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It not just big people who are interested in cars. Little people like them too, and just like clothes or shoes, little people need a car that fits. That car is the pedal car.
Blackhawk Museum Executive Director Tim McGrane for his fifth birthday was given one, his first of many cars. Recently his wife, Cindy, heard of a major car collector who had one just like McGrane received for that birthday and bought it. For the second time, McGrane received a pedal car for his birthday.
The history of pedal cars is almost as old as the history of the automobile, dating back to the 1890s. The first factory that built pedal cars started production not long after Karl Benz built his three-wheel Motorwagen. According to various websites, pedal cars were modeled on cars of the day and were highly desired by kids. At the turn of the 1900s, only wealthy families could afford to give their children pedal cars.
Pedal cars reached their popularity’s peak in the 1920s and early 1930s, but like other consumer goods, the Great Depression took its toll on them. Of course, during the 1940s, no pedal cars were built, as all the metal was going toward the war effort.
The early pedal cars were not cheap toys in price or quality. One website estimates the original price of 1930s-’40s pedal cars in today’s dollars would be from $1,500 to $3,000. These pedal cars were well made, metal toys that followed the auto industry trends. Some had working horns and lights. Hood ornaments were common, as were chrome hub caps, whitewall tires and custom paint. Not all were pedal cars — there were pedal planes, fire trucks, race cars, Jeeps, trucks, tractors and trains.
Two of the biggest producers of pedal cars in the United States were the American National Automobiles of Toledo and Steelcraft of Murray, both Ohio companies. Steelcraft made GMC pedal trucks, Mack dump trucks, Model T Roadsters, Dodge Runabouts and a Chrysler Roadster. There was a pedal car manufacturer called Gendron that hired a designer named Brooks Stevens who later designed the Jeep Wagoneer, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and redesigned the 1962 Studebaker Hawk.
Across the pond in England, there was the well-established company Austin Motor Co., founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin. Originally a manufacturer of luxury cars, in 1922 the company produced the Austin 7. That economy car became the most popular car in Great Britain and was produced until 1939. It is credited with saving the company from financial ruin as a result of the Depression. Its popularity and success are sometimes compared to the popularity and success of Ford’s famous Model T.
During World War II, in addition to building some cars, Austin made trucks and the famous Avro Lancaster bomber. After the war, there was a shortage of jobs, and many of the military people returning home had trouble finding work, especially those who were disabled.
In 1946 the chairman of Austin Motor Co., Leonard Lord, had a unique idea. Why not produce a pedal car that looks like a current Austin model? There was a new 24,500-square-foot factory available in South Wales where there was also a large group of disabled coal miners. This idea was researched and studied, and a development team was put together. Prototypes were built. Austin provided new equipment and trained the disabled miners. The nonprofit company supported by the U.K. government, called the Austin Junior Car Factory, provided a rehabilitation officer and a doctor for about 250 workers.
More than 32,000 Junior Forty (J40) pedal cars were sold by the time the plant closed down in September 1971. According to Tim McGrane, the J40 was well equipped and of excellent quality. This toy car had removable wheels with pneumatic tires, leather seating and lights that actually worked. It had a bonnet and boot (English, you know) that opened, a handle for the boot, and a nose ornament, later removed for safety reasons. McGrane said there is a pedal car race called the Settrington Cup at the Goodwood Revival each year in England with youngsters pedaling J40s.
The intended market for the J40 was the United States, but the toy was also exported to Canada and Denmark. The normal cost in today’s dollars was about $1,200. Just like antique car collectors, there are antique pedal car collectors. Their value seems to be based on popularity, availability and condition. The price range is pretty broad with pedal cars in excellent condition valued from $175 to $11,500. Unfortunately for us Bay Area car nuts, McGrane is leaving the Blackhawk Museum at the end of the month and taking his J40 to the WeatherTech Raceway in Laguna Seca.
Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To view more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles, search for “David Krumboltz” at www.mercurynews.com.