Matchbox 1972 Lotus Europa Special

Matchbox's second Lotus Europa model (after the one Lesney introduced to the original 1-75 range back in 1969) is the later Twin-Cam version - the car they modelled in 1969 was the earlier, Renault-engined Europa.

Overall, this is a sharp little model. They got the proportions right and having the filler caps as part of the chrome bumper moulding is an especially nice touch. The Matchbox Classic Wheels really suit it too.

The chrome interior is a little bit of a letdown, but I don't think it really looks that bad, especially through the tinted windscreen. This may be personal taste - I know these chrome interiors bug a lot of people, but I just don't mind them.

I have to admit to being a little less sure about the colour. The metallic blue is pretty, and I'm all for unusual colour choices but it just seems a bit... odd for some reason. I think what it is is that the blue plastic baseplate is a fraction of a shade off from the bodyshell. It is, of course, possible that they picked this colour as homage to the earlier model, since that was also available in metallic blue (and metallic pink!) The tampos on this one look great (although I'd prefer a proper numberplate rather than just a "72 Europa" script) and I really, really hope they do it in dark metallic green at some point soon!

In 2009, Matchbox added the Lotus Europa to it's lineup. They choose the colour blue, a kind of a dark metallic one, which suits the car, but it's older competition, for instance the Lone Star's yellow version, have better colours.

The car has nice little details, such as the logo, the word LOTUS accross the back, but it's let down by it's interior. A probably overlooked detail is the nice grille at the front. As with the Karmann, Matchbox wanted to give the car chrome details, but unfortunately decided to do the interior in chrome as well, which looks plain cheap. The darkened windows don't add to the look, it gives the image of Summer miniatures of olden days. The 3-spoke wheels kind of fit the car and as a miniature it's a proper job, but not very exciting, as it was done before and done better.