PEDAL CARS
«Tricycle, scooter, Kettcar – everything is very nice. But hey, the hero in the playground was of course the boy with the pedal car.»
«DER SPIEGEL» in a report on pedal car auctions on March 26, 2016
PEDAL CARS
I received my first car that I could drive myself in 1958 on my third birthday. It was a pedal car; more precisely a Ford Comète from the French manufacturer Tri-Ang.
Two years later, my parents gave me an Indianapolis racing car from the Italian manufacturer Giordani for Christmas. I can still remember this vehicle very well. I felt like a little Juan Manuel Fangio.
Almost 50 years later, in October 2010, I came into contact with pedal cars again at the Auto e Moto d’Epoca in Padua, Italy’s largest classic car fair. That was the hour of the birth of another collection. A dear friend from Treviso, whom I had shown old photos of me and the pedal cars from my childhood during a visit in the summer, spotted an Indianapolis at a stand. If he gives me a hint, it is always dangerous, but I hurried to the booth in Hall 8. When I got there, a film from my childhood was playing in my head. Suddenly everything was there again, the memories of that carefree, beautiful time that I was able to experience as a child.
I quickly came to an agreement with Mimmo – that’s the name of the provider – and so I owned a pedal car again as I once did. And, if the fever grabs you …! In a short time my collection increased, including also with vehicles that I own on a 1:1 scale. After this, I looked intensively for my first «car», a Ford Comète. Not an easy undertaking, it seemed to be an absolute rarity. On a Sunday morning while surfing the Internet, I came across a collector in eastern Switzerland. I soon noticed that he was restoring sheet metal cars to a very high standard. You can ask … – accompanied by a photo from the old days. I received an answer straight away – and what a reply. In fact, he had a Ford Comète, albeit in a very worn condition. Happy to have finally found my first car, I made an appointment for the next day. You have to grab the chance, my inner voice told me. We quickly reached an agreement, of course including the necessary restoration.
Today my collection includes over 30 pieces of jewelry, all made of sheet metal and mostly from the 1950s and 1960s.
