its blossoming relationships with Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, BMW and many more. Even a return for Mercedes could be on the cards, but who knows!

So in a nutshell, it was sad to see Ferrari part ways with Mattel, but it hasn't had a hugely bad effect on Hot Wheels (quite the opposite I think). But that's not, as you can probably guess, what this post is about. Ferrari's new exclusive licensing agreement with Maisto/Bburago also prevents any new/returning Matchbox models too. Another shame, as Matchbox and Ferrari have a rich heritage, which I stumbled across two pieces of the other day...

I was at a Motor Madness UK event and one of the stalls was selling all sorts of old diecast from a couple of boxes for 50p each, so me being me I decided to have a good rummage. Then I found myself walking away with two classic Matchbox Ferrari Testarossas, which of course have seen better days but are in great condition all things considered. They'll probably never be made again so I couldn't pass up the opportunity, as these cars are (quite a lot) older than me and have their own sense of history. After doing some intense googling, I found that I'd picked up the First Edition!

The car above is 30 years old, MB75 of the 75 cars released in the 1986 Matchbox Mainline and has less paint chips than the other Testarossa, which has to be younger. Incredibly cheap slices of history these are, and I'm very glad to have them.