By the time I was five years old, I had accrued a collection of automotive exotica which would make even the most well-heeled petrolhead green with envy.
Forget Jay Leno's garage or Nick Mason's impressive car collection, I had Ferraris, Lamborghini's, Aston Martins, Jags and Porsches coming out of my ears.
But before you start getting too jealous at my privileged upbringing, I feel I should point out that my father is neither an Arab sheikh nor the CEO of a multinational petrochemical company. And the cars in question were not priceless automotive artefacts, but Matchbox cars -- the staple of every child petrolhead's toy collection.
Of course, when I got older I acquired a driving licence and a car -- a big one this time, with an engine and everything -- and the Matchbox cars were put in an old shoebox and consigned to the dark recesses of the attic.
But now there's a perfect excuse to retrieve the forgotten collection, find that rug that looks like an aerial view of a town and 'drive' the cars around while making engine noises with my mouth, because 2013 marks the 60th anniversary of Matchbox.
The Matchbox car was invented back in 1952 by an engineer called Jack Odell. Odell was working for Lesney products, a manufacturer of die-cast models which had been formed by partners Leslie and Rodney Smith in 1948.
One day, upon realising that his daughter was only allowed to take toys to school which were small enough to fit inside a matchbox, Odell took it upon himself to build a miniature steam roller which would be small enough for her to play with in the playground.
Naturally, his daughter's classmates immediately wanted one of their own and so Lesney products quickly began manufacturing miniature models under the 'Matchbox' brand. The rest, as they say, is history.
Since then, more than three billion matchbox cars have been sold, swallowed, trodden on and smashed into skirting boards worldwide, with the most popular model being, somewhat incongruously, the Model A Ford. Kids are weird.
Odell retired from the company in 1973. Unfortunately, after running into financial difficulties Lesney products was declared insolvent in 1982 and sold to Universal Toys, latter finding its way into the hands of American toy giants Mattel. Odell died in 2007, aged 87.
Although the story of Matchbox is a sad one for British industry, some solace can be taken in the fact that Matchbox cars continue to be produced and Jack Odell's vision continues to live on. In fact, to celebrate 60 years of Matchbox, 24 new models are being released alongside a collection of images detailing the brand's history.
Amongst the vehicles being released will be a Routemaster bus, a London taxi, a Lamborghini Gallardo police car, an Aston Martin DBS Volante and a '68 Mustang.
Image: Daniel Spils
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