Mike HanlonJanuary 30, 201570 vintage pedal cars lead to record sale of automobilia collectibles

The Pratte Collection auctioned last week, is best known for containing Carroll Shelby’s 800 hp Super Snake Cobra, the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Concept car and the GM Futurliner, but it also contained one of the largest collection of childrens' cars ever assembled. More than 70 went to auction and they'll make you drool.

Image Gallery (82 images)

Rare is the child that doesn't want a pedal car. Pedal cars have been available since the time of the very first motorcars they sought to emulate in the late eighteenth century. For much of the last century, such cars were the exclusive domain of the rich and privileged.

Many near-perfect examples of these rare and exclusive items passed across the auction block in Scottsdale, Arizona in late January as the largest collection of pedal cars ever assembled went to auction.

Ron Pratte's collection of automobiles, motorcycles and automobilia sold for a record $40.4 million but many of the hidden gems were in the childrens car arena.

The Pratte Collection is best known for containing such gems as Carroll Shelby’s personal Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake, the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Concept car designed by Harley Earl and the General Motors Futurliner, but it's far more than just a collection of cars. Pratte has been THE most prominent car and auto ephemera collector of recent times, having accumulated this record collection of desirable objects in little over a decade, eclipsing the value of previous massive collections such as the Milhous Collection (the previous record holder which was far broader in its scope and fetched $38.3 million), and the Otis Chandler collection which sold for $36.1 million by Gooding & Co in 2006.

The image above was taken inside Pratte's private collection warehouse and if you look closely around the upper ballustrade, you'll see the collection of pedal cars which obviously captivated Ron Pratte as much as they captivated us.

The Ron Pratte Collection of over 1,600 pieces of automobilia took four full days to auction and petrolheads across the world will be green with envy at some of the items which went to new homes during that four day period.

The most that any single piece of automobilia fetched was $86,250 for a double-sided neon and porcelain Harley-Davidson dealership sign from the 1930's - Harley's iconic logo in all its art deco splendour found in near perfect condition some eighty years after it was first used.

Some of the items, such as this quart can of Husky Premium Motor Oil fetched surprising results - $2,300 to be exact! More expensive than bottled water even!

The entire collection is worth a look for those who seek to recapture some of the culture of previous eras - some remarkable items are contained in the collection, such as this restored 1950's soda fountain bar with an original Everfrost soda fountain, vintage Multi-Mixer milkshake machine, whipped cream dispenser and Juice King Orange juice press. It sold for $17,250.

Mobil Oil was once a globally-recognised brand name, and the flying red horse Pegasus was one of the most instantly recognisable brand artifacts on the planet. That didn't happen by accident. Mobil spent a lot of money making it that way.

The thoroughly original 1950's Mobil Oil coin-operated childrens' ride above, based on Pegasus, was one of several machines built by Mobil for the 1953 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. When the fair was cancelled, Mobil executives distributed the machines to their leading outlets for promotional purposes.

This Pegasus ride was originally found and prominently displayed at the General Petroleum Museum in Seattle, Washington. It sold for $40,250.

The world's only Super Snake Shelby Cobra Kart

11

One of the tastiest bits of kit sold in the entire Pratte collection, at least on a bang-per-buck basis, was this half-scale Shelby Super Snake Cobra go-kart - just like Carroll Shelby's personal 800 hp Cobra 427 Super Snake that sold at auction later in the week for US$5,115,000 - except with half the size, and about 795 hp less.

The kart was built by McLaren Classic Restorations and has a keyed electric start with two forward gears plus reverse for the 150cc engine, leather interior, working lights, Shelby gauges, a functional hood and passenger door. Whatsmore, the car is autographed by Carroll Shelby himself. The miniature Shelby sold for $28,750.

World record? The number of exquisitely restored pedal cars was the highlight of the automobilia section though, with more than 70 pedal cars in the collection and the top seller of the lots was this 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer concept pedal car.

Originally constructed as a 3/8 scale model for display next to the full size car at General Motors' Motoramas, the car was destined for destruction until GM designer Harley Earl liberated the model and had it converted into an electric car for his grandchildren to play with. It is the only surviving remnant of GM's Club de Mer design. It sold for $33,925.

The Pontiac Club de Mer concept's price of $33,925 appears to be a record of sorts. Now we could be wrong, because no-one appears to track these things, but the highest priced vintage pedal car, "electralized" or otherwise, that we can find is this 1927 Auburn Boattail Speedster pedal car which fetched $26,450 during RM Auctions' sale of the Milhous Collection in 2012. So Barrett-Jackson and Ron Pratte might have inadvertently taken another world record with the sale.

Be sure to click the image above to go through to the image gallery where you can check out the remarkable detail on the Auburn Boattail Speedster from the Milhous Collection. That's the engine above, and the lights and gauges also worked.

Garton Toy Company was the first but many more followed

This restored 1959 Deluxe Kidillac pedal car by Garton sold for $7,475 as part of the Barrett-Jackson sale of the Pratte Collection.

Garton Toy Company was America's first producer of wheeled toys, beginning well before automobiles were available and at one time being the largest wheel goods toy factory in the world.

