This is one of the few things shown here on Barn Finds where it wouldn’t make sense to say, “Drop an SBC/LS/Hayabusa in it!” Maybe, “Drop this engine on a Mattel bike!” This 1964 Mattel V-ROOOM! Hot-Rodder Engine is the second Mattel “engine” (so to speak) we’ve seen, and this one is listed here on eBay in Upstate, New York. That’s all the seller lists for a location. They’re asking $499.99, and thanks to PRA4SNW for the tip!
We do feature non-vehicle items here, as you all know, most recently a plastic model kit that Mike Stephens showed us just yesterday. I have this exact same “engine,” or noise-maker, as it provides no power for moving anything, other than maybe moving people out of the way if you crank up the dial, which cranks up the volume on the unique engine sound. For the record, $3.99 in 1964 is equivalent to $43.13 today. Talk about the Hemi Cuda effect, a car that cost $5,000 new and usually sells for much more than 10 times its original price now. This engine for sale here is 125 times as expensive as the original price.
The seller only provided two photos, but they show an almost perfect box, and what seems to be all the parts still in a plastic bag, and instructions on how to attach it to your bike. Mattel offered this plastic “engine” for only a few years in the early 1960s, but they also offered at least two other versions. I wrote up another one here on Barn Finds in February, and that version doesn’t require batteries, as the Hot-Rodder Engine does. You just rev up the red arm on the “Booster Engine,” and it makes a sound, or several sounds depending on how you have the switch adjusted. The Hot-Rodder Engine needs two D-cell batteries in order to make a revving or idling sound. I just changed the two batteries on mine an hour ago. They lasted two years, so I can’t complain about that.
You’ve seen this before. This is a photo of my 1966 Mattel Stallion bike that I restored a couple of years ago, and the Mattel V-ROOOM! engine. I found a NOS engine like the one for sale here. It was still in the box, and still in the plastic inside, but the outside of the box had yellowed, probably from being exposed to the sun. It took some work to get the revolving cone inside to make sound, but it eventually started spinning and whirring like a motorcycle engine, sort of. It’s pretty cool, and anyone restoring a Mattel bike needs one for sure. Are any of you into collecting vintage toys like this Mattel engine?
Wow Scotty, what memories this is bringing back of Saturday morning toy commercials. I knew a few kids that had these but, I never had one myself. My high performance sound came from my culled baseball cards or playing cards and cloths pins. The more sets of cards to clipped to your fender brackets the more horsepower you had.
We used a long balloon half inflated so you could tie each end to the front fork, more rumble like a motorcycle. A lot of fun till you met the town cop at the corner!
Talk about a skilled mechanic, Scotty-fixing and rebuilding everything from old school iron engines to old school plastic motors! Good way to wind it up, PRA4SNW.
There was just one kid in our neighborhood that got one for his birthday-it was a small neighborhood. It broke the minute he crashed after trying to jump an open manhole that the road hadn’t been built up around and paved at the time.
Ok, this is a cool story and thank you so much for sharing!
These things are neat. I’d only install it on a vintage bike if it were the right one, and I’d keep the original box in a safe spot. I’m sure when PRA4SNW saw this, he must have had Scotty on his mind. ( great find by the way). If the seller gets their ask thats one huge ROI for sure. Thanks Scotty!!!