It was a Ferrari F1 machine that was exclusively offered for sale at the 2004 International Barbie Doll Collections Convention in Chicago. The “red-hot Barbie Ferrari”—yes, TV commercials used those exact words—was the best, although a white version arrived later. In a commercial that featured a red Prancing Horse, Barbie literally turns Ken’s head when she drives past. Oh sure, she ultimately stops and gives him a lift, but she isn’t about to turn over the keys. Ken rides fucile da caccia (shotgun).

Barbie, the leggy doll that Mattel brought to life in 1959, recently celebrated her 60th birthday, and although she can be a bit controversial (hey, she didn’t choose her measurements), she’s much more than just a pretty face. Nobody accumulates Barbie’s car collection without being smart, successful, and handy with a wrench (albeit a plastic one).

Barbie had a lot of these home-away-from-home vehicles through the years—including a monstrous 3-foot Traveler Camper in the mid-1970s—but the Country Camper was the boss. It even had its own theme song (set to country music, naturally):

It started with her pink-on-white 1956 model - which is the car that will feature most prominently in the new movie starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. Ford's legendary pony car, the Mustang, has also been a favourite of Barbie's through the years, with fans fondly remembering her cherry red 1994 example. There's little for Hagerty to put a real-world value on this unique Barbie car other than the closest equivalent that changed hands recently - a 2003 Scuderia Ferrari F1 chassis sold by RM Sotheby's last year. According to a series of 1960s novels published by Random House, Barbara Millicent Roberts—yes, that’s Barbie’s full name—grew up in the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. She likely didn’t venture far from home in her early years, maybe because she couldn’t. Forced for decades to walk on her tippy toes, Barbie was in desperate need of some wheels. She finally got her first car in 1962.Anyway, while I did really enjoy Barbie, I couldn’t help but notice the intense and in-your-face product placement of General Motors vehicles. Most folks seeing the movie probably won’t think much of it, but we’re different. We’re car people. We notice this sort of stuff, and it was honestly a bit distracting for me. Imagine the possibilities with Barbie! There’s a wide range of Barbie dolls, playsets and fashions to explore, from the beautiful Barbie Dreamhouse to the latest Fashionistas. The sports car favourite in the US is also the most consistent model in Barbie's six-decade collection. There’s a whole range of Barbie Fashionistas and career dolls to explore too, encouraging real-world storytelling. Discover the widest range of Fashionista dolls to date, celebrating diversity with unique fashion dolls in a wide variety of skin tones, eye colours, hair colours and textures, body types and fashions. Or realise you could be anything with an exciting range of Barbie career dolls, from teachers, vets and doctors to Barbie pilot dolls and sports stars. More than 100,000 car adverts on Facebook are SCAMS: Bombshell warning after 9 in 10 top results for Volvos were found to be fakes