Tin Toy Car

[Guest rmongoose]

If I could possibly get the right offer for an extremely rare tin toy car I have I will sell it.

It appears to have been made between 1949-1952 ? that's a mystery. What I do know is that it is called a Zim, a Russian made toy.

A real Zim could only be owned in the old USSR by political dignitaries and this kind of tin toy could not have been owned by many children at the aforementioned time.

The toy is about ten inches long and is cable driven (no batteries need). The cable is about five feet long and has a kind of plunger device at the operating end that when not depressed allows the car to steer to the left. There is a small crank handle on the right side of the plunger that will move the car forward or reverse.

If while cranking it forward the plunger is depressed it will allow the car to steer to the right. Left and right steering works in the same manner while cranking the handle in the opposite direction as the car backs up.

Shortly after I purchased the car about fifteen years ago I made contact with a fellow who collects Russian die-cast toy cars (Zim, Zil and Ziss). He told me then he had no idea a TIN Zim had ever been made and suggested at that time they made have possibly made ten or twenty for dignitaries children.

He offered to buy it at that time but I had no interest in doing so. He did not make an offer at that time but told me if he owned it he would not part with it for less than a thousand dollars.

After searching more than four years for more information about this toy on the Internet I've never seen a photo or heard anything about it.

The tires have the inflation info and such stamped on them and the license plate indicates Moscow. I purchased the car from a fellow who bought it from a family while he was in Siberia for a short time.

This would be a dandy addition in any ones collection of tins.

That's about as much as I know about it........I'll post some pics later.

Edited March 19, 2010 by rmongoose
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[Bob Scafani]

there was one on ebay last week

[Guest rmongoose]

there was one on ebay last week

It may have been a diecast, Google search for it and see what ya find

[Guest rmongoose]

This may have been the kind seen on ebay last week........I bought this one a couple weeks ago off ebay.......it's diecast and is about four inches long

[Guest rmongoose]

This is my TIN ZIM......it's about eleven inches long

Edited March 20, 2010 by rmongoose
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