Matchbox Manton Mini

Meanwhile, I’ve kept myself busy. This time I rescued a Matchbox Racing Mini (that’s what it’s called). An early ‘Superfast’ model from 1970, this toy has been very, very played with. It had been painted with something like Liquid Paper and marking pen. There were scratches in the ‘glass’, the bodywork and the axles were bent.

Inspired by online videos of model restorations, I pulled this out of the ‘almost too hard’ pile and dug in. Started by pulling it apart – drilling out the two rivets holding the car together. The interior plastic and the glass went into some soapy water to get the grunge off. The glass still had black stuff all over it so I used Autosol metal polish and a cotton bud to polish it. There are still some deep scratches and a crack in it, but it’s a million times better.

Straightening axles requires a couple of pairs

of needle-nose pliers and some patience. But I got it done. At this point, I’m not getting aftermarket parts – they are available, but I’m not looking to spend too much money on these.

The body needed a lot of work, too. Acetone didn’t touch the liquid paper, so it was scrubbed with a brass wire brush.

Once down to bare metal, I polished it with more of the Autosol to get it properly clean. There was a number 7 dug into the left-hand door, so that had to be lled, I used Tamiya model putty for that then rubbed it back smooth.

Colour was a no-brainer – Neptune Racing Team blue (actually just Tamiya blue). With a set of decals from Pattos Place (www.pattosplace. com) the Peter Manton Mini is done. It goes nicely with the 1:18 Mustang and 1:43 EH as driven by Norm Beechey (Classic Carlectables and Trax respectively). Now to nd a Jim McKeown Cortina – again, modeled by Classic Carlectables in 1:43. Or do I want to do it myself?