Identification No. MVIN76556IND

The tiny Crosley automobile was the product of a Cincinnati, Ohio, manufacturer better-remembered for its radios and home appliances, especially as a pioneer of electric iceboxes. Actually built in Hamilton, Indiana, it had a remarkably long production run, originally from 1939 to 1942 in twin-cylinder form, then as a slightly larger – relatively speaking! – four-cylinder model postwar. Crosleys were real, solidly engineered, well-built automobiles, just scaled down to size, and were intended mainly as an economical second vehicle for a prosperous American family. Even today they are fondly remembered and widely collected, and for sheer smiles-per-mile are hard to beat.

The car offered is undoubtedly one of the most interesting extant Crosleys and, even more certainly, one of the few to have custom coachwork. Apparently built as a children's car, it features a Crosley engine and three-speed transmission on a chassis with wooden artillery wheels and well-crafted alloy bodywork, incorporating a rumble seat with its own windshield panel and, remarkably, an ample amount of storage in the trunk area. Remarkably well-finished, the car features functional headlights and fog lights, a horn, full instrumentation, and spring steel bumpers front and rear, as well as a rear-mounted spare.

Records in the vehicle's small history file indicate that it was formally part of the automobile and antiques collection of Ed and Alyce Oberhaus, once open as a public museum in their town of Archbold, Ohio; the Oberhauses had acquired it in 1995 from a seller in Howe, Indiana. Jim Taylor acquired it from the Oberhauses in early 2008, buying it on a whim with the idea that his grandchildren would enjoy driving it around – early training, perhaps, for future D-Type driving.

In many ways the ultimate in unique, hand-built children's cars, this is a delightful piece of Buckeye and Hoosier automaking, with special bodywork that will endear it to the next generation of automobile enthusiasts.