More than 50,000 cars line the walls of this 32-year-old museum.
Like most of you, I loved Matchbox and Hotwheels cars as a kid. I had a boatload of them, or at least what I thought was a boatload, it was probably like 12. That love of Matchbox cars has been passed down to my son, who now has nearly a literal boatload of them. And that’s the beauty of them, they’re loved by all car enthusiasts, young and old. It’s why the Matchbox Road Museum, a been a beloved staple of Newfield, New Jersey since 1992.
Newfield native Everett Marshall III started the museum out of his garage more than thirty years ago and it’s since grown to house over 50,000 Matchbox cars. Marshall’s collection has grown far beyond just bite-sized cars, though. It’s a museum dedicated to all of Matchbox’s history, one that even includes its failed attempt to take on Barbie with Christie Brinkley dolls.
Matchbox Road Museum | Facebook
“People will come in and see things like that in the museum, and they’re amazed that it was actually part of Matchbox at one time,” Marshall told Jersey’s Best. “Rubik’s Cubes, Skip-Its, Ginny Vogue dolls. There’s just a lot of things to acquire because the museum needs to show everything that they did, so those are the kinds of things I look for now, not necessarily vehicles anymore.”
It’s a place where nostalgia meets discovery, as older visitors can remember the cars they used to collect while sharing their passion with younger generations.
However, for proper car nerds like us, there are some seriously cool Matchbox cars to see, such as some pre-production clay models, iconic movie cars, legendary supercars, and everything in between. I particularly like the Nigel Mansel collection box set, which comes with several of his F1 and IndyCars, as well as the Kmart/Havoline trailer.
Newfield is about an hour from me, so I might have to pay Marshall and his Matchbox museum a visit.
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