Hasta La Gadget!

The Toy Car exposes the mechanical innards of the pullback motor

This gorgeous, stainless steel and bronze toy car is simply named Toy Car, which seems an appropriately stripped-down name for such a minimalist vehicle. Without a body, or even a cover over the engine, you can see exactly how the car works.

It’s essentially a fancy version of the pull-back-and-go cars found in cereal boxes and kids’ fast-food “meals” everywhere. Pull the car backwards while pushing down and the motion of the turning wheels is stored as energy in a coiled spring inside the big central toothed wheel. Let go and it unwinds, propelling the machine forward. When the spring has fully sprung, a clutch disengages and lets the car roll free.

I guess I like this especially because I always used to wonder as a kid what goes on inside these cars. Of course I opened a few up to see, but the cogs and springs were always too small and complex to fathom. That and the fact that the things had a habit of exploding on my, sending sprigs and cogs everywhere, somewhat limited my education.

The Toy Car, by contrast, is wonderfully simple and easy to grok. It also looks like the inside of a giant watch, which adds to its appeal. You probably won’t be buying one for your kids, though. The Toy Car, by Wouter Scheublin, is sold as a limited edition art piece through the Priveekollektie gallery, and is priced in the “if you have to ask” category. It does come with a little walnut garage, though.

Toy Car [Wouter Scheublin via Oh Gizmo]

See Also:

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• Motormouse Looks Like a Toy Car
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• Death Race 2000: Model Hearse Toy Car