http://www.autopuzzles.com/afeature7.htmBy Karn Utz - Wayback Machine Operator
A fair amount of press has been given to Toyota ’s Scion model lineup since it launched in 2003. The general idea was to lure younger buyers into the Toyota fold, who could then ‘mature’ through the more established (and expensive) Toyota and Lexus branded products. A similar strategy was used by General Motors much earlier, with their ‘a car for every purse and every purpose’, wherein a customer would start with a low-cost Chevrolet and, potentially move up through the ranks until they were a Cadillac customer.
Some even brighter folks understood that getting a potential customer ‘branded’ well before they reached buying or driving age, could help make that buyer a Ford man or a Chevy man, or even, heaven help us, a DeSoto man. One company that helped make this happen was the Powercar Company of Mystic, Connecticut.
Power produced power driven promotional models from 1954 through the realy 1970's. Company president George A. Ford had the idea to build these models, often offered at dealerships, after reading an article in 1954 about the new Ford Thunderbird in Time Magazine. He took his idea for miature promotional models to Ford Motor company brass that same year.
To his surprise and delight, Ford didn’t just green-light the idea, they offered considerable assistance in the form of dimensional drawings, which they forwarded each year, so that his miniature T-birds could mirror the models mom and pop were buying.
Production began with the 1955 ‘Thunderbird Junior’. Powercar models were built at 33% of their full-size inspiration. Glass-reinforced resin bodies allowed for quick mold changes as the full-size T-bird became ever-more elaborate and porky. Power for the little ‘Birds engine and operating lights came from a rechargeable 6-volt battery.
Staying true the Ford tie-in, motive power came from a Ford starter motor delivering power to the rear axle with a drive belt. Selecting forward or reverse was done by switching the polarity of the DC motor.
Early hot-rodding of these cars was done by enterprising dads and uncles who swapped out the 6-volt battery for a 12 volt, but true speed thrills wouldn’t arrive until 1957, when a two-stroke gas engine was introduced. Gas models were capable of a whopping 15 MPH – three times the speed of the stock 6-volt models. Unlike the crude plastic-bodied cars driven by Shriners at parades and fairs, Powercar models were well turned out, comprehensively trimmed, and constructed of over 100 fabricated and purchased pieces each.
Models offered by Powercar proliferated over the years, as Mercury Junior "Big M" and Ford Mustang Junior models were introduced, as well as non-Ford Plymouth Junior. Other companies entered the powered kiddy-car market, including the Barry Toycraft Corvettes, much sought-after by collectors; Donalson’s Edsel Youngstar, Silvestri’s Pontiac Juniors (clever name, that), and a slew of others.
Over a 12-year span, more 5,000 Thunderbird Junior models were sold, along with over 500 Mustang Juniors. In 1967 the assets of the power Car Company were sold to competitor Conval Industries – ironically, their biggest seller was a Ford Mustang model - which in turn declared bankruptcy in the early 1970s. Like most things associated with the baby-boomers formative years, there is a burgeoning market for restored and reproduction models of these little vehicles.
