Small, shiny and wheeled: Matchbox toys were once a staple gift to small boys from indulgent relatives.

I still remember my Aunty Edna giving me a small, bottle green Formula 1 car with a yellow stripe capping its slender nose. I didn’t know what make it was, so I turned it over to read the lettering on its base and mispronounced Lotus as 'Lottus'. It was a 1960 Lotus 19 F1 car, and would become one of many of these diminutive toys to litter my bedroom.

The owners of the brand, of which more shortly, have just relaunched it with arrays of models themed by European countries, each containing a mix of modern and classic models as well as utility vehicles. The UK collection includes Jaguar’s E- and Jaguar F-Types, a Lotus Elise and Europa (the classic variety), an MGB GT, a modern Mini Countryman, an LEVC taxi and a BMW M5 police car.

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The French collection includes a Renault Kangoo van, a 1968 Citroën DS and, a little unexpectedly, a Lamborghini Gallardo in French police livery. German kids will enjoy a more imaginative range taking in a Unimog, a 1969 BMW 2002, a Mk1 Golf GTI and the appealingly oddball Golf Country. Italian bambini can choose from Lamborghini’s ’68 Miura and its out-there LM002 off-roader, plus the Alfa 4C and a current Alfa Romeo Giulia.