Matchbox Limited Edition Superfast

 

The original Matchbox toys possessed thin, solid, disc-like wheels on heavy axles. These wheels were durable and (fairly) realistically proportioned to the car, and were simple to make, but they generated a lot of friction and the toys were not very fast.

When Hot Wheels (then a separate company) were introduced in 1968, they featured wider wheels on a thinner axle. The wheels were a made from a low friction plastic, and the axles were polished to further reduce friction; a much faster wheel set that created a much faster car. Sensing the play value of these faster, albeit less realistic models, Lesney created the Superfast series, using the same types of wheels as Hot Wheels had.

Initially, Superfast wheels were about as wide as the older wheels (now called "regular wheels"), keeping the wheel fairly realistically proportioned to the rest of the vehicle, and allowing Lesney to reuse their current castings with only minor changes to the base. These early Superfast wheel sets were relatively fragile, however, so Lesney increased the wheel width within the limits of their then-in-use castings.

Lesney had essentially been caught with their pants down, though, and had to compromise between their castings, which had been designed to accept regular wheels, and the Hot Wheels-style wheel set, which needed a wider wheel to be durable. The castings simply didn't allow enough room for a full-width Hot Wheels type wheel, so middle period Superfast wheels were about half of the width of today's wheels.

Late Superfast

As Lesney developed new castings, however, they designed them around new, full-width Superfast wheels, and the old regular wheels (and even early and middle-period Superfast wheels) were all but abandoned. 

Through attrition, all of the old regular wheel castings were replaced, and all Matchbox toys bore Superfast wheels. Other manufacturers (Corgi, Majorette, etc.) now also released their models on Superfast-like wheels, and the term, which had once indicated the speed of the wheels in relation to their competitors, became meaningless. Superfast was eventually quietly retired.

Special Edition Superfast

From 2004 to 2009, Matchbox returned to using the Superfast name to designate special editions of mainline vehicles, typically given extra-detailed paint schemes for added realism (e.g. painting of headlights, riding lights, license plates). These Superfast vehicles are packaged on a blister card, like other Matchbox vehicles, but also include a box, reminiscent of the boxes Matchbox toys used to be sold in.

Additional series further divided the Superfast series, such as the Superfast America; Superfast Tin Collector box in 2005, which featured Spectra Flame colors; Best of British; Euro Edition, and others. In 2009, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original Superfast, a special edition of the Volkswagen T2 Bus was offered by mail-in. It would mark the last time the Superfast name would be used, as it was discontinued after 2009 and replaced by the Lesney Edition Series in 2010, though the hiatus would be short-lived.