DEARBORN, MI – Ask most auto journalists to identify the
biggest Ford news from this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, and they’ll
tell you it was the introduction of the new-for-North America 2018 Ford EcoSport CUV. But ask an avid Mustang fan the same question and they’ll likely say it was the all-new Power Wheels® Smart Drive™ Mustang
– a realistic, high-tech, fast and fun battery-operated ride-on toy. In
case you missed it, you can check out the video here.
Thanks to a close working relationship with Ford, Fisher-Price® has been making Power Wheels® versions of the Mustang for many years now – and they’re a big hit with the kids. In fact, you only need look as far as our own “Ford Fan Spotlight” to see just how much one young owner cherishes his well-driven Power Wheels® Mustang. But little ride-on Mustangs actually go back all the way to the very beginning of the Mustang craze. Indeed, electric and gas-powered mini pony cars known as “Mustang Juniors” were manufactured back in the 1960’s and offered for sale to the general public for years before becoming a prized collectible today.
Even back then, enthusiasts couldn’t quite figure out if Mustang Juniors were really custom-made one-off toys for lucky kids, or purpose-built promotional attention-grabbers for car-loving adults. If you frequent good-sized Mustang car shows often enough, there's a decent chance that you'll come across a "Mustang Junior" someday. At roughly 1/3-scale of a full-size Mustang, these mini-car fiberglass or sometimes plastic-bodied Mustang reproductions are always a hit with attendees, young and old. But surprisingly little is known about these ultra-rare, glorified go-karts. Most show-goers will surmise that "Mustang Juniors" are custom creations born in collectors' garages. They dismiss the idea that these micro-sized motoring Mustangs were once the product of a cottage industry in mini-car manufacturing as "only a myth." But because of the ongoing work of Lee Exline of Grimes, Iowa, we can bring you the real story.
While it might be true that the gas- or electric-powered mini-scale Mustang you spotted at a recent car show was the handiwork of a skilled automotive craftsman, odds are that the fiberglass-bodied beauty being shown off that day can trace its roots way back to the 1960s and even the 50s. That's because scant few of the pint-sized Mustang "go-karts" we come across today are actually hand-built, custom-bodied one-offs. Rather, they are more likely the remnants of a promotional product called "Mustang Juniors" that were once manufactured by an old business called the Powercar Company of Mystic, Connecticut.
These highly detailed replica cars are not to be confused with the much smaller and simplistic pedal cars, whose stamped-steel bodies were designed to be a child's toy. Rather, the "Junior" cars were designed as promotional eye-catchers whose retail prices ranged from $395 each all the way up to $565 – and that was in 1960s dollars!
According to Lee Exline, who had created a "Junior Central" website for information about these cars (www.JRcentral.com), Powercar's owner and operator, the late George Ford (no relation to Henry), had actually started his mini-car building business back in 1955. That's when Powercar began producing what George called the "Thunderbird JR" to cash in on the popularity of the Ford Thunderbird. Three models, all constructed with a roughly one-third scale fiberglass body over a metal frame, were available. The entry level model was a battery powered kid's version with an electric motor. Next was an electric adult version with larger axles and pneumatic tires – even replica hubcaps! Better still, there was also a top-of-the-line gas-engine adult version available.
Exline had interviewed founder George Ford decades after his company was shuttered, and was told that about 5,000 mini-Thunderbirds were produced during Powercar's 1955-67 business life. Because it was discovered that Thunderbird Jr. factory serial numbers were in the 3,000 range by 1957, that meant the bulk of the production was done in the company's first three years in business.
Powercar and a few other manufacturers of that era produced other mini-car replicas, the likes of which included DeSoto, Plymouth, Mercury, Pontiac and Buick models, plus the Chevy Corvette, a Ford Sunliner – even the Edsel! While most people today would describe these vintage promotional mini-cars as go-karts, Exline says they were never built for speed – they were purely meant for style!
Sometimes they were replicated in great detail and changed each year to match the styling of their full-size brothers. He asserts that these cars were not toys for the masses; they were in many cases very expensive, and primarily used by auto dealerships to attract customers into the showroom to try and sell them a full-size car. They were also available for sale to those high-end customers who could afford them – and often used in other promotions by many different companies, as well as by Shriners for parade use.