According to the Shebygan Express, company founder Eusebius Bassingdale Garton first hit upon the idea when working for Sheboygan Carriage Company in the 1870s. Legend has it that young Garton put four wooden wheels on one of the cigar boxes manufactured there because he envisioned a "motion conveyance having play value for children."

E.B. Garton appears to have manufactured wheeled toys from 1882, with Garton Toy Company being incorporated in 1887. Tricycle Fetish has some images which are highly illustrative of the early years of the wheeled toy industry.

A look through Garton's 1927 catalogue gives just a glimpse of the size of the market 90 years ago.

This restored 1924 Cadillac pedal car by Toledo underwent a museum-quality restoration and sold for $21,850 as part of the Pratte Collection.

Many other pedal car manufacturers followed Garton's lead, and the following selection of the best of the Pratte Collection indicates just how much a pwell restored pedal car can fetch these days.

This 1933 Buick pedal car by American National was restored by McLaren Classic Restorations and sold for $19,550 as part of the Pratte Collection. The Buick has leaf spring suspension, nine working lights, genuine ostrich skin tufted upholstered seat and engraved silver step pad.

This 1935 "Supercharged" Auburn pedal car by Steelcraft was restored to show quality standards and sold for $17,250 as part of Barrett-Jackson's sale of the Pratte Collection.

This restored 1934 Lincoln pedal car by American National fetched $13,800 as part of Barrett-Jackson's sale of the Pratte Collection.

This 1939 Auburn Pioneer Roadster by American National was restored by McLaren Classic Restoration with Ostrich skin seats and working lights. It sold for $16,675 as part of Barrett-Jackson's sale of the Pratte Collection.

Pedal airplanes

One of the fascinating aspects of the Pratte pedal car collection was the capturing of many quite significant models which were halo cars for the respective auto manufacturers or significant technological exhibits of the period. One that seemed to be represented from two eras was "The Spirit of St. Louis" monoplane that was flown solo from New York to Paris by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, the first non-stop flight for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.

The 1927 Steelcraft "Spirit of America" restored pedal airplane (above) was undoubtedly built to capitalise on Lindberg's feat, with the name changed ever-so-slightly to avoid copyright or royalty issues. It sold for $10,925.

22

Manufacturers were still recognising the event two decades later, as can be seen from this 1945 Spirit of St. Louis pedal airplane which sold for $10,350.

In the fifties, the wonder of the age was the jet engine which had been developed by all combatants during WWII and taken fighter aircraft from speeds of hundreds of miles per hour to thousands of miles an hour in short order. The jet fighter was hence an icon of the future and immediately attracted the attention of the pedal car manufacturers. This restored and pin-striped 1950s Super Sonic Jet pedal car by Steelcraft of Murray sold for $10,350. One of the remarkable aspects of this massive pedal car industry which came to light in researching this article was the number of companies which restore these cars professionally. Check out these before and after shots of an almost identical 1950s Super Sonic Jet pedal car by Steelcraft of Murray.

Going one step further, this Model F-16 Jet is an electric go-kart built and used by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds at Air Shows in the late seventies. One of only three models built and two to survive, the other is in the U.S. Air Force Museum. The F-16 is powered by 12 volt batterie, has an on board charging system, and was sold complete with a purpose-built trailer with electric winch. Pratte has been remarkably generous with overbidding for charity items over the years, and the generosity continued with this sale with the proceeds donated to the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in it's efforts to raise funds for S.C.A.N. (Stop Child Abuse Now). The electric F-16 sold for $23,000.

Indeed, the more we looked, the more we were amazed. It seems that for every significant automobile, there was a pedal car replica.

Selling for $10,350, this vintage Porsche 356 speedster convertible isn't a pedal car, but a go-kart which had been restored to as-new condition. The Porsche is powered by a gasoline engine and has forward and reverse gears, push-button start, working lights and an upholstered interior.

Be sure to browse the image gallery for dozens more beautifully restored pedal cars.

70老式汽车踏板导致automobilia收藏品销售记录

70年份的汽车踏板导致记录automobilia collectibles <销售>的pratte收藏拍卖上周，最出名的是卡罗尔谢尔比的800马力含超级蛇眼镜蛇，1954 Pontiac Bonneville概念车和通用汽车futurliner，但它也包含一个儿童车聚集在一起的最大收集。70多去拍卖，他们会让你流口水。图像库（82张图片）<是一个不想要踏板汽车的孩子。踏板汽车自最初的汽车他们试图模仿在第十八世纪末的时间是可用的。过去的一个世纪，这种车是富人和特权阶层的专属领域。

许多附近的这些珍贵的独家项目通过拍卖在亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔完美的例子，在一月下旬的大集合汽车踏板都聚集到拍卖。

