2026-01-23 15:06:04

A tiny toy car has stunned collectors after selling for a jaw-dropping £22,000 because of its unusual colour.

The three-inch Matchbox Regular Wheels 62c Mercury Cougar was expected to fetch between £3,000 and £4,000 when it went under the hammer at Vectis Auctions in Teesside on Janaury 20.

Instead, it sparked a fierce international bidding war before selling for £18,000, with fees pushing the final price to a record-breaking £22,000 because of its pale yellow paintwork.

The model was a rare “first issue” casting produced briefly in yellow before the design was switched to the familiar metallic green.

A spokesperson for Vectis said: “We believe this to be a world record for this model. This is a rare example due to the colour. The yellow is a first issue colour and wasn’t produced for very long before changing.”

They added that other details confirmed its authenticity: “It also has clear windows without windscreen wipers and without a rear view mirror, which shows it is an early casting and hasn’t been repainted.”

The car was described as being in “excellent condition”, a key factor in driving the price sky-high. The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed.

Matchbox toys were first launched in 1953 by British firm Lesney Products and quickly became a global hit, before the brand was later acquired by Mattel in 1997.

For comparison, a real Mercury Cougar cost around £2,200 when it launched in the US in 1968 – meaning this pocket-sized version has now sold for ten times the price of the full-sized car.

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