Lledo was a brand of die cast toys, founded in 1982 by Matchbox co-founder Jack Odell and Burt Russell.[1] The factory produced diecast vehicles in Enfield, England from 1983 to 1999. Lledo was a reversal of Odell's own surname, a mnemonic devise from war days in the African desert so he would not forget his wireless call sign (About Lledo webpage).
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Lledo set out to specialise in replicating early Matchbox series styles, particularly the Models of Yesteryear range. Odell and Russell bought machinery from the Universal company, which had purchased the Matchbox plant and shipped it to Hong Kong. The tooling they purchased was re-shipped back to the Enfield, England where in April 1983 the new Days Gone range was launched.
One of the more popular models was a Ford Model T van, which became the basis for a series of limited edition models for gifts and promotions. These were commonly produced in limited edition runs of 500 or 1000 models.[2]
The company later launched the "Vanguards" range, which specialised in replica classic British cars.[3]
Although shipping high volumes of product, the company could not compete against low cost producers from Hong Kong and China who also entered the special promotions market with high quality products. As a result, Lledo went bankrupt in 1999, and the naming rights and model range was bought by Corgi. Corgi continued producing Lledo models in China until 2005, when the remaining models were merged into the Corgi Classics range.
Jack Odell died on 8 July 2007 at the age of 87.[1]
About Lledo webpage. 2005-2011. Website of Lledomodels.com. [1]