Matchbox Personnel Carrier with black hubs (Open dot dash) . Produced 1976-1979, Number 54 in the Superfast series. The original Matchbox cars possessed thin, solid, disc-like wheels on heavy axles. These wheels were durable and (fairly) realistically proportioned to the vehicles, and were simple to make, but they generated a lot of friction and the cars were not very fast. When Hot Wheels (then a separate company) were introduced in 1968, they featured wider wheels on a thinner axle. The wheels were a made from a low friction plastic, and the axles were polished to further reduce friction; a much faster wheel set that created a much faster car. Sensing the play value of these faster, albeit less realistic cars, Lesney created the Superfast series, using the same types of wheels as Hot Wheels had.