How old am I? A short history of the first vehicle I drove that was as old as me.

[kayakjohnny]

In 1959, Garton offered a salute to the U.S. armed services with the introduction of the Army Jeep.

This pedal driven vehicle had traditional olive drab paint, simple white U.S. Star graphics and thick military tread tires. The plain Army Jeep was soon replaced by a bright blue Air Force Jeep that featured yellow winged-star graphics, and was offered until 1964.

The basic Army Jeep came back with a vengeance in 1964, sporting a bazooka military launcher attached to the vehicle's side. Later in 1964, Garton offered the laid-back Country Squire. This pedal-driven cruiser was bright blue with wood grain side graphics, gun site hood ornament, and three removable wooden racks around the rear of the car.

Still not ready to give up on the military vehicles, Garton produced the 1966 camouflage painted Army Jeep, with a chain drive pedal system and hood mounted machine gun. A Hook and Ladder Fire Department model also made a brief, one year appearance during the production period. A bizarre offering from Garton was the 1967 bright pink Surrey, complete with fringed pink and white striped canopy top, blue grille, windshield and wheels. Garton got a lot of mileage out of the basic jeep styling, making the cars easy to find today.

These cars were offered with different graphics painted on the sides. The background colors accurately depict original paint color schemes from Garton.



(True story)