1964 Chevrolet Impala sedan by Matchbox

Maxi Taxi (Ford Capri) by Matchbox

1979 Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL by Matchbox

1987 Ford LTD by Matchbox

The taxi cab is a common sight on the streets of any city. For small-scale die-cast collectors, the humble cab has been made available over the years in many forms. At any given time, most die-cast manufacturers have at least one cab in their regular line-up. The examples shown here are by no means all the cabs done in 1:64 scale. It is interesting to observe, however, how the vast majority of cabs have been painted in “taxi” yellow color scheme.

The most prolific producer of tiny taxi cabs has been Matchbox. The first cab shown is a 1964 Chevrolet Sedan, #20. Other than the “Taxi” decal on the hood and its color, this could be a regular street car. As far as I know, it was always offered in taxi form. The next Matchbox taxi is a joker in the deck. The “Maxi Taxi” of 1973 is one of the “Rolomatic” cars. When it is rolled across the floor or a table, the blown V8 engine moves up and down. The original casting is of the Ford Capri—certainly not a choice for taxi service—considering it’s a coupe. Oh well, it’s fun and could have made an interesting drag racer for an ex-taxi driver.

1987 Ford LTD ('TAXI') by Matchbox	Austin FX4R London Cab by Matchbox
Austin FX4R London Cab by Corgi	Mercedes-Benz 300 SE by Zylmez

The Mercedes Benz 450SEL #56 is an appropriate choice for a taxi as many European cabs are Mercedes sedans. This casting was offered in stock and police form as well. A newer taxi from Matchbox is the 1987 Ford LTD. It is shown in regular issue form and as one of the new “Star Car Collection,” representing the “Taxi” TV show that starred Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito. Of course the LTD was never featured in the show, as al the cabs were Checkers. The last Matchbox is an Austin FX4R cab in London black. Originally offered in 1986, it has recently been re-released with the word ‘Taxi’ on the doors.

Corgi also offered an Austin FX4R London Cab as a Corgi Junior. The opening doors of the Matchbox make it the better casting of the two. A very early Zylmez, #D37, represents a Mercedes-Benz 300 SE in taxi form and may well be a Matchbox copy. The decal on the hood reads “United States Auto Club,” a rather curious choice for a Mercedes taxi. The crude wheels date this as an early offering from Zylmex.

1977 Dodge Coronet Custom by Tomica	1982 Chevrolet Malibu by Hot Wheels
Chevrolet Caprice by Maisto	Renault 18 by Majorette

Moving on, Tomica did a 1977 Dodge Coronet Custom, #F8 as a taxi. Hot Wheels produced a rather interesting taxi in 1982. The car is a Chevrolet Malibu sedan and was not offered in any other form or color. As a result, this is a rather rare casting and the only example of this particular Chevrolet. Maisto has recently offered a late 1990s Chevrolet Caprice as a taxi and police car. Majorette has offered several taxi models over the years. The Renault 18, #266 is un-marked except for the taxi light n the roof. The ’80s Chevrolet Impala taxi, #240 is also available in police and military form.

A newcomer to die-cast, Golden Wheel, has recently offered four car sets of taxi, police and fire vehicles. These are of excellent quality and include two cars that are seldom represented. The Checker cab should have been done long ago. This example is a delight and looks just right. It does not seem right however in police or fire guise. The early ’50s Chevrolet sedan is also a welcome addition and just as good. The modern Chevrolet Caprice cab is the third and equally well-done member of this set.

Chevrolet Caprice Classic by Majorette	Chevrolet Caprice by Golden Wheel
Checker Cab by Golden Wheel	1952 Chevrolet Sedan by Golden Wheel

—by Doug Breithaupt

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It seems he has recently been watching the Hanna-Barbera “Wacky Racers” cartoon from the 1970s, where a collection of wacky racers compete over a series of likewise wacky race courses. Dick Dastardly and Mutley, his dog, always try to cheat to win, and of course never do. Bentley’s recent purchase of a Hot Wheels “Hot Seat” car had inspired him to re-create the wacky races for himself.

Wacky racers are not new to die-cast. Almost entirely in 1:64 scale, these are hot rods with a twist. Usually, my collection focuses on realistic production or race cars, but over the years I have picked up an assortment of “custom” cars. These cars tend to fall into several categories:

• Traditional hot rods (like the ‘32 Ford ‘deuce’ coupes and Model ‘T’ high-boy roadsters);
• Futuristic custom cars (like turbine or nuclear powered cars with sleek body work);
• Cartoon cars (featuring cartoon characters at the wheel or cars from cartoons);
• Production customs (post-war cars with massive engines or wild body alterations), and;
• Wacky Racers.

