A NEW WAVE OF CARS!
Here's another batch of toy cars I had in my day!
Hot Wheels Bywayman - 1980 - Not sure where or when I got this pickup, but one website says it's called the Bywayman and is a Chevrolet Silverado.
Matchbox U.S. Mail Truck - 1979 - 1:59 - This is said to be a Jeep with a generous scale of 1:59.
Hot Wheels Fire Eater - 1977 - It's another fire engine, and one website says this "well-loved staple of every kid's toybox" was still being produced as of 2026.
Playart Ford Mustang - This website is like a Cavalcade of Customs for toy cars. The main difference is that it doesn't have my old classmates prostituting themselves. This car is a Mustang convertible. People are selling these for low double-digit sums on eBay.
Playart police van - Yet another emergency vehicle. One website calls this van "very very rare." With my storylines, the cops needed a whole van instead of just a regular cruiser.
Hot Wheels Upfront 924 - 1980 - This is a Porsche 924. This is the sort of sports car that always elicited oohing and aahing.
Hot Wheels Royal Flash - 1979 - This car is a sporty Lotus Esprit.
Matchbox Mobile Home - 1980 - 1:114 - Who doesn't love this beautiful RV? This vehicle has a brown door on the passenger side that can be opened. Matchbox used the same body for its NASA Tracking Vehicle. I remember the Sesame Street segment about the kid who lived in a "motorhome" and got to travel everywhere. I wished I could do that.
Matchbox Refuse Truck - 1981 - 1:86 - I always liked garbage trucks. For a while when I was very young, I used to get excited when I heard the garbage truck tooling up the street and always rushed into the living room to watch it. Matchbox's Refuse Truck is nice in that the loader opens up so you can spill trash. The loader is also labeled with the brand Colectomatic above the cab. The scale is said to be 1:86 - just a tiny bit bigger than ho scale.
Matchbox Police Launch - 1977 - 1:96 - This police yacht features two burly policemen standing guard. Matchbox later introduced a series of vehicles with the Coca-Cola logo, which added a Coke-branded Police Launch in 2003. It appears to have the same two cops, but the boat is emblazoned with the Coke logo. As I write this website as we enter 2026, the idea of government taking police actions on behalf of big corporations predicted real life.
Matchbox Seasprite - 1977 - This rescue helicopter conjures memories of frequent use of helicopters by local TV and radio. For example, Channel 9 had the Newsbird, and Al Schottelkotte was always flying around in it and beaming widely. The Newsbird's reign ended in 1983 when it ran out of fuel and crashed.
Kenner Z28 - 1980 - This is a Chevrolet Camaro Z28 station wagon - with a Kentucky license plate. It appears as if a real car like this didn't even exist as a factory model and was merely a custom dream car. I don't even remember having this, and it looks like it's never been used.
Matchbox Clipper - 1973 - 1:59 - Now we're getting into cars that I don't remember having but appear to be heavily used. I must have buyed these cheaply at garage sales just as I was outgrowing toys. The Clipper is interesting in that practically the whole car opens up, like something out of a sci-fi. Plus, the driver's side is on the right. Apparently, it's supposed to have tailpipes that bob up and down as you roll it, but those are gone. Gone, I tell you!
Hot Wheels '56 Hi-Tail Hauler - 1977 - This model was based on the 1956 Ford F-100 pickup. It's lugging around a pair of motorcycles in the bed. Aaaaayyy!
Hot Wheels Poison Pinto - 1976 - This is a Ford Pinto. In real life, the Pinto was one of the most dangerous cars of the era, known for frequent fires. A close look through the rear window of the Poison Pinto reveals a set of tools. In 2024, Hot Wheels released a monster truck version of this car. A monster truck Pinto?
Tomica oil tanker - 1:127 - This appears to be a pretty old and pretty rare truck. If you look hard enough, you might find a couple old, beat-up instances of this tanker online.