Childhood car related toys - what was your favorite?

[Stevehose]

I got this go kart for Christmas in 1974 at age 12, it is my all time favorite received gift. I call it my "Rosebud" in reference to Citizen Kane and it opened the floodgates on my interest in cars and engines. Today I hauled it out of the basement for its eventual restoration. I always wanted one of those cool 50cc Honda mini trail bikes (a neighborhood friend had one) but my parents said no way. I had written off any such powered vehicle until I was led into the dining room blindfolded for the reveal. There are 4 kids in the family and each year a different one got the "good present" and that was my year. Quick story: my dad was working in St. Louis and happened to drive by the Margay racing kart factory and saw this in the window and had it shipped home to NY unbeknownst to me. I once contacted Margay to see if they had any info on it, they said this model (called the Scat Cat) was one of only a handful of recreational karts they made, and only 1 was with a 5hp engine - apparently mine. The others were all 3.5hp. Before he passed away a few years ago I asked my dad why he got the 5hp one, he said he wanted me to be able to keep up with the minibikes and didn't think the 3.5hp would be fast enough! My cousin got a ticket for going 45mph in it one summer (I had removed the throttle governer). My kids grew up driving it and I hope to pass it to theirs someday. Still have the original engine (off the frame now) to rebuild and Goodyear knobby tires. I don't know where my old Peter Fonda Easy Rider american flag helmet is though. A little spot rust but otherwise in pretty good shape. Thanks dad!

 

[HB Chris]

Amazing!

 

[deQuincey]

I got this go kart for Christmas in 1974 at age 12, it is my all time favorite received gift. I call it my "Rosebud" in reference to Citizen Kane and it opened the floodgates on my interest in cars and engines. Today I hauled it out of the basement for its eventual restoration. I always wanted one of those cool 50cc Honda mini trail bikes (a neighborhood friend had one) but my parents said no way. I had written off any such powered vehicle until I was led into the dining room blindfolded for the reveal. There are 4 kids in the family and each year a different one got the "good present" and that was my year. Quick story: my dad was working in St. Louis and happened to drive by the Margay racing kart factory and saw this in the window and had it shipped home to NY unbeknownst to me. I once contacted Margay to see if they had any info on it, they said this model (called the Scat Cat) was one of only a handful of recreational karts they made, and only 1 was with a 5hp engine - apparently mine. The others were all 3.5hp. Before he passed away a few years ago I asked my dad why he got the 5hp one, he said he wanted me to be able to keep up with the minibikes and didn't think the 3.5hp would be fast enough! My cousin got a ticket for going 45mph in it one summer (I had removed the throttle governer). My kids grew up driving it and I hope to pass it to theirs someday. Still have the original engine (off the frame now) to rebuild and Goodyear knobby tires. I don't know where my old Peter Fonda Easy Rider american flag helmet is though. A little spot rust but otherwise in pretty good shape. Thanks dad!

i see,..the king of the road !

 

[Wes]

Nice.
I've a blue Hot Wheels Bat CSL would date from early 1980s. Is the toy that started my interest in E9's.
Can post a pic if you like.

 

[Markos]

Very cool @Stevehose!

I had 60’s blue and red canvass overnight suitcase full of matchbox cars that I shared with my two older brothers. No individual slots to park the cars, just a mash of metal clanging against each other.

One of the cars was this. I distinctly remember the green windows and the roundel on the hood. My older brother loved BMW’s since he was young, but didn’t get his first until his mid 40’s.

 

[Gransin]

My mom and dad bought me a Suzuki PV50 when I was around 10 years old, that thing was the best thing in my life for several years, I could spend hours telling stories about all the shenanigans me and my friends were up to with these things
These Suzukis are how I learned to turn a wrench, and my dad was always there to help out and point me in the right direction. The first couple of times we split the block to replace some bearings I just stood by and watched him do it, but after a while I got the hang of it. Tuning in the carburetor was also difficult in the beginning, but later I developed an "ear" for it, and it became easy. Then came all the 60, 70, 80cc cylinders and bigger carbs, exhausts etc.
In the end, I think I have owned around 15 of these PV50's, I bought "barn finds" and restored them with the help of my dad and sold them at a profit, which was needed to have some $$ to spend on fuel, which was the most critical problem in my life right then, as you didn't get far on a tank with a 80cc + big carb. Those were the days.
Unfortunately, I sold off all mopeds and parts when my focus shifted to cars, but I recently bought me another PV50 to restore.

Not many pictures have survived, but this is the one I drove the most.

 

[Nicad]

Great story Steve. Were you on the tall side at that age too? I was the same in my ultimate wants. A kid I knew had a Yamaha Mini enduro in 1970. I had never seen anything I wanted more. I had my plan. We were going on vacation and I figured out how much the airfare and hotel would cost and presented it to my Mom that I would stay home at Grand Maman's place and save enough for the bike.. . How could that logic fail? It did and totally.
4 years later I had my 1st summer job stocking shelve's at the drug store and while Mom was out of town I bought a locally built used Can Am MX1 (top end 125cc dirt bike in 1974 for $600). Sold the idea to Mom that it was only a dirt bike (Which I rode on the street all the time)
Came close to buying a fully restored Can Am 175 TnT of the same vintage just last week, then had pause.

Don't get killed on that thing!! I hope you leave the paint alone and just blueprint the engine.

 

[Nicad]

Oh yeah, on the toy car front, I was ecstatic to get the batmobile from my other Grandmother, who reputedly liked my older Brother best!