My definition a Wacky Racer is a car that is almost (or totally) cartoonish in appearance but not from actual cartoons. Often Wacky Racers are planes, trains or even toilets, made into custom cars. Of course there is no perfect definition here; you know them when you see them. These are toy cars that make you smile. Some are models of actual creations by Barris or other customizers. Others came directly from the fevered brains of die-cast designers, most likely the results of a steady diet of sugar and caffeine. First and foremost, Wacky Racers are fun.

“Red Baron”

“Mini Ha Ha”

“Dog Fighter”

Nine Wacky Racers have been selected from my collection to illustrate the category. The first three have aviation aspirations or inspirations, as the case may be. The first is a true classic and one of the best known of all Hot Wheels, the “Red Baron” (1969). Not modeled after an actual car, the “Red Baron” was one of Hot Wheels’ biggest hits of the late 1960s, and later a full-sized version was created. Early editions had a spike on the helmet, but it was later removed for safety reasons. It was later released as a 25th anniversary model. Complete with twin machine guns and an iron cross on the radiator, this is one of the best wacky racers.

The second in this series comes from Matchbox. In the 1970s, Matchbox followed Hot Wheels’ lead with a wide variety of custom cars. Few qualify as Wacky Racers, but one stands out for me. The “Mini Ha Ha” (#14, 1975) is a wild custom of an actual car, the Austin Mini. At the same time, the cartoonish proportions, including the helmeted driver, and radial aero-engine are just wacky enough for me.

The third aero-car is a newer (comparatively) Hot Wheels release. The “Dog Fighter” (1996) is a wingless plane with four wheels, another radial aero-engine and propeller. The graphics are great, especially the most recent black and yellow version. The number of “kills” are represented on the side with tiny dog bones.

“Boothill Express"

“Vampire Van"

"Li'l Coffin"

The second set of Wacky Racers is also following a theme. The first two are from Johnny Lightning, part of the “ ’Frightning Lightning” series of 1996. My favorite is the “Boothill Express.” This George Barris custom is exceptionally well done in small-scale. This hearse is a hoot. The V8 has what must be the tallest velocity stacks of all time and the eight exhaust pipes are clearly detailed. With real rubber tires and mag wheels, this is a great Wacky Racer.

The second car, from the same “ ’Frighting Lightning” series, is the “Vampire Van.” Complete with a casket in the back, Dracula would be the darling of the drag races in this delectable die-cast.

The third of these gruesome go-carts is a 1994 offering from Hot Wheels. “Li’l Coffin” features a wheeled pinebox, complete with skull headlights and a bat on the nose. The usual V8 hot rod engine appears to have a blower attached ahead of the radiator. This car would not only let you go in style but it would also get you to the pearly gates in record time.

“Paddy Wagon”

“Radio Flyer”

“Hot Seat”

The last set is a mix of favorites. The companion to Hot Wheels “Red Baron” was the “Paddy Wagon” (1969). This dual-carbed V8 could make even the Keystone cops look good. Based on another real custom, this is the ultimate police cruiser.

Just as much fun is Hot Wheels’ “Radio Flyer” from 1998. This little red wagon could be a real paper route power house. I love the steering handle, complete with instrumentation. It makes you want a real one.

Last is the latest from Hot Wheels, the un-disputed king of Wacky Racers. The “Hot Seat” is everything a Wacky Racer should be. This seat-of-ease is perfect with a plunger steering wheel that moves when you lift the seat, twin TP rolls for quicker pit stops and a hole in the bowl, just like at home. Of course it’s rear-engined, with a motorcycle motor in the tank.

So who would you put your money on in this Wacky Race? Perhaps you have a favorite Wacky Racer from your collection, if so let me know. As a side-note, Johnny Lightning has done two of the actually Wacky Racers from the cartoon (Dick Dastersly’s and Penelope Pit Stop’s racers), but as they are actual cartoon cars, they fall in the other category. With the recent new offerings from Hot Wheels, it appears that Wacky Racers are going to delight a lot more 4-year-olds, and a few of their parents, too.

— by Doug Breithaupt

Two watch an episode of Wacky Racers, here is “Whizzin’ to Washington” Parts One and Two.

