Cars and toy design

In the family of private means of transport, I ask for the most widespread, the best known, the most impacting: the automobile.

A mixture of the Greek prefix αὐτός (“oneself”) and the Latin suffix mobilis, the term distinguishes between a car equipped with a motor and one drawn by an animal (stagecoach, horse-drawn carriage, etc.). In France, the definition of a car is simple, it takes four wheels, an engine and less than nine places for a vehicle to be cataloged as a car.

There is a trace of the first theoretical motor vehicle in the second half of the 17th century via a drawing by Ferdinand Verbiest, a Jesuit then in China, a drawing which he presented to the Emperor of China.

It was in 1769 that we moved from theory to practice with Nicolas Joseph Cugnot and his "Fardier de Cugnot"

It was then in the 19th century, with the industrial revolution, that the automobile really took off despite several problems, in particular the chassis which did not withstand vibrations or the consequent size of the boiler.

If in 1870, we see a few steam cars in the streets of Aosta or Turin, it is in 1873 that the Obedient by Amédée Bollée arrives.

To fight against the congestion linked to the congestion of steam boilers, we see the appearance of the first electric or explosion cars.

We are now at the beginning of the 20th century and we are in a race for speed between the different manufacturers and it is La Toujours contente which is the first to cross the bar of 100 km/h, in 1899

This race for speed led to the creation of automobile races with the first automobile competition being Paris-Rouen in 1894, which lasted 4 days and in which 21 competitors traveled 126 km.

Still a luxury product, the automobile was to become a mass product following two major upheavals. The gradual paving of roads and especially the implementation of new means of production (Fordism, Taylorism). The first mass-produced vehicle arrived in 1910: the Ford T.

And then from year to year the automobile has taken up more and more space to the point of becoming a central tool almost everywhere around the world.

An essential component of our lives, the car will therefore very quickly invade the cinema...

... Comics...

... Video games...

... Music...

...And of course Toy Design.

Let's start with the craziest car trio on our entire site: Alexone's French Lowrider.

With two flexible arms (and a bonus on the cap) fitted with "spraycans", the masked penguin at the wheel is more concerned about the walls to be painted than what happens on the road. He can always count on 5 removable penguins which are enthroned in the front of the vehicle and which vaguely serve as his co-pilot.

Sculpted by Julien Moreau and produced by Artoyz Originals, the French Lowrider is Alexone's first vinyl figure.

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Let's continue with the range of Michelin toys which offers the famous Bibendum in different forms, and even in cars.

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Finally, let's not forget the various vehicles offered by Nanoblock.

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