Generalizations are a risky thing, but I feel pretty safe in saying that for those of us whose lives revolve around cars, the love for car-related matters started at an early age. Was it the family car, a diecast toy, a poster, or a pedal car? Whichever it was, the idea of a machine taking you places –anywhere at any time– was powerful from the very beginning. And of course, in those make-believe days, all our “cars” were nice and cool-looking ones.
But what if your toy car was actually a cool one that even adults desired? Yes, a T-Bird, ‘Stang, or a Vette. And with electric (or gas power) at your feet? How awesome would that have been? Today, we’ll take a look at some of those powered toy cars of the late 1950s and early 1960s, with a focus on the Dearborn inspired ones. Wondrous toys from the era that still look great today.
In our digital age, pedal cars and the like are certainly a throwback to another era. (Do video games create the same primal instinct?) And I would think the ones in the catalog above are the way most of us (over a certain age, ahem…) think of these, the traditional pedal car. To many, this was perhaps our first direct involvement with any “car” we could “drive”.
But before those glossy color catalog pages came about, pedal cars had been a thing since the dawn of the industrial age. Kids will always play at whatever grown ups are doing, and cars were a hot thing in those long-ago days…
And with cars being aspirational goods, a number of “Packards” and “Duesenbergs” found their way into scaled-down pedal form. More often than not, without consent or permission from the carmakers. But, hey, the free market… I guess?
The postwar era was to create a new and more exciting interpretation of the genre, and this time, with Detroit involvement. In the case of the Power Car Company in Mystic, Connecticut, the link was established early on. After reading about the upcoming ’55 Thunderbird in the February 1954 issue of Time magazine, company head George A. Ford (Nope, no relation to the Fords, just a curious coincidence) contacted Dearborn’s headquarters asking for permission to create a miniature version of the new car.
Ford Motor Co. took a shine to the idea, and Power Car Co. not only got their blessing, but also some assistance. From 1955 to 1966, Thunderbird Juniors would generally mirror the yearly updates of their full-size brethren, with yearly introductions of the miniatures shown in coordination with Ford’s full-sizers.
Those early Juniors were built to a 1/3 scale (also available in 1/4 scale in some years), with a fiberglass body on an all-steel welded chassis. Functioning head and taillights came with the Juniors, and the drive train consisted of a Ford starter motor connected to the rear axle via a V-belt. All powered by a 6-volt battery.
Top speed? A fun for kids 5MPH. Being a novelty item, the powered Juniors were often used in promotions and all sorts of marketing ploys. Mainly used by Ford dealerships in drawings and contests of different types.
For those who didn’t want to take their chances with lottery tickets, the F.A.O. Swartz catalog offered them in limited numbers.
Construction of the little cars was described as “not a simple task”. As such, not a “toy car” cost for these toy cars. Throughout their run, retail costs of the electric Juniors went from $465 in 1957 to $537 in 1965. (About $5361 to $5,523 in 2025 dollars).
The Dearborn connection also brought about further products, like a nifty Junior Big M Mercury.
And a later Junior was featured with Lee Iaccocca’s daughter in a Time Magazine feature.
Naturally, the big hoopla around the Mustang brought about its own Junior version. Gas powered models had been available, apparently intermittently, since ’57, but promotionals for the 1965 Juniors placed higher emphasis on them, as cars for adults. Cost for the gas-powered models was about $100 more than the electrics.
At least for ’65, they were powered by a 2-stroke engine connected to a Fairbanks Morse transmission. Top speed was 15MPH.
It all sounds very neat and exciting from today’s point of view, but the concept’s novelty must have been getting old by the time the Junior Mustangs came out. Either that or profits were never that great. In any case, production of the Juniors ceased in 1967, when the Power Car Company’s assets were sold to Conval Industries. Plans for a ’70-’71 Mustang Junior were explored, but bankruptcy came before anything further materialized.
In all, about 5,000 Thunderbird Juniors were supposedly built during their 12-year run. About 3,000 of those in the first three years. Numbers for the other models are elusive.
The Dearborn Juniors were just one part of the powered kiddie cars of the era, with DeSoto, Chevrolet and Pontiac also working with toy car providers to create their own versions. Some, like the DeSoto Firemite, we’ve covered before. And the Power Car Co. even built some Plymouth models alongside their Ford Juniors. All part of a moment in the market when these novelties were one more attention-calling tool in the red-hot competition of the 1950s.
And if you wonder about purchasing a surviving one, yes, a Thunderbird Junior is a lot cheaper than a real full-size T-Bird. Not that you’ll get it for cheap, but if you don’t mind the idea of spending a few thousand on a toy, a few do come up here and there on auction sites. As for me, I’ll stick to old Hot Wheels toys for the time being.