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Bruce Pascal poses with orange Ferrari P917 Hot Wheels and prototype Hot Wheel molds

Pascal is legendary as the chap who, in 2000, paid big bucks for a Rear Loading Beach Bomb—an RLBB in Hot Wheels vernacular—that had surfaced from a former Mattel employee’s collection. Both the find and the purchase price—undisclosed, but the asking price was $72,000—sent shock waves through the die-cast collecting community because this wasn’t just any Hot Wheels car: It was a rare prototype, never mass-produced because it was too narrow to work with a popular accessory, the Super-Charger, and had to be reconfigured in a wider design.

And not only was it a holy relic from Hot Wheels’ formative years, it was pink, which for collectors is like manna from heaven. Plus, it looked bran-span-new, with nary a ding betraying the rigors of testing it undoubtedly endured.

Pascal spoke to WorthPoint from his home in Potomac, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C., about his abiding passion for Hot Wheels.

How long have you collected Hot Wheels?
For 40 years, with a big gap in the middle. First from 1968 to about 1972, then from around 1999 till today.

Was it the intrigue over the pink Rear Loading Beach Bomb that rekindled your interest?

Yes. Every hobby has its king, and the RLBB had established itself as the ultimate Hot Wheels. And with very few trading hands, it was clearly on my list. When a pink one was for sale—and, at that time, the only one known in that color, then bingo, I felt it was the car for me to get.

The legendary pink Rear Loading Beach Bomb prototype

The obvious question: It’s just a toy car. Why pay so much for it?
Let me tell you the whole story. In late 1999, I read in article about a pink RLBB that been sold by Chris Marshall of Ohio for the record sum of $72,000. Understanding $72,000 was a lot of money, I thought to myself that if you compare that amount to other record-selling collectibles, then maybe it wasn’t such a high number after all. For example, the 1804 silver dollar, just a coin, sold for over two million. The Honus Wagner baseball card, an original penny item, sold for over one million. And look at all the paintings and sports cars selling in the millions. Hmm, maybe not so bad. But too late for me—it had been reported sold by the paper.

One month later, reading a different newspaper, I saw the same article, but with a different ending. That article said the deal should close soon. I knew something was fishy. I then tried to locate Chris Marshall, with no luck. So I tracked down the newspaper author, and he hooked me up with him. Wouldn’t you guess, the buyer had second thoughts, and after putting a deposit down, he still had not come up with the funds.

Chris and I negotiated a deal over the next few months. I was able to apply the down payment the other person had put down and negotiate a price that I was comfortable with. It was clearly a new record for a toy like this, but I had confidence the die-cast hobby for Hot Wheels would grow, and years later, I would look back to this purchase as a smart move.

Chris flew in from Ohio and gave me the car, and I gave him the check. He had a great sense of humor, too. I unwrapped the car and noticed he put a fake car in the tube. After my small heart attack, he handed me the real deal, and I have owned it since then.

Preproduction prototype Red Baron

Preproduction prototype Twin Mill (photos courtesy Bruce Pascal)

You’re never going to say how much you paid for it, are you?
Well, the seller and I signed a confidentiality agreement. He bought a Viper for cash afterwards back in 2000, though, so that gives you a clue!

The car’s had some pretty good exposure, hasn’t it?
A few years ago, I loaned it to the Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A. As one of the best automotive museums in the United States, I felt safe with it there, and it was seen by hundreds of thousands of people. The display was amazing. I have also shown it at automobile shows and Hot Wheels conventions. When not shown, it is kept in a locked vault at a hidden location. If asked and I am comfortable with security, I will take it to shows and allow people to photograph it with them holding it in a clear case.

You were lucky enough to find another rare pink RLBB, too.
Yes. A few years after I got the first RLBB, I was doing an interview with a former Mattel employee who said he thought he still had one of those models somewhere in his house. I called him four months in a row, and he never found the car. The fifth month, his wife answered, and she said she knew where it was. Bingo! And it was pink! I got it and sold it two years later for $55,000.

How many Hot Wheels total are in your collection?
Today, the collection includes about 5,000 cars. First are my favorites: about 120 Redline prototype cars. Then about 80 Japan boxed cars—the complete series, which took years to finish. Next, slightly over 1,000 additional Redlines and about 3,800 Blackwall-era cars.

