​​From 1985 through 1987 Matchbox reintroduced the Superfast brand (advertising them as "The Fastest Matchbox Cars Ever!), followed by the Laser Wheels line, which utilized most of the same castings, but with cool "laser like" wheels.  These two parallel series are among the most impressive in the diecast racing hobby.

On this page you'll find an inventory and my speed rankings for these castings.   Also, see the home page for background on how I race, evaluate and classify the cars.

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Laser Wheels and Superfast Inventory

I aligned the listings so you can see the common castings across the two series.  The Laser Wheels has six more models than the Superfast series.  I also called out those castings that are too wide for the standard orange track ( note that there are a few Laser Wheels models where I'm not sure about the width).  Laser Wheel models LW-25 through LW-30 are very hard to find.  Note that SF20 was never produced.

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Laser Wheels and Superfast Rankings

The results below show the speed rankings of the two series.  Like all the rankings, I'll only list the fastest version for a specific casting. I have 23 of the 30 Laser Wheels cars and 22 of the 24 Superfast models.  Together, I have 25 distinct castings.  Note that the Porsche 935 is too wide for even for the Magic Derby track, so no interest in that one.

Some observations:

• 5 cars are 5-star performers with the Datsun 280 ZX leading the way
• 10 cars are 4-star performers
• 21 of the 26 castings I have are 3-stars or better, which is very impressive.
• The Datsun 280 ZX is tied for the 3rd fastest Matchbox car and tied for the 35th fastest overall car
• The Pontiac Firebird Racer is tied for the 8th fastest Matchbox car
• The Ford Sierra xR4i is tied for the 10th fastest Matchbox car, but also the 5th overall fastest Welterweight car

What series is faster:  Laser Wheels or Superfast?

• I have 19 pairings of the same Laser Wheels and Superfast casting.  The Laser Wheels leads the head-to-head 12 to 7, although four of five fastest models are the Superfast versions.  So the answer is somewhat inconclusive.
• The Datsun 280 ZX is both my fastest Laser Wheel and Superfast model.  Both were elite performers, but the Superfast version was 3/1000's seconds faster.  

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My Laser Wheel Collection. I have 22 of the 30 models.  Some of the castings are very hard to acquire and had limited release.  The cars are ranked in speed order starting in the upper left with the Datsun 280ZX, followed by the Pontiac Firebird Racer, the Nissan 300 ZX Turbo and the Camaro IROC-28 on the 2nd row.

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My 80's Superfast collection.  These cars feature the "starburst" wheels which react well to graphite.  I have 22 of the 24 models.  Top cars are the Datsun 280ZX, the Nissan 300 ZX Turbo and the Ford Sierra xR4i (#85) and the Chevy Pro Stocker (starting on the 2nd row).