Tricycle Fetish Blog

I purchased the Irish Mail Car in Stanley NC at a used furniture shop for $60.00. Had no idea what it was, but thought it would be fun to restore for my 2 year old grandson. Knew it was probably from the 20′s or 30′s because of wooden seat and cast iron gears. Brought it home and started taking it apart to see if I could find any markings to help identify it. Only marking found were on the drive gear, JR – 2 and the drive hub on the right rear wheel, IM 23J, which I figured were part numbers. The Mail Car was in operable condition with a slight bend in the frame near the drive gear which had misaligned the gears. All parts seemed to be original. Paint on the rims of all wheels under the tires was the same and matched the paint under the seat. Paint also original on the frame under the seat. Did color match to find paint available to restore to original. Biggest problem was the tires. All were dry rotten and falling off the rims. Did Internet search for solid rubber tires. Found www.speedwaymotors.com that had tires for Peddle cars. Wheels were different sizes front and rear. Rear tires from Speedwaymotors fit perfect on spoke rims. The solid wheel on the front was smaller so I had to cut and splice the tire from Speedwaymotors to fit. Used Zap-A Gap adhesive to glue the new tire together. Sets in 15 seconds worked great. Cleaned, degreased all metal parts and primed with Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer. Straightened slight bend in frame to align the gears. Cleaned and primed all wooden parts then painted with original color spray paint from local hobby store. Reassembled the Mail Car and it runs like a champ. Now I just have to teach a 2 year old how to use the push/pull handle bar.

This restoration project was done by TricycleFetish.com visitor, David Ballard. Below are some additional pictures that he took during the restoration process.

A TricycleFetish.com visitor sent us this photo, asking for info. The visitor though it would date to about 1935. It would seem that that age is within reason. The velomobile type pedal vehicle has a horn, drum brakes, brake light, headlights. Velomobiles or Velo-cars came into use around the 1930′s and were popular during World War II when gasoline was hard to find, and afford. The model and brand of this unit are unknown. Many had bodies and fenders and some even had roofs.

Q: I found a picture of me from 1967 ( I was 1! ) on some sort of AMF riding toy. It has a seat like a tricycle, but there are four wheels instead of three — two on each side — and no pedals. I’d like to know just what this thing is called. I’ve been racking my brain with every combination of terms (scooter, quad, kiddycar, etc.) to use on Google, but nothing matches what this toy looks like.

A: Hmmm, that’s a good question. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen one in a catalog or print ad to verify the actual name of the thing. It would probably be technically classified as a ride-on, rather than a tricycle or scooter. It was made by AMF and branded under their Junior Toy line. I’ve seen it called a Wee Wheeler, a Sit and Scoot, and a Wee Rider.  We’ve got one of these in stock, but it is far from being in mint condition. These were made for a number of years, and like AMF/Junior tricycles, they have different headbadges and those badges can be used to help determine the age.

If you grew up the in the 80′s and have little one’s now, you can go back in time with replica Big Wheels.  They are just like the original ones that you had fun on when you were a kid.  Some of them seem to be being sold in limited quantities, so act fast.  Would also make a great Christmas present.  You can find a good  selection of Big Wheels on Amazon.com , or check out this site for original Big Wheels of several models.

Q: Can you tell me the name of the manufacturer and style name of this tricycle, and its approximate value? We may wish to sell it, can you suggest where (website/publication, etc.) we could advertise it for sale?  I have done searches on the internet, but have not found a picture of any other tricycles that look like this one.  Teresa

A: You have a late 1950′s era Murray Supersonic Jet ride-on pedal plane.  This type of toy isn’t normally considered a tricycle.  It’s more of a pedal plane or a ride-on toy in general.  It’s sort of built the same way as a pedal tractor with its chain drive.  This was a toy designed by Viktor Schreckengost and over the years there were some changes.  The exact year is unknown.  If you had catalogs from each year around the late 1950′s, you might be able to pinpoint it based on design and paint scheme, but the exact year really isn’t important.

As far as selling it goes…  I would think that there are some pedal car sites that would have classified ads.  Probably the easiest way would be Craigslist.  It’s free and a lot of collectors search for items there.  If that doesn’t work there’s always eBay, you just have to pay pretty high fees and deal with all of the eBay hassles.

We recently received an email asking for information on a tricycle (pictured at left) that is shaped like a kitty cat.  Though we’ve seen similar tricycles in the past, they all have been unmarked or so worn that a maker’s mark was not legible.  If anyone can help identify this tricycle’s maker, please leave a comment so the owner can have some more information on the tricycle.

Judging by the wheels and pedals, the tricycle appears to be to have been manufactured anywhere between the 1920′s and 1940′s.

Q: I was wondering if you’ve had any luck on finding any info about the BlueBoys. I have some new pictures that I can send you or you can view them on my thread that I posted. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Adam R.

A: These were made in the first quarter of the 20th century.  I do not know the maker, and without markings it is hard to tell.  Many different makers made tricycles and ride-ons like this including Taylor, Auto Wheel Coaster, Columbia, etc.  About the only hope of accurately identifying them would be to find an ad (or someone with one) that listed a manufacturer, but even then, many tricycles were sold unbranded in stores.