Promotional Model

In the early years the families of Tate & Lyle were competitors until their amalgamation in 1921. Henry Tate the son of a Lancashire Clergyman had moved to Liverpool as a young boy and opened some grocery shops before becoming a partner in a sugar refining company. He later purchased it and changed its name to Henry Tate & Sons and constructed a refinery before extending their activities to London. Meanwhile Abram Lyle had become interested in sugar refining through his father who was a ship owner bringing in raw sugar from the West Indies. He moved to London from Greencock and the families of Tate & Lyle had refineries within a mile of each other. After the merger the expansion of the company was rapid and they grew into a household name.

Golden Syrup still bears the name Lyles Golden Syrup’ with a picture of a lion surrounded by bees under which is the phrase from Judges.
‘‘Out of the strong came forth sweetness’  Shop here

Matchbox made promotional models for many other companies and attractions. But this particular MB38 was made to promote Matchbox itself. The first regular issue MB38 rolled down a Matchbox assembly line in 1982. This vehicle, for the 1-75 line, was the Champion Spark Plugs van. It came with royal blue cab, black base, white roof and shining chrome bumpers, headlights and grille, along with the company’s familiar red and black logo incorporating a sketch of a sparkplug.

Matchbox itself has used the vehicle for sale and advertising messages such as the last model was suspended production in 1992 later on it was produced in Macau, China and Thailand. It is a Model A Ford Van, a yellow colour that advertised itself.