Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of pedal cars from the 2008 Orphan Car Show

Once upon a time before there were Power Wheels, munchkins had to provide their own motivation. At the Orphan Car Show last week a gentleman by the name of Greg was displaying part of his collection of pedal cars and, unlike the modern day versions that are fabricated out of injection molded plastic, these cars were all metal. According to Greg, his father-in-law got him started on collecting pedal cars about 12 years ago and he now has about 100 examples. He picks them up wherever he can find them including yard sales, curbs and through acquaintances. Body styles run the gamut from Mustangs, to Jeeps to fire trucks. Perhaps if gas prices keep climbing we'll all be driving full size examples of these things before too long. Click below for a high-res gallery of the best pedal car's at last week's 2008 Orphan Car Show.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Click image for photo gallery

Here in the States, the kids lust after Power Wheels. On a recent shopping trip to buy my daughter her first real bike, she pointed at a red Power Wheels Mustang, and asked, "Can we get that?" One pink bicycle with handlebar basket later, the pint-sized 'Stang is but a distant memory (thank goodness). Still, the attraction is understandable -- those ride-ons are pretty cool.

In the UK, a company called Totcars appears to be the heavy hitter in this segment, and it's released its lineup of electric and pedal cars for Christmas 2007. From the looks of things, British moms (or is it "mums") and dads are just as likely to be besieged with pleas from their kids as we are. Since Totcars is on the other side of the pond, there are some models represented that we'd never see here. That Alfa 8C is pretty cool, as are the Ferrari F1 cars and Renault Megane Trophy. Oh, and dig that Caterpillar dump truck -- it has twin 12V motors. We've included pics of everything in the attached gallery, and Totcars' press release is pasted after the jump.

[Source: Totcars]