This, in my opinion was a curious choice for Matchbox to introduce into their line up. Considering the toy didn't appear until 1958, by then the real car was well and truly out of racing contention. However, the toy is a lovely example of the pre war racing car. Just for interest, here is some history about the actual racing cars.
In 1947, the Maserati 4CLT/48 predecessor, the 4CL, dominated the season. Maserati drivers won 10 individual race victories that year.
1948 saw the introduction of the 4CLT a modified version of the 4CL with a tubular chassis, hence the “T” for tubular chassis. The engine was improved with increased torque and power resulting from fitting twin Rootes superchargers to the inline-4 cylinder engine of 1491cc. Power was increased from 200bhp to 260 bhp (194kw) giving it a maximum top speed of 168mph (270kph)!
Alberto Ascari drove his 4CLT to victory in its first race appearance at the 1948 Sanremo Grand Prix. Luigi Villoresi and Reg Parnell won a further five of the 1948 season's races with their 4CLTs.
In 1949 the trio of Ascari, Villoresi and Parnell were joined by Juan Manuel Fangio and Toulo de Graffenried and won nine of the first fifteen races of the season. However, in the second half of the 1949 season only three races were won due to increasing competition from Ferrari and Talbot .
1950 saw the introduction of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The season's only F1 wins for the 4CLT was in non-Championship events. Fangio won at the Pau Grand Prix on the same day as Parnell took the Richmond Trophy at Goodwood . Fangio also won the Formula 2 Ramparts Grand Prix at Angoulême.
De Graffenried won the Richmond Trophy, and Giuseppe Farina the Paris Grand Prix in 1951, but from 1952 onwards, the 4CLT chassis was considered overweight and the engine underpowered in comparison to their newer rivals.
The last 4CLT/48 to compete in the World Championship was a modified version by the Arzani-Volpini team, that failed to even qualify for the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.
Today, many 4CL's and 4CLT's are raced in historic motor sport events, as well as being on display in museums.
On to details about the Matchbox Toy and it's variations. Interestingly, this was one of the first models to be introduced with plastic wheels. The model was made from 1958 until August 1965. Later in it's life, it was fitted with cast wire wheels. |