MERCEDES 300 SE

by Zee Toys

The massive success of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars in the 1960s and ’70s led many toymakers to jump on the bandwagon – but few were as prolific as Zee Toys.

The catchy name might be thought to reflect American pronunciation of the letter ‘Z’ but it actually derives from the name of the founder, Tien P Zee, who founded an import company in California in 1965 to distribute toys made in Hong Kong. The business was so successful that Mr Zee and his brother set up a further company, Zyll Enterprises, to make their own diecast cars.

Until the early 1990s, a huge variety of these cars were sold in the US and Europe, including some reasonably accurate 1:64 scale replicas of Formula 1 racing cars, available in the UK as part of a Texaco petrol offer. A host of different trade names were used: Zee Toy, Zylmex, Dart Wheels, Dyna Wheels, Pacesetters and more. Subjects varied from dragsters to classics such as the Citroën DS, Mercedes 300 SL and Jaguar E-type.

While superficially similar to Hot Wheels, the quality is inferior; they did not run as fast and the wheels were crudely moulded. The success of Zee Toys was simply that they undercut the opposition on price. Even in the 1990s, some of the former Zee Toys tooling was still being used for toys sold in supermarkets, with the original name blanked out.

While Zee Toy products are not hugely sought-after, some enthusiasts like to collect every available replica of a certain car – and this garish yellow Mercedes, with its ‘flower power’ roof sticker, does have a kitsch appeal.