Adult Size, Road Worthy Little Tikes Car Up For Sale On eBay
For anyone who grow up in the 80s chances are you remember the Little Tikes car and it was possibly the very first car most kids ever owned. Now an inventor has given people the chance to relive those whimsical days when foot power was the way to go around, minus the pedaling of course. A grown-up version of the car with the traditional yellow and red plastic car is up for sale, this one runs on gas and goes about 70 mph though.
A British man is selling his drivable, adult-size 'Little Tikes' car. http://t.co/oVgQT5qL7M pic.twitter.com/s9eXzh2HtE
— Cheezburger (@Cheezburger) October 16, 2015
Mechanic John Bitmead and his brother, Geoff Bitmead, built the life size, legally road-worthy car in 2013. It was mainly done as a way to promote their business, Attitude Autos in England. Over 1,000 man hours and $59,900 (£30,000) went into the modification of a Daewoo Matiz to create the adult size Little Tikes replica car.
“We were hoping it would be out on a regular basis, create some revenue and recoup the money used to build it. But in real life, it ended up going out four or five times in two years. So we thought we might as well sell it and if anyone’s interested in buying it, that will bring back some money for us.”
The Little Tikes adult toy car takes gasoline and has been outfitted with airbags, mirrors, and headlights. It also has a license plate and in addition to all that it goes 0-100 km/h in only 17 seconds and can hit up to 110 km/h. In keeping with that much-loved childhood design, the replica car also has no windows or windshield at all, which, as USA Today pointed out, may not be the best idea for any climate that rains or snows regularly. In the two years since its creation, it has been driven a little over 8,000 kilometres and that was mostly to shows and charity events.
The two brothers have now decided to put up the modified Daewoo Matiz for auction on eBay and interested parties can own the nostalgia-inducing adult size Little Tikes car for approximately $33,000. The car failed to bring in the expected revenue and the brothers are hoping the eBay sale can help recoup some of the money that went into making the car.
According to the BBC the brothers initially got the “nutty idea” to build the grown-up version of the Little Tikes car after noticing the similarities between the headlamps and front of the Daewoo to the Cozy Coupe classic toy. Considering the fact that the Little Tikes car played such a huge role in the childhood of many persons, they hoped the design would be captivating. They were not wrong.
Shut the front door………..it's about to get real in life! http://t.co/mRJo5UGfoh
— Breezy Puffs (@BreezyPuffs) October 16, 2015
Geoff reported that numerous amounts of passers by were completely captivated by the novel sight of seeing a grown man driving that childhood marvel.
“They’re amazed to see the real thing on the road. I’ve seen people with tattoos all up their arms walking along the road just cheering at us. There was that kind of response to it. Everybody recognized it. It’s part of our life. We see these things in people’s front gardens, and now you can see it on the road.”
The vision that John Bitmead had when he created the adult size Little Tikes car, which actually took quite some time to convince the crew of Attitude Autos to participate in, is coming to a disappointing end in terms of business revenues, but the brothers are not despairing. Though they have not received an offer for the car on eBay as of yet they are hopeful. Perhaps the news coverage that the car has been receiving lately may help.
Once the eBay sale goes through, the Bitmead brothers intend to put the money to good use. Reports are that they will be donating the proceeds to several children’s charities. They have also not given up on wacky car choices and have been inspired to build a replica of the Addams Family “creepy” camper van.
[Photo Courtesy Of eBay]
