#33B Ford Zephyr 6

Another of those Matchboxes I bought as a twelve-year-old without having any idea that it existed as a real car across the pond. The Zephyr 6 was Ford's family car (the "6" indicated a six-cylinder engine), and was of an era when European cars were starting to show a strong American influence stylewise — note the tail fins (better late than never!), whitewall tyres, and the squared-off design (especially in the roof area). Matchbox introduced #33B in 1963, and all of them were one shade or another of the green in the photo above. Ford came out with the full-zized version the year before, and it lasted until 1966. — jc