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Epic Kiddy Car: 1962 Ferrari 250 GT California

You may want a Ferrari 250 GT California; if you do, welcome to the club. However, these are out of reach for most collectors as the buy-in never dips below six figures (and then there’s the insurance! Heavens to Betsy.) Of course, if you’re in the realm of the hobby, it’s not that much of an imposition to insure and maintain a car of this stature, but if you were looking for a morsel of the experience with significantly reduced costs, this high-quality go-kart version of Ferrari’s iconic roadster may make much more financial sense at a reasonable $17,500 or best offer here on eBay.

As we see here, the seller (or a close personal friend) has the real deal car (or a Ferris Beuller-type replica). But when you park the kiddie car variant next to the real deal, it’s stunning how “right” they got the miniature version. The hardware is pretty impressive, too, with Brembo brakes, a full coilover suspension, and a one-cylinder engine capable of reaching 46 miles per hour. The company behind the build is Harrington Specialty Vehicles / Junior Car USA and it was built in 2019, so this isn’t some ancient example that has antiquated technology to go along with its antiquated (but still stunning) looks.

I can remember getting the annual Christmas catalog from the likes of Macy’s and JCPenney that had a section devoted to large children’s toys, including the typical Power Wheels trucks and build-at-home go-karts. But there were always one or two larger self-propelled machines for kids slightly older than a toddler but still too young to have a driver’s license. I can recall a tribute model for a Ferrari 308, which was a well-loved model owing to its presence on the hit television show, Magnum P.I. The kid in me wants to teleport back to that time and urge my parents to buy the car as an investment, as it’d be worth a sizable amount more today.

I wasn’t expecting to see “Proudly manufactured in Vietnam” when looking at the ID plate, but here we are. It’s incredible this toy Ferrari has an actual VIN, and given the top speed it can reach, I wonder if you have to register it in some way for road use. This is not an area of specialty for me, but I’m sure someone out there knows the rules of the road when it comes to surprisingly speedy kiddy cars. The market for big boy’s toys has always been one of the more fascinating ones, both for the products themselves and for how the wealthy spend their money. Would you drop $17,500 on a curiosity like this?

Comments

  1. Avatar bobhess Member

    Nicely done. The other red car with the MGB/Sprite/Midget taillights is interesting too. Wonder what that is.

    Like 8
  2. Avatar Howie

    Yes super cool, but not $17,500 cool.

    Like 3
  3. Avatar scott m

    Well, im more confused than usual, all the google images show these taillights. Just a feature of the California?

    Like 0
  4. Avatar DRV

    Harrington has a many models and they are excellent. When I was looking for car parts 10 years ago they had repo bumpers in stainless for 2 of my cars!
    It’s a great site to ponder.

    Like 1
  5. Avatar TheOldRanger

    With a 1-cylinder engine, I’m not sure this one could handle the hills we have in the Village… going down would be fine, but then getting up to the top of some of our hills might be a problem. Neighbor:hey Old Ranger, where’s your new car?
    Me: Stuck in the valley over on Cortez Road and that ‘s a good walk from where I live LOL

    Like 1
  6. Avatar mainlymuscle

    I have one of the Ferris replicas ,which is what that car is (Mg taillights,and vent windows ) .The first thing I did was ditch the taillights for the correct ones as they are available .Eliminating the vents is in progress LOl.As for Jeff’s ^ figure price reference ;Real ones are well into 7 figures with a range of 20 to $40 million.Replicas are 6 figures as they also are very rare.Recent BaT sale was $197k .I LOVE mine ,show it constantly and virtually NEVER asked “is it real ? ” It looks great next to my 2005 360 spider 6 speed that I’ve had for 16 years .

    Like 4
    • Avatar bobhess Member

      Thanks for the information. That’s a good looking replica. The vent windows are from the MGB GT.

      Like 3
  7. Avatar mainlymuscle

    Fiat 124 I think

    Like 1
  8. Avatar Steve RM

    This is just too cool. It almost makes me wish I had a kid.

    Like 1

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