Pedaling For Money
As soon as adults began driving cars, kids wanted them, too. It was then that the pedal-powered kiddie car was born.
Like their full-size counterparts, pedal cars came in hundreds of sizes and shapes, but identifying a valuable pedal car is easy. The Saturday Early Show's Collectibles Expert Tony Hyman explains.
If your pedal car has a plastic steering wheel or hubcabs, then it has no value. And if there is plastic anywhere on your car, then its value drops to less than $100.
An unrestored complete pedal car from the 1920s is worth about a thousand dollars - only a little more than cars from the 1940s and 1950s.
The hot items are realistic 1930s Cadillacs, Packards and Buicks. These have streamlined bodies and can bring as much as $10,000 if they are in near perfect condition.
The 1940 Oldsmobile, which cost $19 new. Today it is valued at $3,500, three times what the real Oldsmobile cost 60 years ago.
You can get top money for cars with horns, running boards, windshields and pneumatic tires instead of hard rubber. The bigger, the better is also true, with four-foot cars being worth more than three-foot cars.
For more information on pedal cars, contact Frank Martin, at his email address martin7669@aol.com.
Find out about other collectibles described by The Saturday Early Show's Tony Hyman in the Collectibles Archive. Or visit Tony Hyman's Web site.
If you think you have a collectible worth a lot of cash, send an email to sat@cbsnews.com. Put "What's It Worth?" in the subject line, or write to "What's It Worth?" The Saturday Early Show, 514 West 57th St., 6th floor, New York, N.Y. 10019.
Because of the volume of mail received, The Saturday Early Show can't respond to all requests, but some will be selected and featured on the program in the near future.