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| Hessmobil 1020 wind-up with steerable front wheels. The great majority of all Hessmobils had cranked flywheel power for propulsion. I have seen a few examples with wind-ups and this is one of them. For whatever reason, perhaps materials shortages, Hess chose to power a few with a clockwork mechanism. This example is an early production model denoted by the rounded trunk and spoked wheels, circa1920's. Another ususual feature of this auto is the color - orange. All other model 1020 autos were a maroon color or later production models with flat trunk were a bright red. Early models were given a race type driver, with later models given a chauffeur type driver. | ||||
| Hess Auto - 1060. This is the first and only Hess automobile I have ever seen with rubber tires. All other Hess vehicles used solid tinplate wheels and tires. In addition, this toy came with a complete history of ownership. The original purchaser was a Frenchman who moved to Brazil in 1910. The toy was given to his son who was born in 1915. It is unclear whether it was originally purchased in Europe or purchased in Brazil as Hess shipped toys worldwide during this period. Another interesting note is the extention rising from the right front fender. It appears that a flag of some sort may have been original to the vehicle. The driver, although missing part of his right arm, is original to the vehicle. The tin wheeled version of this vehicle is shown earlier on this site. | ||||
| Hess Roller “Flirt” grouping, all with either simple flywheel drive or friction flywheel mechanism. Car: L 13 cm, W 5.4 cm, H 7.6 cm with driver. All circa 1900 - 1910. A grouping of 5 Hess Rollers, all marked differently with one or more of the following markings: “Hess-Roller”, JLH logo, “Marke”, “Benzin”, “Flirt”, “H” shield logo, “Importe”, “Syst Hess”, “Avanti”, “Peking - Paris”, “Germany”, “Marke Hess”. The “Avanti” labeled car has “Peking - Paris” printed on the back, taking advantage of the publicity surrounding the Peking to Paris race of 1907 which was heavily publicized.
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