July 29, 2021                                                                                                                     Overcast with rain forecast                                                                                                             21 C   70 F

                       A Reader asks about                        

Her Hiller Tether Car

   I recently received an e-mail from Sharon Spencer inquiring about a toy car she has in her possession. Sharon describes it as a 1940's or earlier Hiller Tether Car, but she is not sure, as there is no engine inside this toy. She asked me to investigate the car to find out information about it, and to see if in fact it is a Hiller original. however I couldn't find anything about it. What's interesting is that this fire engine has the sticker with the name "Hiller" on the front of the fire engine.

    

Below are the dimensions of this toy

Underside, tip of nose to tip of "tail" is 8 3/4"

Outside edge of front fender to opposite front fender is 3 3/8"

Outside edge of back fenders to opposite back fender is 3 3/8"

Narrowest point of "waist" (center of body) is 2 1/2" wide

Highest point of metal body (not including exposed part of wheel) is 2"

(or so...have to "eyeball" it. Including wheel, height is about 2 3/8".

Wheel itself is 1 1/8" tall.

Top of rear tail is pretty much in line with top of front roof.

Rear fender is 1" high

   Sharon also mention that the inside of the toy does not show anything inside, especially a motor. Tethered toy cars were much larger than this fire engine, and also had small engines built into them. 

    For those who don't know, a tethered motorized toy car was attached to a long line. The "driver" of the toy would start the engine, and then have the car spin around and around. Some of the speeds that were recorded were up to 200 miles per hour! Also, Stanley Hiller  Jr. was a very entrepreneurial  teenager who made and sold tethered cars and made great money by the age of 17 in the early 1940's.! As he got older he started to produce helicopters.  His biography on helicopters can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiller_Aircraft

So, if there is anyone out there who can identify this toy, please write to me at

toysearcher@gmail.com

I'll then forward the information to Sharon.

Thanks, as always for dropping by, and have a great day wherever you may be.