Do you have any personal favorites?
My favorite cars are the design and development prototypes. Included in this category was a test car to see if a gasoline engine could be made small enough to put in a Hot Wheels car, a prototype of a car that makes noise as it rolls down a track. Or the cars with actual steering mechanisms added. Another favorite is production-testing cars with the entire chassis and base in clear plastic. They are exceedingly rare and hard to find.

Gasoline-powered Hot Wheels prototype (courtesy Bruce Pascal)

You have a lot of behind-the-scenes production items, as well.
Right. I have over 40 pieces of original early items that directly relate to the making of an actual Hot Wheels, such as the mock-up model used to show [Mattel co-founder] Elliot Handler the Custom Fleetside in 1968. Also, I have about 2,000 sheets of paper directly related to Hot Wheels production. These include original sketches from Hot Wheel designers Larry Wood, Harry Bradley, Paul Tam and others. Also the plans used for engineers to create the molds used in production.

Besides cars, what other paraphernalia is in your Hot Wheels collection?
Well, I’ve got perhaps 200-plus pieces of Hot Wheels memorabilia, from Jack in the Box restaurant cups, to watches, to Halloween costumes. Other paraphernalia includes original posters and gas-station banners promoting Hot Wheels giveaways, original proof-production labels for Hot Wheels products designed by [Mattel illustrator] Otto Kuhni from the late ’60s and early ’70s, along with original artwork by him. Also, some display stands. This category is the most fun to collect and harder to find than most Hot Wheels.

Hot Wheels Halloween costumes (courtesy Bruce Pascal)

Have you come across any rare Hot Wheels finds in 2008?

My best find included a clear interior Hot Wheels Redline Whip Creamer that had no side vents on the car. That means it was one of the earliest versions made before the mold was changed to add a new feature. I love getting a car that is different from all the others.

Your grandfather, Leo Pascal, was a legendary transportation historian at the National Archives from 1937-1962, and your parents are curators of the automobilia collection he started. How did this influence your mania for collecting?

No question, growing up in a house of automobilia collectors influenced me greatly. My father would show me toy cars made in Germany from 1918, plastic toys made in America in the 1950s and ’60s, and seeing hundreds of other car- related items made me see the value in being a collector. It is not just about having the items on your shelf. It is also the friends you make in the hobby, the places you traveled to buy an item and the history you learn about a piece. Collecting can be a great total experience.

See more of Bruce Pascal’s Hot Wheels collection at Redlineprotos.com.

Kevin Cook, a WorthPoint contributor, is still kicking himself for blowing up and setting fire to his first Hot Wheels cars.

Other stories by Kevin Cook:
Monster Mash discs: Graveyard Smash

The Truth Is Out There: X-Files Collectibles

Hot Wheels—Still Blazing at 40

Collecting Calendars: Fun New Year After New Year

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles

According to Mattel’s Web site, more than 15 million boys in the 5-15 demographic are die-hard Hot Wheels collectors, and the average enthusiast owns at least 41 cars. Originally priced at around 59 cents in 1968, Hot Wheels are still among the most allowance-friendly collectibles, selling for about a buck apiece.

The brand began developing by fits and starts in 1966 when Mattel co-founder Elliot Handler decided to go bumper to bumper with Britain’s Lesney Products and Co. Ltd., whose Matchbox cars had long dominated the die-cast toy-car market. Handler lured Harry Bentley Bradley away from his job building real cars at General Motors to head his design team, and a collectibles legend was off and running.

With Mattel research-and-development whiz Jack Ryan heading up a creative team of 80 artists, designers and engineers, the brainstorming began.

At Handler’s urging, head designer Bradley drew on his own customized El Camino for inspiration, imbuing his early sketches with muscle-car features—red-striped slicks with mag wheels, exposed engines, pipes, power bulges and other nuances that reflected California car culture and styling—that would become the brand’s hallmarks. The Spectraflame finish—a custom paint blend that gave the little hot rods their candy-colored panache—was also a by-product of Bradley’s Detroit background.

Early production sketch of Custom Fleetside by Harry Bradley (Image courtesy of Bruce Pascal)

Next, the team addressed the all-important playability factor, employing a bent-axle, torsion-bar suspension that let the 1/64-scale cars bounce like their full-size counterparts and wheels that turned independently on their axles, thanks to inner-wheel bearings. The nylon wheels themselves were slightly conical, with a thin ridge on the inner edge designed to reduce friction. As a finishing touch, red stripes emblazoned on the tires signified some, well, really hot wheels that would zoom 200 miles per hour—scale, of course—on the orange plastic track designed to showcase the cars’ speed and acrobatic prowess.

