Some kids learned to say “Turnpike Cruiser” from an early age.
Vintage Snapshots: Never Too Young To Drive A Mercury!
– Posted on August 8, 2023
-
-
Curbside Classics Archives
Some kids learned to say “Turnpike Cruiser” from an early age.
I’ve never seen a pedal car like that. It’s got all the details. Very cool!
That is one beautiful pedal car. I never seen one with that much detail before. Mine was a 1952 Buick that had been passed down through to me. Red steering wheel.
Love that Turnpike Cruiser! That had to be one expensive toy. The little boy is adorable.
It must have been electric. There’s clearly no room for the knee action needed for either bike-type or push-pull pedals.
There’s plenty of room. It’s a typical pedal car layout of the era.
WRONG. The mini-Merc IS motorized. It was one of 3-4 models the co. produced in the 50s, including a `58 Fury, a `58 DeSoto Adventurer, a `58 Thunderbird, and even an Edsel! ‘Polistra is right–no room for kids to pedal. The motors were behind the seat on the frame.
How do I know? I have a friend who owns a `58 Mercury like the one above–he got it for XMas of 1958!!
Actually, I’m not “WRONG”. I didn’t say whether it was electric or not; I simply said it was plenty big enough to be a pedal car. In fact, it’s bigger than almost all pedal cars, undoubtedly to make room for the battery and motor.
Do a Google image search for “pedal cars”, and you’ll see what I mean.
https://www.google.com/search?q=child%27s+pedal+car&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwillvGC7c2AAxU5MDQIHdzSAokQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=child%27s+pedal+car&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDFAAWABgAGgAcAB4AIABAIgBAJIBAJgBAKoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1n&sclient=img&ei=2Z7SZOXFJrng0PEP3KWLyAg&bih=762&biw=1536
That’s one successful young lad! His ride looks like the newest in the neighborhood. 😉
I found one that had sold at auction for $3,250. It actually is electric. Promotional car made by the PowerCar company of Mystic CT.
I’ll bet somewhere there is an actual 1958 Mercury for sale at that price…
They were evidently available as gas-powered too:
Well, that kid certainly had a better ride than I did at his age.
Mine was a regular pedal car (an AMF, if I recall correctly). I did something to it so far as damaging the pedal linkage so that it no longer reliably drove the rear axle. I was very good at taking things apart and breaking them, but if a part was lost (in this case, I think now it was something as common as a cotter pin), it was game over because my dad didn’t know the difference between a screw and a nail – much less any other more exotic type of fastener – and the heck if he was going to take me to a hardware store to procure a replacement.
So after the drive train went out on my pedal car, I was left with only being able to shuffle it around with my feet…like my hero Fred Flintstone. Which was actually fun as well.
I found a really neat site with some amazingly restored kiddie cars. There are several electric ones like the Mercury in this picture.
https://newatlas.com/70-vintage-pedal-cars-lead-to-record-sale-of-automobilia-collectibles/35758/#gallery:1
SWEET .
The boy looks happy too .
-Nate