4/23/20 European Sports 5-pack

If you like clean, stock vehicles then a few of these Matchbox 5-packs from 2000 will please you, and this one focuses on European sports cars with a nice variety that starts with a rather odd choice: the 2000 Ford Focus ZX3 in blue that debut in the 1-100 line for 2000 in orange, yet still carried the same level of trim and lighting details as the orange version.  The Focus is also sold in Europe, where it first debut before arriving in the U.S. for year 2000, but in a 5-pack of sports cars it seems like a rather odd choice.  The Audi TT coupe premiered in 1999 before finally entering the U.S. line for 2000 and also joined this 5-pack in dark green with front and rear lighting detailing not found on the 1-100 version in blue.  It’s a very nice casting and looks great in this set though as you’ll see there’s a lot of darker paint jobs in this set.  Next up is the Porsche 911 GT3 from 1998 that has a metallic red paint job that is a sigh of relief from the brighter colors in earlier releases.  This is the track car of the group and one of two that also started to appear with the 2001 flower pedal wheels as this was the last pack for 2000.  On the other side is a civil Porsche in the 911 cabriolet that debut in the ROW line in 1999 and until 2005 was in the U.S. in multipack sets like this one. The simple black with front and rear lighting details is nice, as is the new smooth tonneau cover for the convertible top that gives this new 911 the cleanest look at the time for a convertible.  Even the interior has excellent details front the seat contours to the dashboard controls and the 4-spoke steering wheel.  The last vehicle of the set is the sole bright one of the group, the Jaguar XK8 convertible in light blue with detailed front and rear lights, detailed interior, and even blue window frame on the all-plastic windshield.  This is the best of this XK8 casting, though on the other hand it shows some flaws in the tooling like rough edges around the corners.

Rating:

1999 Porsche 911 Cabriolet- 5 out of 5 stars

1997 Porsche 911 GT1- 4 out of 5 stars

Audi TT Coupe- 5 out of 5 stars

1997 Jaguar XK8- 4 out of 5 stars

2000 Ford Focus ZX3- 5 out of 5 stars