After offering, since 1936, a toy car with a three-speed and reverse on the dash that kids could really shift and hear the windup motor at different speeds, the toy geniuses at one of the world's most famous factories issued this marvelous Mercedes 220S convertible in 1957, with a two-speed automatic transmission.
The 9" long toy car was powered by an electric motor with the batteries inside the trunk. The shifting was actuated just like the real car, by a lever next to the steering wheel, and once placed on a surface, the car would accelerate and then, shift to second gear as the fluid in the "torque converter" freed the cam actuating the gear.
Simple and ingenious, and today one of the most sought-after Schuco toy. Check it out:
As usual with Schuco, the quality of this steel toy is unsurpassed, it's built like the full-size car...
Fortunately, while it was an expensive toy in its day compared to regular die-cast or even the small Schuco racers that everyone remembers, there were enough sold then that the toy is not rare today. Unfortunately, just as with the Cox Chaparral 2E models of which thousands have survived, there are even more thousands wanting them so the prices are high...
