Tag: Aveling Barford

First Released: 1956
Scale: 1/90

Length: 2 1/4”

01	02
Released: 1956 Body: Light Green Front Wheels: Metal Roller Wide (Red) Rear Wheels: Metal Roller Narrow (Red) Driver: Light Brown	Released: 1956 Body: Light Green Front Wheels: Metal Roller Wide (Red) Rear Wheels: Metal Roller Narrow (Red) Driver: Dark Brown
1956 1957	1956 1957

The second Lesney model of the Aveling Barford road roller replaced the earlier issue in the matchbox 1-75 series in 1956.

The new version was longer at 57mm in length and it was painted light green and it had red die cast metal rollers. It had gold trim to the towing hook and flat head axles with crimped ends.

The only variation was found on the driver which can be found painted in either light or dark brown. There were no casting or colour variations and the model was only in production for two years so it is not very easy to find. It was replaced by the 1c Aveling Barford road roller which was a scaled up version of the same vehicle.

The 1b road roller was packaged in ‘B’ type boxes and there are no rare variations. Budgie toys made an almost identical road roller which can be mistaken for this model but the Budgie version did not have a hook and the rear rollers had eight small studs cast into the sides.

Source: Nick Jones (Vintage British Diecasts)

Released: 1962
Scale: 1/86

01	02	03
Released: 1962 Body: Green Front Wheel: Roller- Plastic Wide (Red) Rear Wheels: Roller – Plastic Thin (Red) Base Hole: No Base Rivets: No Baseplate: No.1	Released: 1962 Body: Green Front Wheel: Roller- Plastic Wide (Red) Rear Wheels: Roller – Plastic Thin (Red) Base Hole: Yes Base Rivets: No Baseplate: No.1	Released: 1962 Body: Green Front Wheel: Roller- Plastic Wide (Red) Rear Wheels: Roller – Plastic Thin (Red) Base Hole: Yes Base Rivets: Yes Baseplate: No.1
1962 , 1963 , 1964 , 1965 , 1966 , 1967	1962 , 1963 , 1964 , 1965 , 1966 , 1967	1962 , 1963 , 1964 , 1965 , 1966 , 1967

This version of the Lesney road roller was introduced into the Matchbox 1-75 series in 1962 and like the previous issue the 1D Aveling Barford was a scaled up version of the 1B roller.

Apart from being a little larger at 67mm long the main difference between this and the previous versions was the rollers which were now made from plastic, these were on dome head rounded axles. The front roller carrier could be steered and this was also held on by a dome head axle pin with rounded ends.

The colour was a dark green and a driver was cast in. It featured a tow hook but what it was supposed to tow is anyones guess.  There were a few casting variations. The first was the addition of a hole in the baseplate. It’s purpose is unknown. Until now the baseplate had been held on by the rear axle but it was decided that for some extra strength two rivets should be added to attach the baseplate with. To do this some of the lettering had to be removed from the baseplate so the words “made in England by Lesney” were cast in their new position which was under the roof in very small lettering.

The 1D roller is a fairly common piece but the first version without the hole in the baseplate is quite rare although it does not command much of a premium as the difference between this and the common versions is not easily visible and would not stand out as a different variation in the display cabinet.

The 1d was sold in ‘D’ and ‘E’ type boxes. It was deleted in 1967 to make way for the 1E Mercedes Truck

Source: Nick Jones (Vintage British Diecasts)