Matchbox Lesney Wheel Types

There were two era’s of Matchbox Lesney wheel types that are clearly distinguished as Matchbox Lesney Regular Wheels and Superfast Wheels.

Regular wheel models have thick steel axle rods that were crimped or machined at the ends to retain the wheels. The wheels were made of metal or later plastic in grey and black, and in a range of sizes and styles. In the mid 1960’s the solid wheels were dropped and new plastic hubs with plastic tyres were introduced. This provided some flexibility in wheel configurations as the hubs could be fitted with different tyre sizes to suit different models.

Superfast wheels were introduced in the late 1960’s as a response to the commercial success of Mattel Hotwheels cars. The Superfast plastic mag style wheels were on thin steel axles that flexed and allowed for fast free running on a smooth surface or the various tracks that were made available.

The change was conducted over an extended period culminating in all of the 1 to 75 small scale series and the renamed SpeedKings larger scale models.

The Models of Yesteryear range retained tbe regular axles.