Made in England

A direct competitor to Matchbox, behold the many faces of the Morestone VW

Words and photos Bob Gilmore

This diecast metal Oval Window Volkswagen toy has been sold under various names over the years, but was originally designed and manufactured by the Morris & Stone Limited toy company in England. Located in north London, Morris & Stone made and sold toys in the mid-1950s under the trade name of Morestone. The initial series of Morestone vehicles comprised 20 different diecast miniatures, including a Beetle (no.8) and a VW Microbus (no.12). The Morestone series was designed to compete with the hugely popular Matchbox toy car series that started in 1953 and, due to similarities in the size and construction of the toys, Morestone VWs are often mistakenly called Matchbox toys. The diecast body has cut out windows to represent the 1953-’57 era of Volkswagen production. The metallic silver blue…

You're reading a preview of

VolksWorld (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.