A mystery of small proportions

Old Cars Weekly reader Peter G. Vicari has a mystery on his hands, but it won’t be a great mystery to some. In fact, it’s not a mystery of great…

Old Cars Weekly reader Peter G. Vicari has a mystery on his hands, but it won't be a great mystery to some. In fact, it's not a mystery of great size.

The mystery is a kiddie-size car that Vicari said "looks like a Pontiac, because of the fuse panel cover." He adds that the car is all steel, had a battery with all the gauges and shows 62 miles.

I believe it is a child's car based on an English Austin automobile with some trim added by a previous owner. The “Crusier” emblem appears to be off a 1950s Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, the “V-8” emblem appears to be from a Ford truck and, of course, the fuse panel cover was robbed from a Pontiac. I have seen pictures of this type of kiddie car, but I don’t recall where.

If you can solve Vicari's mystery, drop a line in the comment space or e-mail me at angelo.vanbogart@fwmedia.com

Angelo Van Bogart is the editor of Old Cars magazine and wrote the column "Hot Wheels Hunting" for Toy Cars & Models magazine for several years. He has authored several books including "Hot Wheels 40 Years," "Hot Wheels Classics: The Redline Era" and "Cadillac: 100 Years of Innovation." His 2023 book "Inside the Duesenberg SSJ" is his latest. He can be reached at avanbogart@aimmedia.com