Garton Delivery Cycle

[jack edwards]

I went to the dump this weekend and found two prizes. A Garton Delivery Cycle and a Murray Fire City Battalion #1 Pedal Car. Not having a clue I joined the CABE site in the hopes of getting some ideas about value and repair ideas. The Garton has a bad tire but aside from that the paint and chrome fender, and functionality are quite good. My grandson fell in love as soon as he saw it and I had him riding on it in 15 minutes after adjusting the seat and tightening the handlebars. Can anyone tell how best to get an age and value on this piece of Americana. The Murray is functional as well. Ladder and back extension pieces are missing and the wheels are worn almost to the metal but again the kids love these pieces. I am a bit worried that they may ruin the value and wondered if folks would comment on whether they should be used and enjoyed or polished and sold. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Jack

 

[ridingtoy]

Jack,

Two terrific saves on your part! What size tire is bad on the Garton? It should be marked on the sidewall and I might have a NOS replacement for it. The tires on a Murray pedal car are most likely the round "roll-on" type. If you search the net by "pedal car parts" you'll find some sites having reproduction parts to replace everything missing on your Murray. There's also several collector books on pedal cars to give some idea of value. If it were me, I'd go ahead and replace the tires and missing parts, and let the kids enjoy using the car. It's not old enough to be considered an antique, and Murray pedal cars even from the '50s and '60s are more common to find, along with later AMF cars.

For more info on the Garton trike you could go to www.tricyclefetish.com
That site has a blog where you can submit questions about different trike models. They also have an online price guide you can subscribe to for a nominal, one-time fee.

Dave