Little Tikes has been making their tiny red and yellow cars for generations. We all know someone who used to have one of the toddler-sized vehicles growing up. They were always so much fun to pedal around the driveway in. If you had a Little Tikes car, you were basically the most popular kid in the neighborhood.
The vehicles allowed the youngsters to feel like adults while they were cruising around the sidewalks, emulating what Mom and Dad do in real cars.
Although, what if a Little Tikes actually was a real car? That is what British inventors John and Geoff Bitmead from Attitude Autos had in mind when they modified a Daewoo Matiz to look like the classic kid’s toy a few years back.
They saw the headlights on the Matiz and couldn’t help but notice that they looked eerily similar to a Little Tikes.
That’s when their “nutty idea” was born. The two brothers went to work in the garage, and soon, an adult version of the Little Tikes became a reality.
Their modified vehicle is entirely street legal, complete with mirrors, headlights, and a battery.
It runs on gas and can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.
“They’re amazed to see the real thing on the road. I’ve seen people with tattoos all up their arms walking along the road just cheering at us,” Bitmead told the BBC.
The photos are pretty hilarious and we can only imagine how much attention they attracted driving around in the car.
There is just something about seeing a giant Little Tikes out on the road for real that makes our inner-child very happy. It brings back so many great memories from growing up.
“There was that kind of response to it. Everybody recognized it. It’s part of our life. We see these things in people’s front gardens, and now you can see it on the road,” said Bitmead.
It cost them around £30,000 to complete the project.
Whether the money was well spent or not is another question. While the car certainly turned a lot of heads, the Bitmead brothers weren’t able to generate the revenue they expected with the Little Tikes look-a-like. They were planning on renting the car out, but the business never gained much traction.
“We were hoping it would be out on a regular basis, create some revenue and recoup the money used to build it,” said Bitmead.
“But in real life, it ended up going out four or five times in two years. So we thought we might as well sell it and if anyone’s interested in buying it that will bring back some money for us.”
They put the car up for sale for at the low price of just £21,500 and it was quickly scooped up.
However, the sale of the goofy car doesn’t spell the end for these creative inventors. The brother’s new plan is to reinvest the money into an Addams Family inspired camper van. In season one, episode four of the cartoon, Uncle Fester invented a vehicle that ran without gas. It was dubbed “the fastest creepy camper in the west”.
Here’s to hoping the brother’s latest camper van project turns out just as creepy as the original one from the cartoon. We know the two of them are very talented designers. Although, whether people will actually want to pay money to spend a night in a creepy camper van remains to be seen.
Check out a video of the adult-sized Little Tikes vehicle driving around below.
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