by Jane Winstead

Created on: March 02, 2009

History of Matchbox Cars:

This is the story of the how the first Matchbox Car was created. Jack O'Dell, co-owner of Lesney Products crafted the miniature car for his daughter because the school she attended would not allow the youngsters to bring toys to school unless they fit into a matchbox. As most fathers do when their child is unhappy, Jack set about to craft such a toy for his little girl.

The British Lesney Products was founded in 1947 as an industrial die casting company by Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith. They chose the name "Lesney Products" using syllables from their Christian names. While the two men were not related they had been boyhood friends and served together in the Royal Navy during World War II.

Shortly after the company was founded Rodney Smith introduced John "Jack" Odell to Leslie Smith. Jack Odell was an engineer that Roger met when the two men were working for another die casting company. In the beginning Jack had his own company and rented space in the Lesney building to create his own die casting products. That same year he became a partner in the Lesney Products.

Because they were receiving fewer industrial orders the company began making parts for a toy gun in late 1947. The next year they started to make a miniature die cast model of a Dinky Toys Road Roller. (Dinky miniature toys were first introduced in early 1934 in Liverpool, England). As 1951 rolled around Rodney Smith could see no future for the business and decided to leave the company.

The school where Jack Odell's daughter attended would only allow children to bring toys to school no larger than a matchbox. When Jack found out about the restrictions the school had set, he told his little girl that he would make a small toy for her. He crafted a miniature version of one of Lesney's die cast toy cars, the green and red Road Roller. This toy ultimately became the first of the 1-75 miniature range. Later, models of an MG Midget TD, a Vauxhall Cresta and a Ford Zodiac were added to the line.

As with every successful company, competition crept in. Along came other brands, Husky, Corgi Juniors, Budgie and Cigar Box trying to compete with Matchbox. Only Mattel's Hot Wheels line compared to the success of the Matchbox line. The Hot Wheels line was not true to scale of the original Matchbox cars and was not as fast. Hot Wheels took care of the speed by developing "low friction racing wheels." Mattel also developed "fantasy vehicles" some painted in bright metallic colors, "mag" wheels and slick tires. It became hard for Lesney to compete with the small cars made by Mattel and styled after American cars.

Lesney hoped to boost its business by creating a new line called "Superfast." The Superfast line was not on the market in time for Lesney to avoid a financial disaster. Matchbox did recover from their financial setback and by the mid-70s they were on top of the world market. They updated their line to include some of the low friction wheels and once in awhile added a new color.

The Matchbox Car was introduced as a brand name in 1953. Today Matchbox Cars are highly collectible. The Matchbox brand name is presently owned by Mattel, Inc.

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