Posted 13 years ago
Dr_Rambow
(88 items)
Bought this from a collection up in North Jersey. A little outside my collecting interests, but I only got it because I thought it was different. The gentlemen had some other Schuco cars (which have a similar amount of text on the bottom), so I suppose this may have been acquired around the same time he was getting those.
The mechanism on this one is REALLY neat. Wind it up, flick the switch to "go" and the car starts to go along in a straight line. Eventually it will start turning left, make a 90 degree change in direction, and continue. At one point, the car will stop, the hood will pop open, and the man opens the door to see what the problem is. He eventually goes back in the car and then repeats the whole process over. By far the coolest piece, mechanically speaking, that I have.
Good one.
Wow, I sure wish to find such too!
So, Made in France?
Yep, made in France by Joustra, probably 1950s. I think it's a really neat thing, and apparently so do a lot of folks. Thanks for the love!
Every time this one pops up,I like it more.
Woah, I'm flattered by the amount of attention this got. Thanks everyone!
Rambow, every time I look at it, I am overjoyed!
Think that I saw one a few years ago, and I now wish I had tried it!
Is that a complex mechanism?
Happy St-Valentine!
Joustra (Jouets de Strasbourg) made a whole series of these, with different mechanical functions, bodies and colors, from 1951 to 1960. There is even a 2-decker bus with tourists popping out of the roof! They were inspired by a German toy by Prottengaier, re-issued with various bodies since 1938.
I had that very toy sedan shown in the above picture when I was 5 years old. They sold so many that it is rather easy to find on eBay France and even in the USA, average price for a good one is about $150.00.