Ford Fairlane Police Patrol Car

Black plastic wheels, repainted by me sometime in the 1960s

Ford Fairlane Police Patrol Car - 55b

I think it was the winter of 1963, might have been 1964, and as was common in those days I was taken into hospital to have my tonsils removed. I was 6 or 7 years old. My recollection was that the tonsils were thought to harbour infection and we were better off with out them in those good old doctor-knows-best interventionist days. Tonsils meant two weeks in hospital too which was a long stretch. One night when my parents came in to see me they brought two Matchbox cars. This one and the same car in red done up as a fireman's car. I still have them both and remember playing with them on the floor of the ward with another little lad - who's stag night I went to in September 2008 and is still a mate.

I have of course repainted this one, both of them actually. It is actually a really good representation of the Ford in very miniature size.

The first ever Matchbox Police car, the Police Patrol Car (55b) was released in 1963 and remained in the range until 1966. It is found in gloss blue and metallic blue with black, silver or grey wheels. There were fewer of the gloss blue models made or of the metallic blue with grey or silver wheels making all of them rare and hard to find. In descending order of rarity and therefore value, look out for: metallic blue with grey plastic wheels, gloss blue with black wheels and metallic blue with silver wheels.