Pedal cars are among the most popular children’s toys but there are lots of interesting facts about them that you might not know. Pedal cars were initially designed in 1878, but weren’t taken seriously by adults until they became a fad in the 1930s. In 1934, a man named Edwin Friend began selling pedal car kits to children and renamed them pedal cars.
The first production model cost $ 15 and included two seats, four wheels, and enough hand crafted parts to make it worth $ 36. George Washington was an avid collector of these toy whizzes with his model called the “Gentlemen Car” standing over six feet tall with an engine made out of bamboo. 2 seater pedal car for adults are great gifts for adults and kids alike.
7 Things You Most Likely Didn’t Know About 2 Seater Pedal Car :
1. Pedal Cars Have Been Around For A Long Time
The first pedal car was invented in 1878 by Charles and Frank Duryea. This ancestor to the modern day pedal car was a steam powered 3 wheeler. Pedal cars were very popular in the 1930s and some experts claim that, at that time, 90 percent of American children from toddlers to teens had their own toy car. In 1937, a man named Edwin Friend began selling pedal car kits to children and renamed them pedal cars due to the fact that adults wouldn’t take them seriously if they were called “toy” cars.
The first production model cost $ 15 and included two seats, four wheels, and enough hand crafted parts to make it worth $ 36. Pedal cars were such a hit that George Washington was an avid collector of these toy whizzes with his model called the “Gentlemen Car” standing over six feet tall with an engine made out of bamboo.
2. Pedal Cars Have Four Wheels But One’s Head Only Stands About 2 feet
Pedal cars have four wheels, but the distance between the front and back wheels is shorter than on other models. The distance between the two sides is approximately 4 inches while in a regular car it is approximately 4 1/2 inches. The reason for this is that the body is not designed to turn as sharply as a regular car would. There are very few pedals on a pedal car, but these are enough to give children an idea of what it feels like to drive a real car. One pedal turns the front wheels and one pedal makes the back wheels move.
3. Pedal Cars Outsold Standard Models in 1934
In 1934, George Grant, president of American Flyer Co., announced that his toy plane sales had fallen almost 20% from the previous year and attributed it to the popularity of pedal cars in 1935. The company’s stock price plummeted from $ 100 per share to $ 10 per share due to this news.
That same year, sales of pedal cars increased more than 400% while sales of standard models fell 56%. Because of this, American Flyer Co. decided to create pedal car models themselves and sell them for $ 10 as a way to make up for the loss in revenue from plane sales.
4. The First Pedal Car Was Basically A Big Wooden Crate
The first pedal car was designed by Charles Duryea and his brother Frank in 1879. This wooden crate had two hand crafted wheels and was propelled by pedals which were attached to the front wheel axle. Later on, steam engines were added to make this gadget go faster. Pedal cars were very popular in the 1930s and some experts claim that, at that time, 90 percent of American children from toddlers to teens had their own toy car.
In 1937, a man named Edwin Friend began selling pedal car kits to children and renamed them pedal cars due to the fact that adults wouldn’t take them seriously if they were called “toy” cars. The first production model cost $ 15 and included two seats, four wheels, and enough hand crafted parts to make it worth $ 36. George Washington was an avid collector of these toy whizzes with his model called the “Gentlemen Car” standing over six feet tall with an engine made out of bamboo.
5. The First Production Model Could Be Assembled In Under An Hour
After the first year of sales, an eager man named Mr. Berge, from Chicago, mailed out more than 5,000 letters to parents who had purchased car kits for their children and urged them to assemble the kits together. This is when he learned that most children and parents spent more than 6 hours putting the pedal car together. Today, assembly can be performed in less than an hour with just a screwdriver or ratchet set. The company also added a new feature on their cars called a horn using a battery-powered electrical system that could be purchased separately.
