The world's #1 soft drink was invented by a pharmacist, John Pemberton, in Atlanta in 1886. This refreshing beverage was dubbed COCA-COLA by Pemberton's assistant, Frank Robinson, who also developed the trademark script that identifies COCA-COLA everywhere. But COCA-COLA didn't become a household name until the rights to the drink were bought by Asa G. Candler, a brilliant marketer who transformed COCA-COLA into one of the world's most recognizable brands. In America and throughout the world, ads for COCA-COLA could be seen everywhere, even on the sides of trolleys, busses and trams.

Speaking of trams, they were primarily a European phenomenon. In Great Britain in the 1920s, tram systems expanded as the burgeoning population expanded the cities. Preston, a borough of Lancashire, was the location of two great tram car companies: Atkinson & Co. Ltd., founded in 1916 and Leyland Motors Ltd., begun in 1907. The Preston name represented the height of engineering and design.
Now a Preston-type tram is recaptured with authentic COCA-COLA graphics in an intricate die-cast model presented by - and available only from - Matchbox Collectibles.

Worldwide Edition Limit: 12,500

(1999)

Scale: 1:87