Colin's Toybox: Matchbox Ford Sierra

As a child, I always lusted after the Matchbox examples of cars not sold in the US; now, I was quite young when the Ford Sierra and Merkrur XR4Ti were sold new, but I knew the difference. I knew that the Ford Sierra was the European counterpart to our Merkur, and I think I learned this from Motor Trend; when I was in second or third grade, my babysitter and I would go to our public library, and I would sit in the bottom level and relentlessly look through old car magazines, dating back to the early 1980s if not before. There, I discovered the idea of spy photos-- pictures of cars before they were scheduled to hit the streets.
I recall flipping through a 1982 or 1983 Motor Trend where they had a cammo'd Merkur mule, but clearly wearing a Ford badge on the front, and riding on Mustang wheels. This piqued my interest. I knew Ford sold cars across the globe, but this was the first time I really took note; I had been to Europe a few years before, and got myself acquainted with the foreign cars and trucks not sold here. The Suzuki Sidekick was the Vitara, the European Ford Escort was quite a bit different than ours, and the Chevrolet Cavalier was sold as a small Opel. That newfound discovery of actual cars being sold as different nameplates really made my interest in Matchbox spike.
I've known about the various Majorette Peugeots, and Renaults, but it was then that I realized Matchbox was spreading their worldwide products here. I think the Saab 9000, Rover (Sterling) 827, and the Vauxhall Cavalier (or is it a Vectra) were some of my favorites. Because I had a fascination with the Merkur as a child, the Matchbox Sierra quickly became a favorite as well. Except there was a problem. Since mine was hastily destroyed by a ten-to-twelve-year-old me, I had no example in my collection. A few years ago, I received the Texaco version as a Christmas gift, which I also have a 1:18 Auto Art of as well. The white one, which represents my childhood example in good shape, was given to me this past winter. While I was not expecting it (Heck, I even forgot there were any good condition white ones left), I certainly do enjoy this piece. Not only does it take me back to my early days of discovering world-wide cars, it does so with such joy. I cannot look at it without thinking back to that day I flipped through a Motor Trend, and discovered that one of my childhood curiosities was indeed sold all over the world.
I will always love the Merkur XR4Ti, and I think it's quite amazing that Matchbox had enough sense to cast all of these cars when they were new. Surely, no toy company will churn out contemporary Fusions, and Taurus SEs, much less the base model. Kudos, Matchbox, for letting these cars live on, some thirty years after production ended.