About This Space & Military Series Car

The 6640 U.S.M.C. Missile Launching Car was introduced by Lionel in 1960 and was sold for only that year. This rare car only came in Lionel's catalog set number 1805 (The "LAND-SEA and AIR GIFT PACK"). The 6640 is essentially an olive-drab (painted) flatcar with a superstructure for the storage and firing of the missile that came with the car. The flat is decorated with white heat-stamped lettering. The launching mechanism consists of a black ramp and an olive-drab base. There are no markings on either part. The unmarked missile consists of two sections -- normally one section is red and the other is white. Various combinations were available by switching sections. The nose section (tip) of the missile was blue rubber. With the exception of the colors and markings, the 6640 is a clone of the 6650 I.R.B.M Missile Launching Car that was sold by Lionel from 1959 - 1963.

Photos of the 6640 U.S.M.C. Missile Launching Car
ABOVE: 6640 at rest. BELOW: 6640 aimed & ready for firing.

Additional Details

The 6640 is part of Lionel's "Space & Military" series. The combination of its rarity coupled with the U.S.M.C. markings and olive-drab color make it one of the more desirable items from that series. The missile is often lost but repro ones are available. The spring-loaded launching mechanism is not a reliable device and it can be a challenge to obtain a desirable performance level from this manually-operated item. This car always came with AAR trucks. An original (separate component) box was never produced for this car.

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This page is an information document only; nothing on this web page is being offered for sale. This page and all of the other pages from Our Archives were developed to assist you in understanding differences in variations of engines, rolling stock, cabooses, passenger cars, and accessories sold by Lionel in the postwar era. We have used pictures from our old files and personal collection to construct this area of our website to show the characteristics of collectible variations. If you are interested in buying something, please go to one of our inventory listings to see what we currently have for sale.

This web page was last updated on September 9, 2005. If you have suggestions for improving this page or if you see any errors, please contact us.