These were/are an 80’s toy car that you charged up by pushing them along the floor several times to spin up the internal flywheel, then set them down and pushed the button on the top (the “clutch popper”), at which point they took off like a bat out of hell usually until they smacked into something doing it some damage. The car itself was/is seemingly indestructible.
But hey, at the end of the day these are just toy cars, and really pretty simple, but simple done very well, a lot of fun!
Keen to have your kids ditch the screens, flashing lights, batteries and plastic for a bit?. Clean one of these up, follow some of the stuff I’ve put on the maintenance page and it’ll be good as new, with just some real-life character patina – you pay good money for that in Jeans:) And with these cars it actually suits them, it’s what they’re all about. Here’s a cool example. Better yet you could make that a little project to do with your kid.
These are the main features of these cars that make them awesome (even today):
- Solid pressed steel body with a pretty decent paint job
- High density & thick plastic base including front and back bumpers – a very good choice for these cars
- Uniquely powerful, steel framed flywheel motor with clutch mechanism that engages the gear and flywheel
- Rubber tires (back) for good grip & speed
- No batteries required
- Crazy fast for a friction powered toy car
- Took an absolute hammering and kept on going, and keeps on going even today (40 odd years later)
- Made in Japan to a high standard
The first release of these things was 1978, with 3 cars based of Chevy models, further models followed. The Clutch Popper series had a 10 year production life, the last being manufactured 1987/88.
All models based on the original 1978 Tonka Clutch Popper series (Chevy Monza – Red, Chevy Vega – Blue, and Chevy Chevelle – Yellow), excluding the Indy car & below variants, have the same basic format, all made in Japan, and made up of the following:
- A heavy duty plastic wheelbase/chassis with incorporated steel framed flywheel motor (riveted – but possibly not always, I think there may have been two different factories that produced these things).
- A motor dust cover
- A pressed steel body
- A plastic window section and button.
That’s basically it! A simple but effective combination, these were toys that were built to be played with aggressively and have proven to outlast many of the toys of their era. I think they look great beat up (once given a bit of a clean-up), all those scratches and dents tell a story, a good one. In the non-battery powered, motorised & durable toy world, these things are part of a select few. If you’ve got one that is not functioning properly, it could be a relatively simple process to give it a new life, check out the maintenance page of more info.
The other main model variants in the Tonka Clutch Popper series aside from the Chevy’s, also made in Japan between 1980-88, are:
- The Indy Car
- The Sports Racer
- The Porsche (6175)
- The Dune Crawler (single clutch)
- The Dune Crawler (double clutch (Rare)) 6200 – 1984
- The Drag Racers (Wheelie – made in Hong Kong, plastic)
- The Pickup (5936) 80-82
- The Honda A.T.C 3 Wheeler (2-speed – Rare) – 1983
- The GMC Trucks (1981 – 84 6170)
- The Big Rig Road Boss (1982-84 Very Rare)
- The Scrambler Motorcycle (Rare – though made in Hong Kong, plastic)
- The mini clutch poppers (Power Punchers I think they were called) – all based on the Chevy design. 1982-85 – 6155
- The Power Wagons – 4×4, 1983-85
- The Sky Rider Vans – 1985-87
- The Pontiac – 1985-87
The above are all really sideline models to the core Chevy models which are the ones you’ll find the most of on Ebay and the like, including the mini versions. I’ll update the pages on them as I get a hold of any and/or get around to it!
Most of these were intended for ages min 5 or 6 to 100:), though the mini ones have a wider age range, little kids can have trouble revving the larger models up without pressing the button, same with the oldies:p.