Numerous anecdotal accounts cloud the origin of the name Hot Wheels, but there is nothing muddy about the nascent brand’s classic flame logo, designed by Mattel graphic artist Rick Irons in 1967, and the pulse-quickening packaging, illustrated by freelancer Otto Kuhni.

Otto Kuhni’s original art for Hot Wheels Super Charger accessory (Image courtesy of Bruce Pascal)

Ira Gilford, another Detroit refugee who would become the brand’s genius bellwether, arrived in 1968 to replace the departed Bradley (who was reportedly skeptical over Hot Wheels’ chances for success) and oversee the remaining inaugural 16 car designs in time for their retail debut. With Kmart and Sears placing advance orders for millions of Hot Wheels, production in the U.S. was stepped up with factories in Hong Kong taking up the slack.

Hot Wheels store display, 1968 (Image courtesy of Bruce Pascal)

When the cars hit the shelves in the summer of 1968, it was clear that Hot Wheels definitely weren’t your daddy’s die-cast cars. Tucked inside plastic bubbles that allowed the cars to be viewed in all their souped-up, candy-colored glory, the “California custom miniatures” screamed “Play with me!” from their colorful blister cards, which also contained a matching collector’s button in the shape of, what else, a tire. Smitten boys plunked their money down for millions of what collectors would come to call the Sweet 16. The fabled Redlines era (1968-1977) of Hot Wheels had begun, and the toy world would never be the same.

Hot Wheels Sweet 16 - 1968

To commemorate the brand’s 40th anniversary and the production of the four billionth Hot Wheels car, Mattel commissioned a one-of-a-kind car—based on the so-called lost Hot Wheels car designed by Otto Kuhni for use on early packaging but never actually produced—laden with 2,703 multicolored diamonds and rubies. Housed in a custom-made case complete with mirrored bottom and rotating base—not to mention 40 more commemorative diamonds—the car, valued at $140,000, sold at auction in October for $60,000, with the proceeds going to charity.

Hot Wheels 40th anniversary jewel-studded car

“Hot Wheels: 40 Years,” a lavish coffee-table book with text by Hot Wheels collector Angelo Van Bogart and mouth-watering photography by automotive historian Doug Mitchel, also celebrates the anniversary. And of course, there are the cars. The Hot Wheels 40th Anniversary 40 Car Set gathers one iconic car from 1968-2008. The anniversary cars are also being sold separately.

40th Annivesary 40 Car Set

The world of Hot Wheels collecting has few rivals in terms of intensity and enthusiasm. One of the most joyously outspoken devotees is Bruce Pascal, a Washington, DC-area ubër-collector renowned in collectors’ circles for his cherry-picked collection of rare production and prototype cars, including a pink, ultrarare Rear Loading Beach Bomb prototype that inspires buffs to drop to their knees and chant hosannas on those infrequent occasions when he shows it off. He paid a hush-rush price for it in 2000 that is believed to be a record.

“In 1968, I had just turned seven when Hot Wheels came out, and I still remember the cars and the orange track like it was yesterday,” says Pascal, 46, a commercial real-estate agent who owns about 5,000 cars. “I think Hot Wheels are so enduring because they represent the automobile culture of our youth. What little boy did not like looking at cool cars growing up? For us youngsters then, Hot Wheels were like having the cars our dads or maybe our big brothers drove.”

Wife-friendly collectibles

As for the reason why grown men of a certain age still buy Hot Wheels, old and new, Pascal has a theory. “Buying one today reconnects us with our youth. And they are still small enough to have many in your house without taking up too much room—I call that wife friendly—they’re still affordable, and they’re remembered fondly by almost everyone.”

Pascal advises collectors to look for four important factors: condition, color, interior color and variations. “Always buy the best condition car you can find is the most important advice,” he says. “A perfect common car can be more valuable than a beat-up rare car. Always research the rarity, too. A pink Camaro is certainly 100 times more rare than a blue Camaro. And educate yourself on subtle variations. For instance, a dark interior Red Baron is far less valuable than a white interior Red Baron.”

Hot Wheels 67 Camaro

Pascal also warns collectors to bone up on their ability to spot fakes. “Fakes are getting better and better, and sometimes even the most educated collectors need advice from others.”

From the slew of Hot Wheels price guides available, Pascal recommends two. “Jack Clark’s ‘The Ultimate Redline Guide’ is considered by many collectors to be the best guide overall. For later years, Mike Strauss’ ‘Tomart’s Price Guide to Hot Wheels’ is the best.”

