Yesteryear Collection - 1920 Rolls-Royce Fire Engine

The full-size fire engine on which this model was based was built in England for Borough Green and District in Northern Kent. Originally a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost saloon purchased in 1935 from Lord Kemsley for 26 pounds, it was converted complete with the addition of a ladder by a local body builder Mr. W. Bonallack. Work was finished in 1938 and the Rolls was commissioned and served the community until 1942 when it was withdrawn from service. Funds needed for the purchase and conversion were raised through appeals and collections at various fundraising activities within the community. The only thing remaining of the fire engine today is the brass bell. This converted Rolls Royce saw extensive service in Kent during the Second World War.

Matchbox first produced this popular (Y6-4) 1920 Rolls-Royce Fire Engine model in 1977, and it was somewhat of a hybrid in that the chassis from the (Y7-3) 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost and the windscreen component from the (Y2-3) Vauxhall were used.

Livery: (Labels)
'BOROUGH GREEN & DISTRICT' in yellow on red label.
NB. Colours can vary due to either different printing runs or fading.

Variations/Rarities: It had a red body & chassis with gold plated grille, headlights and ladder rests with brass plated 12 spoke wheels and windscreen frame.
It had a black drivers seat and bronzed metal crew seats which seem to have a black wash over them.
The ladder can be white, brown or orangy-brown with small squared off lugs.
It had paper labels with "Borough Green & District" printed in red and yellow applied to the sides but did not have locating ridges cast in for the label.
The early baseplates were inscribed "Lesney No Y7 England" but later issues had modified text that read "Lesney No Y7&Y6 England".
The casting was then modified by having label locating ridges cast in. This version usually has 12 spoke brass plated wheels but has been seen with chromed 24 spoke wheels or 12 spoke red plastic wheels. It can have a ladder with squared lugs in brown or orangy-brown or rounded lugs in brown, orangy-brown or white.
One rare issue was released with bright red seats that can have either bronzed metal crew seats or black plastic crew seats.
The last run had a black chassis with red body and a white ladder with rounded lugs and black plastic drivers seat and crew seats.

Warning: One rare issue has the front seats in red but beware as a recent one seen had seats of a different pattern going through a well known auction house and sold as the rare version. These seats were only available on this model so be warned.

Fire engine models have always been popular and prices for all issues should improve with time.


1920 Rolls-Royce Fire Engine		Cast label positioning lugs	Ladders	Ladder types


Darker red body, gloss black chassis; black drivers seats; black plastic crew seats; gold 12 spoke wheels; white ladder	Bright red body & chassis; black drivers seats; bronzed metal crew seats; gold 12 spoke wheels; white ladder	Darker red body, gloss black chassis; black drivers seats; black plastic crew seats; gold 12 spoke wheels; tan ladder	Bright red body & chassis; black drivers seats; bronzed metal crew seats; gold 12 spoke wheels; brown ladder	Red drivers seats

Information as from "The Yesteryear Book 1956-2002"
Issue	Year of Release	Colour	Drivers Seat	Crew Mens Side Seats	Plated Parts	Wheels	Ladders	Label Positioning Lugs	Baseplate	Rarity	Box
1	1977	Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 24 spoke	Type 'A' white	Not cast	LESNEY No Y7 ENGLAND	ER	H
2		Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 24 spoke	Type 'A' brown or orangey brown	Not cast	LESNEY No Y7 ENGLAND	VR	H
3		Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'A' brown or orangey brown	Not cast	LESNEY No Y7 ENGLAND	VR	H
4		Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'A' brown or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY No Y7 ENGLAND		H
5		Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Chrome 24 spoke	Type 'A' brown or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY No Y7 ENGLAND	D	H/I
6	1978	Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY No Y7 ENGLAND		H/I
7		Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'A' brown or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND		H/I
8		Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND		H/I
9		Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Chrome 24 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND	D	H/I
10		Bright red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Red 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND	S	H/I
11	1983	Darker red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND		I
12		Darker red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Red 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND	S	I
13		Darker red body & chassis	Black plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Chrome 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND	D	I
14		Darker red body & chassis	Bright red plastic	Bronzed metal	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND	VR	I
15		Darker red body & chassis	Bright red plastic	Black plastic	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND	VR	I
16		Darker red body & chassis	Black plastic	Black plastic	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'B' white, brown, or orangey brown	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND		I
17	1984	Darker red body, gloss black chassis	Black plastic	Black plastic	Gold	Gold 12 spoke	Type 'B' white	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND		J/L
18		Darker red body, gloss black chassis	Black plastic	Black plastic	Gold	Chrome 12 spoke	Type 'B' white	Cast	LESNEY NoY7&Y6 ENGLAND	D	J
Rarity: D - Difficult; S - Scarce; R - Rare; VR - Very Rare; ER - Extremely Rare
Box: H - Woodgrain effect with clear panel; I - Straw coloured with clear panels; J - Red 'Made in England' with clear panel; L - Red Gift Pack with clear front panel