Ride on cars first appeared in around 1890, with the production of Daimlers, but became very popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Right when I was growing up in fact.

In those days we like to think we made the cars ourselves, but Dad probably did most of the work! And for well-off kids – well their parents probably bought them ready made from the shop. The cars were made from wood or metal and they were generally copies of the “real thing”. Since they generally used lead paint they probably weren’t safe as modern ride on cars.

Why would you buy a ride on car these days? Is there any educational benefit, for instance? Well there probably is. As children grow up, learning is going on all the time, and zipping along in a ride on car is providing both mental and physical stimulation at the same time. Ride on cars are great for eye-hand coordination, and help to prepare kids for their later driving experiences.

Although the first vehicle to move under its own power (for which there is documentation) was built by M. Brezin in 1769, it really wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that a flurry of automobile-building activity took off.

One of the first cabs off the rank (sorry about that!) to start to pull things together was Karl Daimler, who set up a deal with William Steinway (of piano fame) to produce petrol engines for tramcars, boats, quadricycles and fire engines. In fact Steinway was the owner of the Daimler Motor Company which by 1891 was in full production.

Interesting sidenote – Karl Benz never actually met Gottlieb Daimler…

It was the Duyrea brothers who actually developed the first gasoline automobile in the US in 1893. They modified an old horse buggy and drove it around for about 3 months. Maybe it didn’t run very well, because it didn’t run again, and some 25 years later ended up in a museum.

In 1893 Henry Ford joined the fray. However it wasn’t until 3 years later that he finished his first car. Another 3 years later he established the Detroit Motor Company but never actually sold a production automobile. He shut down the company 2 years later in 1901.