Ford Country Squire

The wheels tell me that it's a Matchbox "Superfast".

 

Really? Wouldn't it say "Matchbox" on it somewhere if it was?

 

I do not care if you believe me or not.
Google "Matchbox Superfast Mercury" and you will see your car with a variety of wheel types.
Lesney was sold so the name went away as did the branding on the bottom of the casting.
I believe Mattel now reproduces the castings.

I design tampo prints for Johnny Lightnings and artwork so I keep up on the goings on in the industry.

 

You and I just became very best friends!

I thought that the bottom of the car was familiar--that's the way the Matchbox cars were cast after the sale, when production was moved, and IIRC, they were moved to Hong Kong and Macau back then. It was as if the buyers didn't understand trademarking in production.

 

Plus it also seemed to me that once a few years passed and the car was used in several different variations. I think between the Mercury wagon, and the 4 door ‘68 Merc that car was police, fire, personal, a wagon from a ranch with the bull head on the hood. It went through 3 or 4 different Matchbox numbers in different series so I’m sure Matchbox got their wear out it. I think they used that Mercury through like 1975-‘77 by the time the put the superfast wheels on it.

 

Oh I hope you meant that in jest Jairus. I'm no expert, so I wouldn't know. I just assumed it would say "Matchbox" if it was a matchbox toy.

I actually did google it and I found the superfast versions.

I do wonder if it is a later production though (re-pop by another company) and here's why:
This car doesn't look as clean or perhaps crisp as the matchbox superfast cars. Some of the details aren't there.
It says FORD on the bottom. None of the superfast cars (that I cam across anyway) say that on the bottom. Most of them are labeled as Mercury.
I looked for quite a while, but I couldn't find another car that had the same paint and woodgrain as this one.

So, none of that disproves that it is a Matchbox Superfast, I just find it interesting. Like I said earlier, I'm not an expert on these cars and I will always defer to folks in the know.

 

I have a bunch of them that are different colors and different brands. Some are really cheap with plastic bottoms and others have metal.

 

This one has a metal bottom.

 

So I was cruising the forum and this popped up on the top of the screen where the photos are always changing.

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/media/1969-mercury-commuter-wagon.12151/#media



Leads me to believe the one we have is a non matchbox re-pop.

 

Yeah that particular green one is a Superfast. Those came in the early to mid ‘70’s. The original one had the chrome type wheels. Yours also has a plastic front end like a Thunderbird.

 

That seems to be the case. Mine has a different front end than the green one, the undercarriage is different, the wheels look different and the overall detail of the entire car does not match that of the green car.