Not surprisingly, early Camaros—which Pascal confirms were the first mass-produced Hot Wheels— are very desirable. “A common blue car with a black top in mint condition can be found for $150 loose, a little over $400 in a nice package,” says Pascal. “But the same car in pink would be over $1,000 loose and in the thousands of dollars, easily, in a package.”

Pascal is also partial to Beach Bombs—blue-mint examples go for around $100 loose and $225 or more in the package. Rear Loading Beach Bombs are another excellent investment.

Rear Loading Beach Bomb

“But with less than 40 known, they rarely trade hands,” says Pascal, who ought to know. In addition to the fabled pink RLBB that he mostly keeps under wraps, he was lucky enough to find a second pink RLBB, which he sold several years ago for—are you sitting down?—$55,000. That same vehicle changed hands last November for—don’t get up yet—$70,000.

Kevin Cook is a popular-culture junkie and writer living in McDonough, Ga.

Other stories by Kevin Cook:
Monster Mash discs: Graveyard Smash
The Truth Is Out There: X-Files Collectibles

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques and Collectibles

I believe that toy model cars will become even greater collectibles than they are today. You see, as designs of yesteryear disappear, these toy models will keep the exciting features of these older cars alive and fresh in our memories. Young people today will never be able to drive in a Cadillac that’s as long as a train, or ride in a Gull-winged Mercedes Benz. In fact, I doubt they’ll ever know they’ve missed something special, and what a shame that is.

Collectible toy and model cars keep climbing in price every day. I’ve written about this before and at that time, I mentioned a toy VW Bus that sold for over $18,000. It seemed to me that this was the exception, until I looked on eBay and found a toy car that sold for $7,200, as well as many others that brought in over $4,000.

Many companies made these toy cars such as Wyandotte, Hubley, and Dinkey Toys. Tooties and the more modern line, Hot Wheels and Matchbox Cars can substantially fatten your wallet. Plus, when you add in the valuable and collectible tin toys made in Japan, you’ll have an unlimited supply to find. If you find one along with the original box, it’s even more valuable. Often, the box is worth as much as the toy. Condition is very important, and the closer it is to mint condition, the higher the price.

There are plastic cars from the 50’s and 60’s that are collectible, tin toys from Japan, German tinplate cars, diecast models, and many more. If you’re a 31 Club Member and you’d like a listing of over 1000 Toy Car Brands E-mail Cindy with your Member Password in the Subject at cindy@31corp.com. She’ll send it by e-mail to you.
If this is an area in the Antique & Collectible world that holds great interest to you and you’d like to focus in this area, there are many collector clubs. These collectors clubs are a great place to sell your items, so you might want to add them to your list and start making contacts. And who knows, you might even meet collectors who are looking to sell their collections. As I’ve said before, forming relationships in this business is essential.

I still have a cast iron racer my Uncle Warren Dee brought for me soon after returning home from serving two terms as a tank commander in the Pacific during the war. He died in a motorcycle accident shortly after his return, so I’m not likely to part with it. It keeps his memory alive for me, but I imagine is has great value today for collectors.

Toy cars are where its at, no upkeep or gas required just pleasant memories and money in your pocket. You can’t beat that no matter how hard you try.

Join Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club, today. Rub elbows with like-minded 31 Club Members, and Put a Turbo Charge on your Antique & Collectible Treasure Hunting Skills. Get FREE Mentoring. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets. Learn to Make High Profits and Continue to Grow Your Money Buying and Selling Antiques, Fine Art, and Collectibles. Our Members are Newbies to Seasoned Dealers.

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Early high wheelers and safety bikes made into the 1920s and 1930s are classified as antique bicycles. Highly stylized bicycles from the 1930s and 1940s represent the transitional step to the classic period, beginning in the late 1940s and running through the end of the balloon tire era.

References: Jim Hurd, “Bicycle Blue Book, Memory Lane Classics,” 1997; Jay Pridmore and Jim Hurd, “The American Bicycle, Motorbooks International,” 1995; Jay Pridmore and Jim Hurd, “Schwinn Bicycles, International,” 1996; Neil S. Wood, “Evolution of the Bicycle, Volume 1″ (1991, 1994 value update), “Volume 2″ (1994) LW Book Sales.

– Harry L. Rinker

“Official Price Guide to Collectibles”