Peter Rabbit

The following description was taken from the Greenburg’s guide to Marx Toys vol 2.

“Peter Rabbit eccentric Car: 1950’s. 51/2” long. Because the Peter Rabbit car is entirely made of plastic, it is thought to have been made later than the sheriff Sam and Smokey Sam toys. Though of more recent manufacture, the Peter Rabbit car is not found as easily as the earlier cars. The June 1977 PB 84 auction catalog list 779 and 799 as catalog numbers for this car. The box is similar to but more colorful than the boxes for Smoky Sam and Sheriff Sam toys. Wording on the box emphasizes that the toy is “molded of plastic with long running motor”. “Eccentric Car” and the Marx slogan “ One of the Many Marx Toys – have you all of them? Are also on the box. Some sides show just a rabbits head; others a driver frightening a running chicken. This popular theme was used on boxes as early as the 1920’s. The Peter Rabbit car body is identical to the Sheriff Sam and Smoky Sam cars, except for the large plastic carrot in place of the radiator cap. Peter Rabbit is brightly colored with his pink head, movable yellow ears, white body, large blue eyes, and buck teeth. A pair of two-dimensional, yellow plastic ducks is on one side of the hood; a similar pair of chickens in on the other. The large tin back wheels have black and white-striped treads, yellow hubcaps, and white front wheels are lithographed with white treads. A small wood castor hangs down at the rear of the car so that the back will not drag on the ground. The front of the car lifts up when the drive mechanism abruptly changes from reverse to forward.