MOTORS FOR CHILDREN.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 234, 26 April 1928, Page 7

MOTORS FOR CHILDREN.

BRITAIN’S ADDITION TO CAR INDUSTRY. “ Stream lined sports body, and finished in two colours; cantilever springs; five-speed gearbox; hand-brake; oil pressure gauge; speedometer and clock.— Price, £4 55.” Don’t get excited—this is not the new Ford. It is but one of the many surprises which British toy manufacturers, after great thought and ingenuity, are about to reveal in order that “ Johnny ” may have his own car.

Many manufacturers are now catering for the realistic child. One of them engaged a well-known motor car designer to design a five-speed gear and clutch mechanism for a toy pedal motor, and thousands of these little vehicles are now being made in Birmingham. Another manufacturer has adopted real motor tyres, made by an English firm, the exact replica, in everything but size, of those used on fullsized cars. So, “ Johnny ” will now be able to experience the thrills of real punctures as well as “ joys ” of real gearchanging, the delights of blowing a real horn, and applying real brakes. “ The modern boy, the world over, is rapidly becoming a motorist,” said a manufacturer, “ and if Britain has serious rivals in the world’s motor trade, she is certainly leading the world in the toy motor trade.” A firm makes scale models of the car in which Major Seagrave exceeded 200 miles an hour on Daytona Beach, for which an amazing number of orders have arrived from America. The factory is run on the same Tines as a mass-production motor car factory, with a miniature testing plant.