Ron Pratte的集汽车、摩托车和automobilia售出创纪录的4040万美元，但许多隐藏的宝石在儿童车上。

的pratte收集最出名的是含有这样的珍宝卡罗尔谢尔比个人谢尔比眼镜蛇427超级蛇，1954 Pontiac Bonneville概念车由Harley Earl和通用汽车futurliner设计的，但它远不止是一个集汽车。pratte一直是最突出的汽车和汽车最近蜉蝣收藏家，有了这个记录收集在小理想的对象超过十年，超过以前大量如-收藏价值（之前的纪录保持者是更广泛的范围和进账3830万美元），与Otis Chandler收集这为古丁& 3610万美元出售；CO 2006。

上图是内部Pratte的私人收藏仓库，如果你仔细看在上ballustrade，你会看到汽车踏板显然令集罗恩pratte作为它们吸引我们一样。

罗恩pratte收藏了超过1600件automobilia历时四天的拍卖，世界各地的车迷们会嫉妒一些物品，去新家在四天内。

< P >

最任何一件automobilia取为86250双面霓虹灯和瓷哈雷戴维森经销商签署了从1930年代-哈雷的标志在所有的装饰艺术在近乎完美的条件，八十年后这是第一次使用。

的一些项目，如这一夸脱机油赫斯基保费取惊人的结果- 2300美元是精确的！甚至比瓶装水贵！< / P >

整个集合是值得一看的那些试图夺回一些文化的以前一些注意事项都包含在集合，如恢复1950的苏打喷泉酒吧与原始地苏打水喷泉，老式的多机奶昔机、奶油机和果汁橙汁机王。它的售价为17250美元。

美孚石油是一个全球认可的品牌，和飞翔的红色的飞马是这个星球上最引人注目的品牌产品之一。那不是偶然发生的。美孚花了很多钱做它的方式。

赤裸裸的1950的美孚石油投币儿童骑在上面，基于飞马，是一个机器，在圣路易斯1953世界博览会美孚兴建，密苏里。当交易被取消，美孚分布式机器主导媒体宣传用途。

这飞马骑最初发现并突出显示在总石油博物馆在西雅图，华盛顿。它的售价为40250美元。

世界上唯一的超级谢尔比卡丁车
蛇眼镜蛇11

世界上最美味的位盒出售在整个pratte收集，至少每降压基础上砰的一声，这是半音阶的超级谢尔比卡丁车-蛇眼镜蛇就像卡罗尔谢尔比的个人800惠普427超级眼镜蛇拍卖在本周晚些时候为5115000美元-除了有一半的大小，约795马力不足。

卡丁车是由迈凯轮经典修复具有键控电启动两个前进档加反向对于150cc E发动机，真皮内饰，工作灯，谢尔比仪表，功能和乘客门罩。另外，汽车是由卡罗尔谢尔比本人亲笔签名。迷你谢尔比卖了28750美元，是世界记录吗？数精心恢复踏板汽车的automobilia节虽然突出，超过70的汽车踏板在收集的大量顶级卖家1956庞蒂克俱乐部de mer概念汽车踏板。

最初设计为一个3 / 8规模的模型显示下的全尺寸轿车在通用汽车的motoramas汽车注定要毁灭，直到汽车设计师哈利·厄尔解放模型并把它转换成一个电动汽车为他的孙子玩。它是唯一幸存的通用汽车俱乐部de mer设计残。它的售价为33925美元。

庞蒂亚克俱乐部MER的概念以33925美元的价格似乎是一个记录类型。现在我们可能是错误的，因为没有人出现来跟踪这些东西，但价格最高的老式脚踏车，“electralized”或其他原因，我们可以发现这1927名船尾Speedster踏板汽车进账26450美元的-收集RM拍卖销售在2012。所以巴雷特杰克逊和罗恩pratte可能无意中采取了另一个世界纪录的销售。

请点击上面的图片去到图片库，在那里你可以检查出出色的细节在奥本船尾Speedster从-采集。这是发动机上面，和灯光和仪表也。

加顿玩具公司是第一个但更多的是

这恢复1959豪华kidillac踏板汽车加顿的售价为7475美元的pratte收集巴雷特杰克逊销售的一部分。< / P > < / P >

加顿玩具公司是美国第一家生产带轮子的玩具，汽车开始之前是有效的，同时是最大的轮品玩具厂在世界上。

根据shebygan表示，公司创始人优西比乌bassingdale加顿先打在思想工作时该运输公司在19世纪70年代。相传年轻加顿放四个木轮的一个雪茄盒制造，因为他设想的“儿童游戏价值运动输送。”

E.B.加顿似乎制造带轮子的玩具从1882，与G艺术玩具公司是成立于1887。三轮车恋物有一些图像是高度说明的轮式玩具业初期。

看加顿1927目录给刚才看到的市场规模在90年前。

这恢复1924凯迪拉克汽车踏板由多行博物馆质量恢复的售价为21850美元的一部分pratte集合。

< / P >

其他踏板汽车制造商遵循加顿的领导，和下面的选择最好的pratte集合表示一个P是如何恢复汽车踏板可以获取这些天。

这1933别克汽车踏板由美国国家恢复了迈凯轮的经典修复和售价19550美元的pratte采集部分。别克有钢板弹簧悬架，九工作灯，真正的鸵鸟皮绒软垫座椅和银质步垫。

< / P >

这1935个“增压”奥本