Like most Matchbox collectors, I’m a big fan of the company’s lineup of police cars. Over the years they’ve made some iconic cop cars, from the Crown Victoria that dominated policing in the early 2000’s, to the Dodge Charger and Ford Explorer we see on the roads today.
But there’s something else Matchbox does remarkably consistently: make police versions of incredibly cool cars. Whether it be a Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi Evo, BMW M5, or Chevy Corvette, Matchbox has a fantastic track record with police cars. More often that not, these models are also excellent recreations of the models they aim to represent, which is why it’s always baffled me that they don’t adapt these castings into civilian cars.
In most cases, all that would be needed to adapt the police version into a fresh-off-the-lot civilian car is to remove the lightbar. That hardly seems like an insurmountable hurdle, and it seems like an incredibly cost effective way to bring more cars to the mainline lineup. So let’s engage in a little theoretical wish-fulfillment and see which of our favorite Matchbox police cars can be turned into regular cars.
As a German car fan, I would love to see a modern, clean BMW M5 in the lineup. Perhaps Matchbox thought the M5 wouldn’t be exciting enough without a police livery…but then again, they made the Sentra. This M5 model is a great casting, with lots of front end casting detail and good proportions. Sadly, since it always gets police liveries, we almost never see it with tail lights. I’d love to see them make a version of this mold without the lightbar, then paint it bright red with silver five-spokes and full front and rear detailing. I reckon that’d be one of the best models of the year.
Though it’d have some stiff competition, because Matchbox’s Mitsubishi Evo X is also an absolutely stunning casting. Far better proportioned than Hot Wheels’ fairly disappointing attempt at an Evo X, this looks as mean as the 1:1 scale Evo. The wing is the correct size and there’s plenty of casting detail on the hood and grill. Like the BMW, all that would be needed to turn this into a Evo ready for a big turbo swap is to remove the lightbar, give it some white paint, silver ten spokes, and detailing on the headlights and tail lights.
The Evo isn’t the only police car to make your rally dreams come true, because Matchbox also made a hawkeye Subaru WRX STI police car! It paired perfectly with the Evo X police car when it first came out, and I’d love to see a corresponding pair of civilian rally cars in the Matchbox lineup. Again, just remove the lightbar and add Subaru’s iconic World Rally Blue paint and gold wheels, and you have another contender for best model of the year. Admittedly, I might be biased – the hawkeye STI has always been my favorite generation.
The last police model I’d like to see modified is the Ford Police Interceptor. This is less obvious of a choice than the other three, but hear me out. While they might not call it one, this is obviously based on the Ford Taurus, a car that anyone can go out and buy. Ford even made a SHO version that shared the same mesh grill as this police car.
The recent gray “unmarked” version of this police casting shows us the potential, as we get front and rear detailing on this casting for the first time. Unlike the other police models, this one would require more modification to be turned into a civilian version. Not only would the lightbar need to be removed, but the base and front end of the casting would need to be retooled to remove the bash bar. Still, that seems like less work that designing a completely new car, and as I’ve noted several times, Matchbox is at their best when making regular cars. The Ford Taurus is as regular as they come.
Obviously, there’s other Matchbox police cars that you could make a good argument for: the Chevy Corvette, Lamborghini Gallardo, BMW X5, and so on. I encourage you to make those arguments in the comments! Rest assured, if Matchbox ever makes this dream a reality, I will include them in my yearly Top 5 roundup!
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