Yahoo Autos Jumbo-Sized, Street-Legal Pedal Car Is One Awesome Toy
In retirement, some take up golf, or woodworking, or even the restoration of classic cars. Pennsylvania’s Dan Hryhorcoff wanted a different kind of project to occupy his leisure time, so the semi-retired engineer and machine shop owner opted to replicate a vintage Murray General pedal car, in larger-than-life fiberglass form, with the help of friend and “car guy” Jim Gibbs.
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Dan Hryhorcoff’s giant Murray General. Photos courtesy Dan Hryhorcoff and the AACA Museum.
Dan had previous experience working with fiberglass (he built a working submarine, with a fiberglass nose and tail, circa 2000), so he opted to return to this medium for his latest project, his first attempt at building an automobile. He quickly realized that he lacked the creative skill necessary to design a unique car body on his own, saying, “Instead of taking a chance at creating a visual monster, I decided to copy something.” Copying an existing full-size automobile would hardly be breaking new ground, so Dan instead opted to replicate a popular child’s pedal car, in a more adult size.
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Underneath the “Sad Face” car body is a rear-drive 1997 Ford Ranger pickup that served as a donor vehicle for the project. The Ranger’s rear track helped to set the scale (4.5:1) for the project, but extensive fabrication was necessary to shorten the wheelbase and create the desired ride height, which is aided by the 24-inch wheels (re-engineered to fit the Ranger’s hubs, then fitted with red fiberglass covers) sourced from Coker Tire. Coker also supplied the 24 x 5.00 tires, which were the narrowest Dan could use according to the Pennsylvania vehicle code (and yes, it is registered and plated in the state of Pennsylvania). Powering the plus-size Sad Face is a stock 3.0-liter Ford V-6, producing 147-hosepower and shifting through a four-speed automatic.
Note the hole for a conventional steering wheel, to the left of the instrument cluster.
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To create the body mold, Dan first created a full-size replica of the car in Styrofoam, using a home built pantograph to scale up the real pedal car 4.5 times. As Dan traced the toy, a die grinder with a router bit carved the Styrofoam blocks into approximately the right shape. To complete the “positive” used to create the body molds, he then coated the Styrofoam with spackling compound, which was sanded and carved to create an even higher level of detail. Once these “positives” were finished, a negative mold was created (also from fiberglass) to form the body panels. Steel body supports were welded to the Ranger’s frame, and the fiberglass body panels were attached to this skeleton.
The car’s dual controls allow for center or left operation.
To maintain authenticity, the car needed an oversize, center-mounted steering wheel and center-mounted controls. The Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles doesn’t allow such outside-the-box thinking, so Dan was forced to install a more conventional (read, smaller) steering wheel on the left side, along with a second set of pedals. When not in use, either of the steering wheels can be removed and mounted underneath the hood section, which tilts forward for easy access to the engine compartment. As required by law, the car has full instrumentation and lighting, too.
When not in use, the second steering wheel mounts above the radiator.
While the 1:1 Murray Sad Face provides seating for one, Dan’s version seats four adults in relative comfort, though he admits his longest road trip to date has only been about 20 miles. Getting in and out isn’t as problematic as it seems, since Dan also built disappearing, electric-powered steps for driver and passenger using a pair of Ford Taurus window actuators. On the road, Dan says his creation drives much like a compact pickup, albeit one with a significantly increased ride height, and never fails to produce smiles from onlookers. Don’t ask him to build another, though: Once the body sections were molded and finished, Dan opted to destroy the molds.
Dan Hryhorcoff’s plus-size Murray General will be on display in the Cars & Christmas exhibit at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, through January 3, 2016. For more information, visit AACAMuseum.org.
The car of 1940, as shown in 1933
