Pedal Cars
Austin J40 Pedal Car
The Austin J40 is one of the most popular pedal cars ever built. Each J40 was built in South Wales at the Austin Junior Car Factory, modeled after the 1948 Austin A40 Devon and Dorset models. The company was established on a not-for-profit basis, existing solely to employ disabled coal miners who needed a new form of employment. All J40 pedal cars were built from scrap metal from the Longbridge Austin factory, and each one was built and painted the same way as the actual cars.
The J40 was built with several accessories which made the car feel authentic to children. Standard features included working headlights and a horn, detachable wheels fitted with Dunlop tires, Austin-style front grille, and seats made from the same material as the Austin Devon. Additionally, the J40’s hood opens, revealing a faux inline-four-cylinder engine, complete with faux spark plugs. The trunk (or boot in England) opened as well and housed a spare wheel and tire.
More than 32,000 J40 pedal cars were produced before production ceased in 1971 with cars being shipped around the world. The popularity of the J40 skyrocketed in 2012 when the Goodwood Revival, a motorsports festival in England, featured a children’s pedal car race with dozens of J40’s. The race has been running annually since 2012, and interest in the J40 has continued to grow.
“Tinker Tantrum” by Pippa Garner
Pippa Garner is an artist and author whose work over the last 40 years has parodied everything from normal consumer products to automobiles. She entered the global spotlight in 1982 in her former self as Phillip Garner, after publishing a book of wacky inventions, Phillip Garner’s Better Living Catalog. Her television appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the Merv Griffin Show, and others grew her audience, and her art has been seen in Rolling Stone, Los Angeles magazine along with a monthly editorial page in Car and Driver.
Garner is probably best known to car fanatics as the artist who penciled the realistic and absurd drawings for Car & Driver magazine for those many years. She has recently donated 3 of her custom pedal cars to the Audrain, including “Tinker Tantrum” seen here. The body of the pedal car was made from a derelict wooden canoe turned upside down. You can see the old scaring on the canoe’s bottom under the blue paint!
Quoted in ARTnews ‘Pippa Garner describes her custom street-ready pedal cars as “appendages for the inner child.” One of the contraptions she built in Long Beach is an adaptation of a ’50s roadster made with an overturned canoe. All of them boast a sense of play that taps into Garner’s childhood nostalgia. “Cars will always have faces, with a mouth with two headlights for eyes,” she said. “They all have personalities.”’
Ford Mustang Pedal Car
The Mustang pedal car was built by Ford and was available to purchase at Ford dealerships for just $12.95! The Mustang pedal car was first introduced by Ford in April 1964 at the New York World’s Fair to the delight of kids everywhere. By the 1960’s, many American adults had already discovered that driving could be fun – who knew! Cars were now seen as personal possessions, and people bought automobiles that offered the thrill of sports cars, and upon the release of the Mustang, kids wanted their own to enjoy as well.
Because of their scarcity, Ford Mustang pedal cars are now quite rare. This pedal car on display is 1964 model, and subsequent years featured numerous minor changes. Ford saw the pedal car as a way for kids in the family to become connected to the Ford brand. Originally, the Mustang pedal car was not offered to the general public, until Ford realized how popular they were. Ford then licensed the AMF to produce the Mustang pedal car in larger quantities.