In particular, they tended to roll much better than Hot Wheels.
The "axles" were some kind of fine spring steel. The matchbox cars had noticeably less drag than other brands and rolled farther and more straight. The plastic on the wheels was more flexible and smooth.
I do think that some thought went into how these things rolled. Or maybe I am mis-remembering my childhood experiences? I guess I will never find out!
And that suspension allowed them to roll much better anywhere, inclusing outside in the dirt.
Also most Matchbox and Hotwheels ended up with bent axle from use while the suspension of the Majorette [1] would usually limit the risk of bending the axle unless you were crushing it.
On first day usually the Hotwheels would roll best followed by Matchbox then Majorette on perfect surface. After tear and wear[2] it was the exact opposite horder with Hotwheels wheel dragging on the ground and wheel arches with their bent axle, Matchbox dragging mostly on the wheel arches with the axle also bent a little and the Majorette would be mostly unscathed.
Obviously YMMV it really depends if you used them on a mat/carpet, on a table or outside in the dirt and how careless you where. I still have some matchbox and hotwheels in pristine conditions because they were supercars or racing cars and I wouldn't have used them outside in the dirt.
[1] it was really a very simple design with one U shaped steel wire that would act as a spring for all 4 wheels.
[2] hotwheels axle were junk and would bend just by looking at the toy with too much intensity