The Pinto is a delightful product to find 30 years on. It came as a total surprise to me that these cars existed and further more that they never reached the UK in one form or another.
However, they were crude devices and - without being elitist - were probably not of the quality expected by Lesney in the UK.
The Pinto is a different moulding to the Gremlin Sportsman, its set partner of 1977. One wonders why they were so similar but different - though this seems to be a Matchbox speciality.
The Sportsman cars were presumably inspired by US dirt racers, but were akin to our UK Hot Rods, which I remember being quite popular here at the time. I think Matchobx missed the opportunity to create a pair of Hot Rods for the UK here.
However, they were crude devices and - without being elitist - were probably not of the quality expected by Lesney in the UK.
The Pinto is a different moulding to the Gremlin Sportsman, its set partner of 1977. One wonders why they were so similar but different - though this seems to be a Matchbox speciality.
The Sportsman cars were presumably inspired by US dirt racers, but were akin to our UK Hot Rods, which I remember being quite popular here at the time. I think Matchobx missed the opportunity to create a pair of Hot Rods for the UK here.