 

[Dohn]

I have a weird one for you. My first motorized transport was a minibike that had originally been used by the Shriners for parades. No shocks, just a straight metal frame and a large gas pedal on the right side. Yes, a gas pedal. Lean the bike a little too far on a right turn and the post would dig into the pavement; very exciting. Mostly rode it up and down a friend's half-mile driveway, annoying all the neighboring houses. Every time I rode it on the street a neighbor would call the police, so on-roading had to be brief. Ultimately burned up the Briggs & Stratton engine and sold what was left to another neighbor kid. Not sure he ever got it running again. Neighbors were quite pleased.

 

[Stevehose]

I was tall at that age but had no problems fitting for years. Even now at 6'5 I can get in it but my knees go out wide and the steering wheel is firmly in the crotch area! Makes for exciting driving, one wrong move and you pay!

That's an idea to consider - treat the rusty spots and keep the paint or go for a respray? Margay couldn't tell me what paint code it is, they seemd to think it was corvette blue or somesuch. The engine is a Tecumsheh HS50, the minibike forums say it's a desirable engine but I can't find a rebuild kit for it so may have to piecemeal rebuild it. Like Dohn's bike, it's very loud and definitely annoyed the neighborhood.

Here's a pic I keep in the garage (weather damaged) of my son and I ripping a corner 20+ years ago before he could reach the pedals. Don't tell his mother!

Great story Steve. Were you on the tall side at that age too? I was the same in my ultimate wants. A kid I knew had a Yamaha Mini enduro in 1970. I had never seen anything I wanted more. I had my plan. We were going on vacation and I figured out how much the airfare and hotel would cost and presented it to my Mom that I would stay home at Grand Maman's place and save enough for the bike.. . How could that logic fail? It did and totally.
4 years later I had my 1st summer job stocking shelve's at the drug store and while Mom was out of town I bought a locally built used Can Am MX1 (top end 125cc dirt bike in 1974 for $600). Sold the idea to Mom that it was only a dirt bike (Which I rode on the street all the time)
Came close to buying a fully restored Can Am 175 TnT of the same vintage just last week, then had pause.

Don't get killed on that thing!! I hope you leave the paint alone and just blueprint the engine.

 

[Stevehose]

Those are the kind of bikes I lusted after!

My mom and dad bought me a Suzuki PV50 when I was around 10 years old, that thing was the best thing in my life for several years, I could spend hours telling

Not many pictures have survived, but this is the one I drove the most.

View attachment 73430

 

[Gransin]

Those are the kind of bikes I lusted after!

Cool, I didn't realize that until I re-read your post now, I had a Honda Monkey for a while!

 

[Bionicgold]

I was lucky enough to own a go kart as a kid as well. Mine was similar to the one on the photo, but white with Texaco decals and a Briggs and Stratton 5.5 HP motor. Found it in the Recycler for $300. Think it was about $800 new, which was a lot of cash in the 80s. We learned pretty quickly that it went faster without the heavy fiberglass formula 1 body. More than one friend ended up in the emergency room. Eventually, the steering wheel broke off from a collision with a curb, so we went with vice grip steering after that. Good times!

 

[BarnE9]

Great thread @Stevehose ! I had a go kart very similar to yours which gave me hours of fun pretending to be Jackie Stewart (my F1 1970s hero) but hands down the best car toy was the Corgi DB5 James Bond Aston Martin from Goldfinger (and others)

 

[Nicad]

When I was in my 40's I pondered buying either a Kawasaki KDX 200 and trying my hand at Enduro racing or buying a Go Kart and taking up racing. I had been quite active autocrossing a VW Corrado and it was not happy to take the pounding in the front end. So I went with the Go Kart. Bought a used Sodi Targa Kart that had been quite successful in local racing the year before driven by some young Hotshot. It was campaigned in the 4 stroke class where all the karts had Honda power with about 10 HP.

 

[Stevehose]

I had a similar toy from the late 60's - made in Japan tin Bond car with a battery to make gun noises, the lights flash, and the bullet proof shield go up and down. The ejector seat worked, is this the same one?

Great thread @Stevehose ! I had a go kart very similar to yours which gave me hours of fun pretending to be Jackie Stewart (my F1 1970s hero) but hands down the best car toy was the Corgi DB5 James Bond Aston Martin from Goldfinger (and others)

 

[rsporsche]

my brother and i bought a mc culloch racing go kart for 50 bucks when we were about that age. at the time it had a 3.5 hp b+s engine on it, which was soon changed to a mac 91 (about 10hp 2 cycle)

the day we got it, our parents went out for the evening and told us not to go driving it. well of course we did. our neighbor also had a kart so we were racing each other around the block. we blasted around a corner not realizing their was a cop there waiting for us. no rear-view mirror so we didn't see him. our friends ran to a neighbors yard to get us off the road after rounding a corner so the cops couldn't find us. heart was pumping unbelievably fast when the cop drove by.

 

[rsporsche]

this is what it looked like ... not our kart, it was sold a long time ago. we did end up going to twin mac 101 engines at a later date ... which put out about 25hp look at the back of the seat, that's a gas tank. live rear axle with twin disc breaks

 

[Stevehose]

That's sick! Vintage karts are so cool looking.

this is what it looked like ... not our kart, it was sold a long time ago. we did end up going to twin mac 101 engines at a later date ... which put out about 25hp look at the back of the seat, that's a gas tank. live rear axle with twin disc breaks


View attachment 73524

 

[BarnE9]

I had a similar toy from the late 60's - made in Japan tin Bond car with a battery to make gun noises, the lights flash, and the bullet proof shield go up and down. The ejector seat worked, is this the same one?

No Steve - Corgi was a British company making die cast toys and their DB5 had mechanical rear shield, front machine guns and the ejector seat. Sadly I only had the toy version and not the real deal that just sold for $6.4m at Monterey!