I’ve seen very few of these photos, and learned a lot today. These can’t have been cheap back then, and I have no memory of any in my neighborhood.
Today, my neighborhood is filled with young ones on electric-powered cars/trucks and bikes—which seem to be going well faster than 5mph. Clearly the technology has passed the auto-type (lead-acid) batteries!
I was thinking the same thing about electric bikes being some kind of modern equivalent – though much more powerful. Where I live, there’s no shortage of preteens on electric bikes, driving on roads, doing wheelies, etc. I’ve really got to wonder why parents would get a 12-year old a vehicle that can go 25-30 mph. I guess I sound like a cranky old guy, but there’s some really dumb stuff going on.
These Thunderbird Jr’s seem quaint by comparison.
I’ll second the critique of E-bikes for kids. My city is full of kids on class 2 E-bikes bombing around at full throttle. At that age they should be riding regular bicycles or at most a class 1 pedal assist. Twisting a throttle does not build fitness or judgement, and I will now dismount my hobby horse and get out my velocipede.
In my neighborhood there’s an ongoing feud between 3 neighbors where the dad went ballistic when two of them expressed concern and even called the police on them because he bought his kids e bikes that clearly can go 30mph.
I think it’s a matter of time before they end up requiring registration and insurance with the absolutely chaotic nature I’ve seen them operated this year in particular. Previously I’d see them on the trails and paths going way too fast but this year I see 12 year olds in traffic on busy streets doing wheelies and even going faster than the speed limit.
I have seen these electric bikes all over the place as one would expect in Danville. The speed they can move at surprises me and once on the road I would classify them as motor vehicles. Do they belong in the bike lane where they ride. In my book no since they are quite faster than a manual bike. The closet I can get to them in the past was the mini bike craze back in 1967. We rode them in the back alleys in the San Fernando Valley. Yet by 1969 few and far between. Today CA has passed a law about Class 3 E-bikes mostly being modified to go faster. That won’t stop anyone from modifying. yet to me if you are at 25+ mph then you are a motor vehicle and should be treated as such.
Wow, $5k in todays money? No wonder my parents never bought me one!
If Junior is going to have little car like Dad’s he’ll need some candy cigarettes so that he can smoke like Dad. Different times indeed.
Great article and collection of pictures! The photos are my favorite part about these junior cars – every picture is smile-inducing in some way or another. Especially the pictures of adults squeezing into these cars.
I assume the vast majority went to promotions of some kind – not just Ford dealers but other businesses as well. Here’s another – from a New York bank featuring the lucky winners of a 1959 Thunderbird Jr.
Fun post! Question: Could an adult really fit in these as shown or was that a fancy edit job (what phrase would one use pre photoshop?)
I was curious about that too – and I looked it up. Apparently the front end is completely open under the bodywork, so smaller (and nimble) adults could squeeze their legs in there and drive.
This video from Greenfield Village shows several adults operating Thunderbird Jr’s – some fit OK, some don’t. Also, Rich mentions in this article that some of these were built to 1/3 scale and some to 1/4 scale, so I assume the smaller ones would be tough for adults to fit into.
When a girl my age, first grade in 1956, in our neighborhood got one in baby blue I was insanely jealous. No way we could afford one on Dad’s saleman’s salary with a big family to boot, but her Dad was the Fruehauf semi-trailer dealer for the Baltimore area, and they had a new black & red Country Squire that year as well. That little ‘Bird disappeared as she got older and went onto other things. Wonder where that cute T-Bird Jr is today.
My generation lusted after the Porsche 911 and Mercedes SLs at FAO Schwarz. These even had gearshifts. The best I ever managed was neighbor’s pedal car.
One of these makes a memorable appearance in Pee-wee’s Big Holiday (2016).
Growing up, the Fitle family next door had more money than we did. Mr. Fitle was city attorney. In their garage up on the rafters sat a dusty `58 Plymouth kiddies car! Milky tan with the gold Fury side spear! By the time I noticed it and wanted it bad, I was too big to fit into it! It had belonged to the oldest son Ralph when he was little. I too, wonder where that Power-Mite miniature ended up.
I got an army jeep pedal car in 1959, my pacifist parents were not amused and it disappeared quickly .
-Nate
Harold Baxter finds Mr. B’s missing car keys in his junior T-Bird (“Hazel,” season 4 intro, 1964-5).
Radio Flier (remember them) developed a battery Tesla car for kids: