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First Peddle Car - First Pedal Car

Ray it's brilliant even the shaved head .........well no one would notice now!
 
My first Pedal Car was a plane. here is my sister sitting in it.

Angela_in_MY_Plane2.jpg


Don't know where it came from but our Dad was always picking things up.
 
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god all your parents must have been rich,all I remember is having roller skates and we used to put our beano book on top of 1 and go down the steep hill. no pram no car, dont you all feel sorry for me
 
My first pedal car looked like a minature version of an Austin Somerset but ended up looking like a stretched limo, sawn in half and lengthened with a couple of planks. I had hours of fun racing down the hill in Albert Road Erdington but my worst memory was trying to stop before hitting Slade Road.
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they have a little racing curcuit and pedal cars on the roof of Lewis's some time in the Late 50's or very early 60's?
 
We moved to a house with a massive uncultivated garden in Kidderminster with fields all round when the lads were little and it took us over a year to put it right. Here they are with their first peddle cars. Jean.
 
god all your parents must have been rich,all I remember is having roller skates and we used to put our beano book on top of 1 and go down the steep hill. no pram no car, dont you all feel sorry for me
You think so? Take a look at the cr*p behind my sister. Dad would have picked that stuff up when it was being thrown out or as we suspected before in some cases.
 
My first pedal car was an American Wily Jeep replica. It had a jerry can on the back and was painted dark green. When I started at the village school Mom let me pedal it to the gate and leave it outside the until school end. My friend Simon was a bit posh, his Dad was the bank manager. One Christmas he got the car we all envied.

https://www.austinworks.com/pedalcar.html

Simon's car was blue and had the optional electric lights fitted. Although it looked great it was heavy and difficult to pedal but the boot opened and you could keep your jam sandwiches in it.
They were made by disabled miners in South Wales.

these cars were known as the Austin J40,and,as stated, were built in South Wales by disabled miners.They were styled after the Austin A40 Devon,and were apparently finished to a higher standard than the full-sze car.Nowadays,they fetch very high prices,being both rare and coveted by enthusiasts.Virtually all the spares are available to restore any 'down and out' models.............Mal
 
My first pedal car looked like a minature version of an Austin Somerset but ended up looking like a stretched limo, sawn in half and lengthened with a couple of planks. I had hours of fun racing down the hill in Albert Road Erdington but my worst memory was trying to stop before hitting Slade Road.
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they have a little racing curcuit and pedal cars on the roof of Lewis's some time in the Late 50's or very early 60's?

Yes, my Mom use to take me to Lewis's roof in the 50's. I think there was all sorts of things to do up there, including a layout of a road where you could ride pedal cars and I think there were bikes too.
 
I remember having so much fun with the old pedal car, not an electric motor or battery in sight, if it stopped working all it meant was that your legs could take no more. I seem to recall getting up to some hairy speeds with my old pedal car and come to think of it bumping into one or two things also, why didn't they have brakes on em? I surpose I could have done a Fred Flintstone with my feet as the picture shows. Oh my god did I really look like that! No dress sense at all in them days, come to think of it I ain't got much dress sense these days either!
 
My son had one similar - the guy in the shop said he would not be able to peddle it at 2 years old. Well it was not long before I was in the local Motor Spares shop buying thick water hose to fit on it as bumper to save the paintwork around the house.
 
hi all
I never actually had one too expensive for our familly but when about 5 yrs old in hasbury road bartley green a friend Des o brien who lived in the grove around the corner had one of those A55 somerset type austin one's with real headlights and I played with it and I took it home and locked the back gate and would't give it back till my mom and dad made me.
paul
 
Bernie, your winged fiyer...there was one just like it on the American version antiques road show just last week. I can't remember the manufacturer. It was in a bit better nick. You won't want to know the value put on it.
 
"My first pedal car looked like a minature version of an Austin Somerset but ended up looking like a stretched limo, sawn in half and lengthened with a couple of planks" Chocks2 quote.

Thats what happened to my Triang Police Car but I think it was a door instead of planks. Had a great little motive power unit called a Junior Sibling Mk2. He would push for hours on the promise of a few sweets.Once he found out about money it became to expensive to run so I got myself a bicycle.
 
Not my pedal car but it was in the family - home built. Plenty of tread on the back tyres. Grain shows in the wood sides.

FamilyPedalCar_.jpg
 
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Look around you and I bet hardly anyone you know scratch builds this sought of thing now. If your Dad did not make you one there was always a bunch of mates who had enough ideas to cobble one together. No wonder this country is short of engineers these days. Like many forum members I spent most of my life in manufacturing. I found the best engineers had ONCs or HNDs and most liked making things in their spare time in the garage or in the shed.Greasy hands were not frowned upon then.Grumble over. Great Photo.
 
Hi Arkrite - About the photo, it is small measuring 3"x2" now fading, probably taken with a 'box brownie' camera held at waist height, hand cupped around a very small view finder to see roughly what would be on the photo - parts of scenes went missing ! I left Handsworth Tech on a Friday started work on the Monday, engineering apprenticeship, ONC - HND, perhaps we were luckier than we thought back in those days.
 
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