Hey oldfart 36... Thanks for not taking that the wrong way. Your Dragnet car is pretty rare, and I'd love to see it in my collection. I'll babble on with a little history here about the Garton company and its pedalcars. During the 50's the pedalcar was THE most purchased major toy in America. The Garton company was located in Sheyboygan, and its most famous product was without a doubt the Kiddilac. While most pedalcars of the day cost 19.95, the Kiddilac was a whopping 49.00. This was a HUGE sum in the 50's. If you had a Kiddilac, your parents were high rollers! The Kiddilac had chain drive, working head and taillights, a continental kit, radio antenna and rear view mirror. The Kiddilac was stamped from a single piece of steel, and it took two workers to pry it from the stamping press because of the undercuts. The factory had to remove a section of the roof to install the 3 story press that punched out the body. The old Garton Factory today is an apartment complex. See? Full size cars arent the only cars that have history! Thanks for letting me spout off....
Slightly later than the cutoff date but still a 60's Icon. My old Chapparal by Pines of Italy. Pic I got from an auction site. Mom gave it away when we moved....GRRR The little dork in blue is me circa 1968 with my Chaparral in back
My daughter must reckon I have too much time on my hands since I retired so she gave me a pile of poop to bring back to life.... 8 weeks later and lots of beer in the shed I managed this....
You go right ahead and babble! I enjoy learning about things I'm sketchy on and you've really made this interesting and fun. I've always wanted to find a Kiddilac similiar to how I found the Dragnet, but can call no joy YET. Thanks for taking the "teacher" role in this case and I love your car in the pic.
My 3 grandsons had lot of fun with the pedal cars I built. They do outgrow them fast. Two of the cars I made as combination pedal car/stroller. Still got about 6 more cars in the barn. Good winter projects to tinker with. The boys are my cruising buddies and like anything with wheels so when they turned 2 they each got a restored JD tractor. Also made them some cool JD bikes to ride when they come to "Pops" house. Recently found the little guy a bike that looks like a motorcycle. Got that all apart now for a little upgrade.
Here's a picture of a restored Dragnet Garton Mark V. I got the pic from the Speedway site where they sell replacement parts. Its a cool car! Especially if you're old enough to remember episodes of the TV show
Yep, this is some of what I found. Thanks. Hey "Doc" you be 2nd in line. Been lookin for a while now!!!!!!!
Finally ready for paint got some parts two weeks ago that put the project back on track and then doubled it!
I'm doing a 49 mercury fiber glass body I got eBay for my daughter it has fixed front wheels and casters in the back sits 3/4 to 1 in of the ground ill try ti get some pic up I also have some vintage Murray cars I'm going to do for her to pedal around
Check this one out! That kid is bad ass.. all the girls are talking about him at day care lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THhnXkJh5oQ&sns=em thanks, Douglas Johnson "Skrach" www.VividlyVintage.com
I'm build'in one for my grandkids too, Get a kick out of all us old geezers hav'in fun with the younger set, Hope one of 'em catches the hot-rod bug. Indy
This one's not a custom. It was given to me when I was a kid, circa 52-53. I still have it and had to recently add new wheels and tires. Not gonna paint it but I do plan to re-letter it. Has a lot of good race damage on it! Tires were worn smooth, I always drove it hard, cornering on two wheels a lot. Discovered I could make skid marks with it! My grandkid is taking over the driving now. It's a BMC racer circa 1949.
Here comes my daughter driving her electric "front engine dragster"... clic the pic or link http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y228/JuhaP/video/?action=view¤t=MVI_1332.mp4
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