Get ’em started early, they say. And indeed, that’s what I’m doing. Since I cannot allow my son to drive the brand-new WWII Jeep I recently assembled from scratch, since his feet don’t reach the pedals, I have decided to purchase a more suitably sized WWII Jeep: a vintage pedal car. But, in keeping with the Tracy tradition, it’s a rustbucket.
I’m no king, and my son Delmar (not his real name) is no prince, hence why his first car isn’t going to be fancy. If I wanted to buy him a new Jeep pedal car, it would cost an absolute fortune.
Just look at what this Hamilton Steel Products Jeep cost on Bring a Trailer:
Naturally, I hopped on Facebook Marketplace and snagged a much cheaper Jeep with the one feature that you could argue helped me build my automotive journalism career: rust.
It cost me $350, and, serendipitously, despite it being three hours north in Paso Robles, when I reached out to my local friend Fred Williams, I learned that he and the seller are buddies. So here’s Fred’s photo showing the Jeep he’d just bought on my behalf in the back of the Ineos he’s been borrowing for a while:
The seller told me the Jeep is “all there,” and for the most part, that appears to be true:
Even if there are parts missing, some can be purchased on eBay. For example, the hood emblem:
And the wheels, tires, and even the windshield!:
There is part of me that wants to keep this Jeep’s patina, but I know I won’t get buy-in from my wife, so I suppose a full restoration is in order. De-rusting this thing should be very satisfying.
Here are some more photos of my new 1950s-era Hamilton Pedal Car (which is a rare, chain-drive variant):
It’s crusty, and if I’m honest, I didn’t get that great of a deal considering I could have snagged this one close to my house for probably not much more than I paid for mine:
But, you love the one you’re with. So let’s see how well I can restore this rusty hulk! It may be a while, since I’m still cleaning my place up after turning it into a WWII Jeep Factory, but by the time my now-16-month-old baby is three, this thing needs to be done.
Top graphic images: David Tracy
But it has pedals!!! And it’s not made of plastic!! That’s pretty fancy to me. 🙂
(Says the person who never got a Little Tykes car, even though I had a grandma standing by with her credit card in case Dad ever changed his mind.)
I love the Uhaul toy hauler sticker on the trailer that’s hauling the…toy(s). I can’t get over how awesome that Autopian Autozam turned out.
That pedal car is cool! Plus it makes total sense since since rust is metaphorically in your blood so rust figuratively runs in the family!