1948 Hudson? Buick?
In the early 1950s, my spinster aunt bought some toys to keep me amused during family get-togethers at her home. Among the toys in the toy box were a collection of small cars (about 3.5”(89 mm) long) whose overall shapes resemble a ’48 Hudson, yet whose emblems look like those of contemporary Buicks. These cars are a small but important part of my toy car collection.
’48 Hudson in Red
Apart from form and color, what made these little dime-store tin cars attractive was a feature that could be activated by moving the car along a floor or table top: The red and blue sedans have side windows that raise and lower.
Ambulance
Poking through the hood of the ambulance is a bell that moves back and forth as it rings.
Fire Chief
The Fire Chief’s car does the same, but with a different paint scheme.
The fire chief’s car does the same thing but the paint scheme is different.
If the Fire Chief’s monochromatic car is a bit sedate for your taste, why not try a red-and-white variant? This one does the same thing-ding, ding, ding.
Cop Car
In the Police Chief’s car, a gun protruding from the windshield moves back and forth while the car makes rat-a-tat noises. Straight from Dragnet.
Checker Taxi?
The taxi cab has a “meter” in the windshield that revolves as the fare is rung up. 55 cents?
NYC Taxi
There’s even a taxi in New York livery that predates the city mandate for all cabs to be painted taxi cab yellow.
Sedan with Windshield Wipers
Lastly, there is another sedan whose windshield wipers move. As you can see, the wipers are made of sharp metal that can damage the painted windshield.
These cars are nearly mint, with minimal paint loss and scratches. Similar Argo cars in far poorer condition than mine can be found on eBay, and the asking prices are painful. These cars are part of a collection that I never will sell. Too many memories.
these remind me of tootsietoys…found in ss kresge, woolworths early 1960s.
When I was a kid my grandma kept a small toybox in a closet with toys from the 1930s and early 40s. I recall one small hard rubber sedan and a tin wind-up Dick Tracy car that would let you either point the front wheels straight or turn them (one direction only). When you let it loose on the floor there was a long siren note as the car moved under its own power. I have no idea what kind either was, but I sure played with them a lot.
It was a sad pre-adolescent day when I could no longer escape reality by “playing with my cars”.
I had a metal fire chief’s red Pontiac in the 3″ scale, about a 1952 or so. I recall being in an old time 5 and 10 with my Aunt Mildred. The little car came with a very realistic fire chief’s brass badge in a blister pack. I was thrilled she bought it for me. I played with the toys for years, especially the badge. Imagine a boy today being thrilled with an inexpensive toy like that.
I hadn’t thought of that toy in ages. Brings a certain joy just to think of it again.
Not sure what this one is – it’s my Dad’s from when he was a boy (late 1930s)…
I think that’s a KaisMercuBaker 🙂
Ed,
I think this is a Schuco piece. These windup cars were guided by a spriral-wound wire track, sort of like an early slot car setup. You might find something like it if you search eBay under Toys and Hobbies.
My wife collects mid-century ceramic pitchers in bright colors. A bunch of these little critters would look great with them, but I’m not even going to look at what that would cost.
They kind of look like you could use them to make car-shaped loaves of banana bread.
Those are great models Kevin. I love how each one has a special feature–wipers, windows a bell, etc. Definitely keepers.
I’ll have to do a post on my Dad’s Schuco BMW 328. It actually has a working gearshift on the dash to make the car go different speeds when you wind up the clockwork motor. The steering wheel turns the wheels too. Very neat and intricate for a ’50s toy.
Tom,
Sounds like an Examico 4001. I have a tan one in my collection. The photo below is missing the windshield (I stole it from eBay). I plan to do a lot of photography of my collection when I get back to Salt Lake in mid-December.
Kevin,
That’s the one, except Dad’s is bright blue. Neat little model!
I still have my Distler Porsche from Germany circa 1955 with a floor shift, ivory steering wheel with emblem, and a dash ignition slot (lost the key in case but they are being reproduced). The car was battery-powered, and “remote”-controlled via a gadget that attached to the steering wheel. Christmas gifts that year to my cousin and me from our aunt. I think his was destroyed within a week but I still have mine, albeit in rugged but restorable condition. The toys of the ’50s were amazing. Happy to still have some of mine.
The police car reminds me of the Corgi Man From U.N.C.L.E. Olds 88–complete with simulated bullet holes in the windshield (image from The Old Toy Guide).
Oh man! I traded a neighbor kid for one of these, then I pulled the roof mechanism out and painted it turquoise with a black top. Absolutely ruined it, but it seemed like a great idea when I was maybe 10. I think it was the only toy of a 61 Olds 88 I ever saw.
JP,
We all did this. My father test drove a 1958 Edsel and they gave him an AMT 1/25 model in pink and white. I was really knocked out. The first thing I did was to take it apart to see how it was put together. I was really freaked by the translucent tailights (ask Stembridge, designers suffer this deficiency). I told my dad that I wanted to pin stripe it. His reaction was “horrors, it would no longer be stock!” My reaction was “ef stock”. So I got a pin, dipped it in some of my Testors red enamel, and attempted my first pin stripe flame job. Guess what? Didn’t work worth a crap. So I just pulled out my paint brushes and flamed the front end. Not a bad effort. Never showed it to my dad. Probably ended up burning the thing. That happened to a lot of my early model car, plane, boat models. Either that or death by bb-gun. I hadn’t yet discovered gunpowder.
I still have that pink and white Edsel. Beautiful model. However, it was dropped once while taking part in serious playtime and the hood ornament snapped off and was lost and a crack in the trunk appeared. Otherwise, no flames or pinstriping, strictly stock. Condition is not bad for 54 years of ownership!
I have a turquoise and white one. I traded another kid for it and somehow it escaped my customization. It is, though, well worn from being played with. Mine had a friction drive mechanism. Friction cars were my favorites. Unfortunately, the 65 Fury III convertible and 65 Barracuda that I got for Christmas (1964?) were not as lucky as the Edsel. I still have them, but they are pretty much toast.
I also had a “Man from U.N.C.L.E” car but it wasn’t a Corgi, it was kind of a generic sports car (looked to me like an Iso Grifo but probably wasn’t). It was something on the order of Petty Blue in color. It must have been rear-wheel drive because it had a hood that opened and fired missles from the front of it when you pressed down on the front suspension. Even I at a young age realized this was pretty bad design, if you went over a bump (or railroad tracks, etc.) you’d end up shooting a missile at the vehicle in front of you, be it friend or foe alike.
Sadly, I no longer have my small car collection from my younger days…I gave them to my younger sister, who lost track of them (she liked cars too, but I think someone probably took them from her). Much as I miss my car collection, I’d much rather have my sister back, she died almost 5 years ago now.
This design also reminds me of that of the bathtub Nashes, which I recently posted some photos of on the Cohort Flickr page under the user name of “PurveyorOfTheOdd”.
I destroyed all of my Corgi and Matchbox cars! 🙁 I now have two glass cabinets full of 1/25 scale Danbury and Franklin cars.