Still in memory lane

We seem to have spent a lot of time this week (some might well say too much) meandering fairly aimlessly along memory lane, but we have not yet finished.


I can't remember just how old I was when my father gave me this toy car. In fact, I can't even remember if it was my father who gave it to me but I can't think who else it might have been. Unless it was my Aunty Grace. She worked in Greece after the war for one of the United Nations agencies so might have had access to toys of this sort. They certainly would not have been available in England, which is why I have assumed it was bought by my father on a visit to a foreign port. It has painted on the bottom, "Made in US Zone Germany" - which dates it pretty accurately.


Given that it is at least 60 years old it is in astoundingly good condition. But then, it really hasn't been played with an awful lot. It's just not an easy toy to play with. Not only does it have a hand brake but the steering wheel works and it has four forward gears and reverse - the gears being changed after depressing the clutch switch which is just in front of the driver's door. As you can imagine, it is difficult to keep up with the car (and steer it) when it is in top gear.

The only thing wrong is that the windscreen is missing and I no longer have the box. All the same, I would expect it to fetch somewhere between £50 and £100 at auction and I am tempted to take it to a local auction house which specialises in toys. But do I want to sell it or keep it with the thought that it might become a family heirloom - just like the jigsaw puzzle given to my grandfather on his 9th (or maybe 8th) birthday?