To Exline, the statement that Powercar had used on its sales brochures explains these cars the best: "Thunderbird Jr. cars have been made continuously since 1954 (with the cooperation of the Ford Motor Company). You will not see a Thunderbird Jr. in every yard … because their cost has kept them out of the volume market. However, if you know where to look, you can find them scattered over the globe in the most interesting places: in secluded country estates; in mansions of heads of state; on the Riviera; in the palaces of dictators, Middle-Eastern and Oriental princes. They are bringing pleasure and fun to the families of presidents, movie stars, magnates, potentates ... and to a lot of ordinary people too, who have won them in promotional contests or as incentives. In fact, it is thanks to smart sales promotion programs that many other people are enjoying them … their undeniable appeal plus the fact they are rarely an 'already have one,' makes them a promotional prize without equal!"
Of course, by 1964, no car on earth was more popular than the new Ford Mustang, so Powercar started manufacturing "Mustang Juniors" during the pony car's heydays in 1965, '66 and '67. Like the mini-Thunderbirds, Mustang Juniors were updated with the same styling changes that the full-size cars received, right up though 1967 when the Powercar company went out of business. As you might expect, adult Mustang fans often purchased a Mustang Jr. for their own use – and NOT for the kids!
In fact, Powercar's ad after Mustang Jr. had joined the product family in 1964 declared that, "not only have these been the vehicles most wanted by American youngsters, but they also proved so fascinating to grown-ups (who could not resist stuffing themselves into Junior's car) that we decided to create a model for 'adult kids,' too. The 'Adult Fun Car' models are the happy solution of this problem."
Exline's research shows that just over 600 Mustang Juniors were sold over all years and models. He says he used to own a 1967 gas-powered Adult Fun Car version that was one of the last Mustang Juniors ever produced (with serial #611). "It was originally purchased by a Shriner for use in parades," Exline explained, and had some unusual options like faux rearview mirrors and factory installed "Shriner special frame handles" so the cars could be lifted and loaded for transport without damaging the bodies. "In order to restore my car, I had to make a number of parts that could not be found. I have kept the molds and will be able to provide replacement parts for other owners."
The only other mini-Mustang that Exline has been able to find is a 1971 vintage promotional car made by Conval Industries (which was located in Springfield, Massachusetts). Conval had purchased the inventory of the Powercar Company after it went bankrupt in 1967, and received all of the original body molds for the Thunderbird and Mustang Juniors. The Conval cars used a square-tube frame instead of the round tube-frame that Powercar used. Beyond making the new-for-1971 Mustang bodystyle, little is known about the Conval years, including exactly when they went under. Exline discovered that some of the Conval inventory has survived to this day, this after being in the care of a group of Shriners for many years. (They had reportedly used the body molds to make repair parts for their fleet of little parade cars, and are still in possession of the 66 Thunderbird and 71 Mustang molds and masters for that purpose.)
Our thanks to Paul Groff of Pennsylvania, who many years ago had asked for information about the Mustang Juniors, plus had sent us photos of his white 1967, as well as a shot of the incredible red "1968 California Special" custom built by D&S Pedalcar that was proudly shown at the Carlisle Ford Nationals in Carlisle, PA, a while back. We all especially need to thank Lee Exline for all of his work on these cars over the years, plus for the info and photos he maintains and shares with us on his JRcentral.com web site.
Speaking of the Carlisle Ford Nationals, it was there where we talked to Tim Stetser of Pennsylvania, who had somehow found and purchased what appears to be an extremely rare 1976 Mustang II Cobra II "Mustang Junior!" We're sure that both Lee and Tim would love to hear from anyone who has info on this "second-generation" Mustang II promo car! (Tim's own white-over-blue real Cobra II is itself a perennial winner at Carlisle's Ford Nationals show, and is now working to clone his Jr. version into a mini-Cobra II.)
Although we don’t have sales numbers for the Fisher-Price® Power Wheels® Mustangs over the years, they remain a common sight in backyards across America. And believe it or not, Mustang Juniors even are spotted from time to time – as evidenced by a recent YouTube video of one being driven to a fast-food drive-through that has garnered nearly a million views, which speaks well of their enduring popularity.
From the original Mustang Juniors to the new Fisher-Price® Power Wheels® Mustang, what remains evident is that Mustang’s “cool factor” spans all generations – as well as the little kid in all of us. While today a fully restored Mustang Junior may be priced in the thousands, a new Fisher-Price® Power Wheels® Smart Drive™ Mustang carries an MSRP of just $359.99. You can find a retailer near you at www.PowerWheels.com. Happy motoring!
FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY LEE EXLINE & PAUL GROFF
Thanks to a close working relationship with Ford, Fisher-Price® has been making Power Wheels® versions of the Mustang for many years now – and they’re a big hit with the kids. In fact, you only need look as far as our own “Ford Fan Spotlight” to see just how much one young owner cherishes his well-driven Power Wheels® Mustang. But little ride-on Mustangs actually go back all the way to the very beginning of the Mustang craze. Indeed, electric and gas-powered mini pony cars known as “Mustang Juniors” were manufactured back in the 1960’s and offered for sale to the general public for years before becoming a prized collectible today.
Even back then, enthusiasts couldn’t quite figure out if Mustang Juniors were really custom-made one-off toys for lucky kids, or purpose-built promotional attention-grabbers for car-loving adults. If you frequent good-sized Mustang car shows often enough, there's a decent chance that you'll come across a "Mustang Junior" someday. At roughly 1/3-scale of a full-size Mustang, these mini-car fiberglass or sometimes plastic-bodied Mustang reproductions are always a hit with attendees, young and old. But surprisingly little is known about these ultra-rare, glorified go-karts. Most show-goers will surmise that "Mustang Juniors" are custom creations born in collectors' garages. They dismiss the idea that these micro-sized motoring Mustangs were once the product of a cottage industry in mini-car manufacturing as "only a myth." But because of the ongoing work of Lee Exline of Grimes, Iowa, we can bring you the real story.
While it might be true that the gas- or electric-powered mini-scale Mustang you spotted at a recent car show was the handiwork of a skilled automotive craftsman, odds are that the fiberglass-bodied beauty being shown off that day can trace its roots way back to the 1960s and even the 50s. That's because scant few of the pint-sized Mustang "go-karts" we come across today are actually hand-built, custom-bodied one-offs. Rather, they are more likely the remnants of a promotional product called "Mustang Juniors" that were once manufactured by an old business called the Powercar Company of Mystic, Connecticut.
These highly detailed replica cars are not to be confused with the much smaller and simplistic pedal cars, whose stamped-steel bodies were designed to be a child's toy. Rather, the "Junior" cars were designed as promotional eye-catchers whose retail prices ranged from $395 each all the way up to $565 – and that was in 1960s dollars!
According to Lee Exline, who had created a "Junior Central" website for information about these cars (www.JRcentral.com), Powercar's owner and operator, the late George Ford (no relation to Henry), had actually started his mini-car building business back in 1955. That's when Powercar began producing what George called the "Thunderbird JR" to cash in on the popularity of the Ford Thunderbird. Three models, all constructed with a roughly one-third scale fiberglass body over a metal frame, were available. The entry level model was a battery powered kid's version with an electric motor. Next was an electric adult version with larger axles and pneumatic tires – even replica hubcaps! Better still, there was also a top-of-the-line gas-engine adult version available.
Exline had interviewed founder George Ford decades after his company was shuttered, and was told that about 5,000 mini-Thunderbirds were produced during Powercar's 1955-67 business life. Because it was discovered that Thunderbird Jr. factory serial numbers were in the 3,000 range by 1957, that meant the bulk of the production was done in the company's first three years in business.
Powercar and a few other manufacturers of that era produced other mini-car replicas, the likes of which included DeSoto, Plymouth, Mercury, Pontiac and Buick models, plus the Chevy Corvette, a Ford Sunliner – even the Edsel! While most people today would describe these vintage promotional mini-cars as go-karts, Exline says they were never built for speed – they were purely meant for style!
Sometimes they were replicated in great detail and changed each year to match the styling of their full-size brothers. He asserts that these cars were not toys for the masses; they were in many cases very expensive, and primarily used by auto dealerships to attract customers into the showroom to try and sell them a full-size car. They were also available for sale to those high-end customers who could afford them – and often used in other promotions by many different companies, as well as by Shriners for parade use.
