Model Collector – August 2019

| a new take on an old classic

58 http://www.modelcollector.com | august 2019

SCENICRUISERS

Paul Brent Adams inspects the Matchbox versions released over 50 years apart...

I

n recent years, Matchbox
has produced new takes on
several of its older models.
These are not simply re-issues
of the original castings but
completely newly tooled items.
Some, such as the DUK W
amphibious truck looked at
previously (Nov 2018), are very
different to the originals.
Others, such as the Sceni-
cruiser bus covered here, are
strikingly similar, despite
having been produced five
decades apart. They all,
however, show the changes
in diecast design that have oc-
curred between 1967 and 2018.

Cutting a long story short
The American company Grey-
hound operates long-distance
inter-city bus services. In
Britain these would be called
coaches, but the distinction
between a bus and a coach

does not generally exist outside

the UK; elsewhere everything

is a bus! Back in the 1950s, the

best-known vehicle operated by

the company was the General

Motors Corporation Sceni-

cruiser. This was built from

1954 to 1956 and remained in

service well into the 1970s. In

1961-62 the fleet was rebuilt.

The original twin four-cylinder

engines were replaced by a

single eight-cylinder engine,

and the vehicle’s name was

changed to Super Scenicruiser.

The Scenicruiser had a

raised rear section, with plenty

of space for luggage below.

At the front, there was a single

entry door and inside seating

for 43. The bus had three axles,

with twin wheels at the rear.

Only the forward rear axle

was driven.

At 40 feet (over 12 metres),

the Scenicruiser was a long

vehicle. So, in order to fit inside

a normal Matchbox box, an

accurate scale model would

need to be very small and

narrow compared with most

of the other models in the 1-75

series. Fearing such a model

would look rather insub-

stantial, Matchbox therefore

adopted a technique that rail-

way modellers call 'selective

compression'. They kept all

the main features of the real

vehicle, but made it shorter by

reducing the number of win-

dows along each side, and in

the roof. The real Scenicruiser

had one long window on the

lower deck and four on the

upper deck. There was one roof

window in the front section

and three in the rear. Match-

box reduced these to three

side windows and two roof

windows in the rear, with a

small window at the back. This

also reduced the gap between

the front and rear wheels.

No.66 Regular Wheels

The first Matchbox model of a

Scenicruiser appeared in 1967,

as No.66 in the 1-75 Series,

fitted with black plastic Regular

Wheels. In addition to reducing

the length, Matchbox also

used single wheels on both

rear axles, but, fortunately,

this is not overly obvious as

the wheels are such a close fit

inside their arches. The model

depicts the rebuilt Super

Scenicruiser version, as it has a

single large engine access hatch

at the rear. It sports a white

plastic interior, with three rows

of seats on the lower deck, and

six rows on the upper deck,

plus a seat and steering wheel

for the driver. The flush-fitting

windows were originally clear

plastic, later changed to clear

The original Matchbox Greyhound Coach featured an all-metal body, with

either clear or orange-tinted windows, Regular Wheels and blue and white

Greyhound markings along its sides.

The original model also features three large windows in its roof,

one less than the real Scenicruiser.