Q: Any ideas as to manufacture and time of manufacture?  Any information would be greatly appreciated.

A: First of all, nice job on the restoration. Looks to be very well done.  There was a similar tricycle offered for sale on eBay earlier this year. The seller said that the maker was Glamb Engineering. Where they got this information or idea isn’t known. A Google search for that company brings up nothing but the blog article from April that we wrote about the tricycle.

At first glance your tricycle looks like an earlier Colson frame circa 1920′s, based on the seatpost lug, handlebar stem and forks. Usually Colson trikes had headbadges. If we find out further info or maker’s name for sure, we’ll update this article and let you know.

OK, so it looked like a Colson, but it isn’t. Just a day after doing this blog article, we got this picture of the same identical tricycle.  This little sidecar trike actually has the original headbadge and it is clearly a Steelcraft made by Murray. The tricycle does look to be from the 1930′s or possibly the late 20′s. The tricycle surely appeared in Steelcraft catalog from the year(s) it was produced.

I would guess that the tricycle had a very limited production run though, based on the few that you see. The construction is quite good, so they should have survived. My guess is that the child riding in the sidecar ended up getting their legs bent under the seat and/or foot rest, resulting in injuries.

The owner of this tricycle would like to know if he should restore it to sell it in order to gain more value. Like most tricycles that have this much wear, it would cost far more than any gain in value to restore the tricycle. In other words a restoration would increase the value if done properly, but the cost in time and money restoring it would never be fully recouped, and almost certainly not for a profit.

The Harley themed tricycle at the top looks to be a great restoration (though not original) but probably not worth in dollars the cost in parts and labor that it cost to do it, and if so, not worth a lot more. Tricycles aren’t like the paintings you see on Antiques Roadshow where a conservator could fix some damage for a few hundred dollars and it would increase the value by $10,000. With tricycles, it’s usually the opposite, you put in thousands of dollars worth of time and effort and get a few hundred dollar increase in value.

We’ve covered this type of question many times, and again it fits for this question. Whether or not to restore something should 9 times out of 10 be based on a personal desire to restore it for use by a child or for a fun project. Unless you have access to some 38¢ per hour laborers, monetary gain isn’t a realistic cause for restoration, or expectation.

Below is a “before” photo of the Harley restoration pictured at the top of the page.

The tricycle of the week for April 18th, 2010 is the Colson Fairy tiller type tricycle pictured at the left.  It is for sale on eBay with a starting bid of $99.  Tricycle shows lots of wear and dates to circa 1910, give or take.

View the auction.

This week’s Tricycle of the week is a neat circa 1950′s trike with a sidecar attached.  According to the seller, bluechevyboyz, the tricycle was made by Glamb Engineering Company in Garden City, Michigan.  This tricycle sold for a final price of $203.50 with a $65 shipping fee.

The link provided links to the seller’s items for sale and not directly to the item.  If you would like your tricycle to be considered for our Tricycle of the Week, send us an email with link and photo to info(at)tricyclefetish(dot)com.

The Tricycle of the Week for March 28, 2010 is this 1950′s Hettrick American tricycle with wagon combo.  It was found on eBay and was offered by sale by eBay seller, jhdmatsfan.

The final selling price of the tricycle was $62.00.

The link provided links to the seller’s items for sale and not directly to the item.  If you would like your tricycle to be considered for our Tricycle of the Week, send us an email with link and photo to info(at)tricyclefetish(dot)com.

We’ll once again start selecting a trike each week or so for the Tricycle of the Week.   The Tricycle of the Week will be chosen from the trikes currently for sale on the internet, including on sites such as eBay, Craigslist, Ecrater etc.  If you would like to have your tricycle considered for our Tricycle of the Week, including mention here on our blog, Twitter and Facebook, just drop us an email with a picture.  The only real requirements are that it is currently for sale and that you have at least one good picture.