To Exline, the statement that Powercar had used on its sales brochures explains these cars the best: "Thunderbird Jr. cars have been made continuously since 1954 (with the cooperation of the Ford Motor Company). You will not see a Thunderbird Jr. in every yard … because their cost has kept them out of the volume market. However, if you know where to look, you can find them scattered over the globe in the most interesting places: in secluded country estates; in mansions of heads of state; on the Riviera; in the palaces of dictators, Middle-Eastern and Oriental princes. They are bringing pleasure and fun to the families of presidents, movie stars, magnates, potentates ... and to a lot of ordinary people too, who have won them in promotional contests or as incentives. In fact, it is thanks to smart sales promotion programs that many other people are enjoying them … their undeniable appeal plus the fact they are rarely an 'already have one,' makes them a promotional prize without equal!"
Of course, by 1964, no car on earth was more popular than the new Ford Mustang, so Powercar started manufacturing "Mustang Juniors" during the pony car's heydays in 1965, '66 and '67. Like the mini-Thunderbirds, Mustang Juniors were updated with the same styling changes that the full-size cars received, right up though 1967 when the Powercar company went out of business. As you might expect, adult Mustang fans often purchased a Mustang Jr. for their own use – and NOT for the kids!
In fact, Powercar's ad after Mustang Jr. had joined the product family in 1964 declared that, "not only have these been the vehicles most wanted by American youngsters, but they also proved so fascinating to grown-ups (who could not resist stuffing themselves into Junior's car) that we decided to create a model for 'adult kids,' too. The 'Adult Fun Car' models are the happy solution of this problem."
Exline's research shows that just over 600 Mustang Juniors were sold over all years and models. He says he used to own a 1967 gas-powered Adult Fun Car version that was one of the last Mustang Juniors ever produced (with serial #611). "It was originally purchased by a Shriner for use in parades," Exline explained, and had some unusual options like faux rearview mirrors and factory installed "Shriner special frame handles" so the cars could be lifted and loaded for transport without damaging the bodies. "In order to restore my car, I had to make a number of parts that could not be found. I have kept the molds and will be able to provide replacement parts for other owners."
The only other mini-Mustang that Exline has been able to find is a 1971 vintage promotional car made by Conval Industries (which was located in Springfield, Massachusetts). Conval had purchased the inventory of the Powercar Company after it went bankrupt in 1967, and received all of the original body molds for the Thunderbird and Mustang Juniors. The Conval cars used a square-tube frame instead of the round tube-frame that Powercar used. Beyond making the new-for-1971 Mustang bodystyle, little is known about the Conval years, including exactly when they went under. Exline discovered that some of the Conval inventory has survived to this day, this after being in the care of a group of Shriners for many years. (They had reportedly used the body molds to make repair parts for their fleet of little parade cars, and are still in possession of the 66 Thunderbird and 71 Mustang molds and masters for that purpose.)
Our thanks to Paul Groff of Pennsylvania, who many years ago had asked for information about the Mustang Juniors, plus had sent us photos of his white 1967, as well as a shot of the incredible red "1968 California Special" custom built by D&S Pedalcar that was proudly shown at the Carlisle Ford Nationals in Carlisle, PA, a while back. We all especially need to thank Lee Exline for all of his work on these cars over the years, plus for the info and photos he maintains and shares with us on his JRcentral.com web site.
Speaking of the Carlisle Ford Nationals, it was there where we talked to Tim Stetser of Pennsylvania, who had somehow found and purchased what appears to be an extremely rare 1976 Mustang II Cobra II "Mustang Junior!" We're sure that both Lee and Tim would love to hear from anyone who has info on this "second-generation" Mustang II promo car! (Tim's own white-over-blue real Cobra II is itself a perennial winner at Carlisle's Ford Nationals show, and is now working to clone his Jr. version into a mini-Cobra II.)
Although we don’t have sales numbers for the Fisher-Price® Power Wheels® Mustangs over the years, they remain a common sight in backyards across America. And believe it or not, Mustang Juniors even are spotted from time to time – as evidenced by a recent YouTube video of one being driven to a fast-food drive-through that has garnered nearly a million views, which speaks well of their enduring popularity.
From the original Mustang Juniors to the new Fisher-Price® Power Wheels® Mustang, what remains evident is that Mustang’s “cool factor” spans all generations – as well as the little kid in all of us. While today a fully restored Mustang Junior may be priced in the thousands, a new Fisher-Price® Power Wheels® Smart Drive™ Mustang carries an MSRP of just $359.99. You can find a retailer near you at www.PowerWheels.com. Happy motoring!
FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY LEE EXLINE & PAUL GROFF
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