LESNEY Products & Co. Ltd. was founded in 1947 as an industrial die-casting company by founders Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith, who were unrelated. The company name was a melding of their first names. They soon were followed by designer Jack Odell. In 1949 the company started experimenting with toy making to take up surplus plant capacity during the Christmas season. Around this time, Jack Odell designed a small toy for his daughter. Her school only allowed children to bring toys that could fit inside a matchbox, so Odell crafted a scaled-down version of the LESNEY road roller. Based on the size restriction, the idea was born to sell the model in a replica matchbox — thus yielding the name of the series that would propel LESNEY to worldwide, mass-market success. The series would grow to, and then settle at a 72-vehicle line. One interesting detail was that the models were made to no particular scale, the object being to make them fit into a matchbox, thus a VW Bus could be the same size as a Greyhound bus!
The second version of the MATCHBOX series No. 34 (known to collectors as 34-B) was the Volkswagen Caravette, first produced in 1962. The Caravette VWs were painted light green and had cutout windows. Body details included opening cargo doors on the left side, door seams, side air louvers and engine lid. There was a dab of silver paint on the headlights, front VW emblem and bumpers. The window inserts were molded in transparent green plastic, and there was a transparent green "moonroof." Interior details included front and rear-facing seats and a dining table. The dark green diecast baseplate had plastic wheels and axles, and was attached by tabs that fit into slots in the body. Variations include smaller and larger gray or black wheels, and interiors that were either riveted to the chassis or were cast into the chassis as one piece. These high-quality MATCHBOX models were extremely popular worldwide, and have formed the starting point for many toy collections.
