The Matchbox Stretcha Fetcha is one of those from my childhood so was added to my collection a few years back, the most recent one being the Viper van which is an American issue.
The white ambulance came in many variations, my first one below is the version with a plated base and cream interior it has the blue windows and has Ambulance written over the red cross.
Other versions can have a red base, a plain red cross, amber windows and a pale yellow interior, my first one is one of the earliest issues as it has the plated base (it changed to red after that) I know of ten variations usually a mix of the above modifications.
The second one is the same but has the later red baseplate.
The Viper van was an American issue and has the amber glass and a black base plate, the interior on mine is cream and still has the ambulance interior complete with stretcher and patient.
There is a red version available with “Unfall Rettung” labels and was a German issue, but have not seen one come up and if it did I would guess it would command a high price.
Athough not a Matchbox the following picture shows a model based on the same casting and made by Mira diecast in Spain, these don’t come up for sale often if at all, the picture is from one being sold on Ebay and the only one I have ever seen for sale.
If you look at this and the Matchbox version you can see how similar they are, the main changes are the steering wheel is on the left, the glass is clear and the casting has been changed around the side windows and added a bar above, the lights, although you can still see where they would of been, have been blanked off.
I’ve seen these called fantasy vehicles by many as no real version exists of them but I prefer the term concept vehicle as many that started back is the 70′s can be seen in later years in real cars and vans, this for instance I can see in the first Renault Master van which was released in 1980 with, at the time a design that was ahead of it’s time.
For that reason I now have a ‘concept’ catergory on this site.
Model details
Stretcha Fetcha
No, 46
Date of issue, 1972
Country of origin, UK
For more on the variations of this model Click Here
I do have a USA issue Viper van for sale on Ebay and is a mint model still on it’s original card, if you are interested go to the for sale page on the right or Click here
