Thursday, August 1, 2013
Already!
Already!
The Beautifully Restored Pedal Cars of
Dansrauto
One of my regular "visits' is to ebay. There are always lots of old and antique toys for sale there, and I never know what I'll see in any week or on any day. As usual, I wasn't disappointed. What I like to do is search for toys by price. The more costly toys are usually rarer and more interesting. Of course, when I was buying and selling on E-Bay, my price range was in the $ 10.00 - $ 300.00 span. I then photographed the toys form y blog,and sold them after. Lst year, I decided to take a break from selling,and decided to ask people to help out buy sharing their stories and photos with us. These toys are normally beyond my price range, and I try to select toys that are interesting, rare, or in nice condition. And so that's how I arrived at Dansrauto on ebay.
Interestingly enough, Dansrauto turn out to be a nice coupe by the name of Dan and Cathy Reichow, hence their name on ebay. What's even more interesting is that they have a car business in Oregon, Ohio called Dan R's Automotive. Dan and Cathy have been collecting these beautifully-restored pedal cars for over 25 years, and have decided to sell them. One of them had caught my attention, and so I had to "investigate". From there, I read that they were selling more than 80 pedal cars, and I had to look! I looked at about 10, and made my "selection" for today's post.
Dan and Cathy photographed these "beauties" quite well, but were a bit limited in space. SO there were some minor distractions. I very much liked how they had placed these cars on a tabletop covered with a white fabric , and then also covered most of the back with also white. A few minor things showed in the photo, so I decided to "Photoshop"' them out. By the time I finished, the pedal cars now looked like museum pieces displayed at a new exhibition. They're really beautiful, but it's the restoration that is most appealing to me. Of the cars shown today ( and I assume all of the other cars), are in fact old , dating back to the later 1940's. But the restorations are superb! Beautifully painted, the shiny metal ( perhaps chrome) sparkles and the rubber tires and pedals are like new. Even the nuts and bold used to reattach the newly-restored parts are brand-new looking! And that's why I had to spend the time to present these outstanding and fine play toys.
This is a 1949 (almost as old as me) Murray "Torpedo< one of the rarer cars up for sale.
Just look at how nice the restoration has been done to this fine toy!
The above pedal car is one of the prizes of the collection for sale currently on ebay.
It's very rare and is a 1953 "Studebaker", modelled after the "real" American company . I saw a "real" Studebaker last fall on the street, and it was beautiful also!
Notice how meticulous the restoration is, even to the undercarriage!
Here's a wonderful toy manufactured by Murray in 1955. It's a "Good Humour Ice Cream" trike,and it even had a compartment in the back of the seat for "ice cream".
This once is another Murray truck made in 1952. It's a "Sand andGravel" truck, and it even has a dump bed that tilts back to release its load.I started to get a bit "fancy" in Photoshop by adding some highlights to the toy. You can easily see these brighter area in the middle photo. I couldn't let such beautiful items not be shown in their best manner!
This one is a 1958 Murray Trike with a "Harley-Davidson" Theme. It's chain driven through the pedals, and measures 36" x 20" x 22" (.927M x .508M x .558M). What's more amazing is the weight - 38 pounds or 17.27 Kg. Now that's when a toy was made of heavy-gauge metal and other materials!
I just adore the outstanding work done to restore these toys. The chain is pristine, the seat is finely stitched, and those handlebars are "super" with their unique bend to them
This is a 1940's Irish Mail Gear Box Style toy. It measures 45" long x 16" wide x 20" tall (1.143M x .408M x .508M).
I think I wrote about one of these interesting items in one of my posts. Before that post, I had never heard or seem such a toy.
Motion is created by pulling and pushing the sterring wheel back and forth to move a gear encased inside the gearbox behind the driver's seat. I've seen some types of bicycles that use hand power, and I would assume that you can create a good speed in this manner, as well as building up your arm muscles!
Notice how I got even "fancier" with my Photoshop. I couldn;t let these wonderful cars and Irish Mail Gear BOx pass without displaying them in the best way possible!
For the closing selection, I picked this Murray 1949 "Pontiac" station wagon.
My father and mother were in a family catering business with my aunts and grandmother. As such, my father always bought a station wagon for both business and pleasure.
The details for this Murray toy are great. The side bars,the simulated wood grain panels, the back door that opens, and of course the screaming yellow colour of the toy.Then there are the front headlights, the grill,and that hood ornament. Ah, the good old days of driving in a station wagon on a hot summer day, and having a Good Humour ice-cream - what could be better?
Thanks for driving by. ( I promise this came out accidentally!)
I really meant visiting, but I had to leave what I wrote
And as always, have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you my be,
Stacey
(toysearcher@gmail.com)
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