The Austin J40 is not just any pedal car!
The Haarlemmerhout park, somewhere around 1957-58. A child in a pedal car — nothing special, you would say. That the child is me does not really matter either. Just a lovely memory from the family album.
But if we dig a little deeper, some rather special stories come to the surface!
It begins when a post appears this week on the Facebook page of our local history society, Heemkundekring Philippuslandt. Many followers here on the island know how closely involved I am with this historical society!
This week a photograph was posted there of a family with a little boy in exactly the same kind of pedal car! Probably a different colour, but the kind of shot was identical.
Two days later I am watching an episode on YouTube about Mathewsons Auctions in Pickering, in the UK. And what do I see there… you can guess: yet another of these pedal cars, being auctioned. And it turns out people pay unheard-of sums for them!
In that same episode they also explained that there are even whole races for children at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the so-called Settrington Cup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_TIMXWd_eA — with a bit of luck the link works, otherwise just Google it. Great fun to watch.
Well, that's that, you would think. But it kept nagging at me… so I asked "Chat" whether anything more was known about these pedal cars.
That is when it really gets interesting! It turns out this was actually a very special project. The miners in Wales suffered from serious lung disease (pneumoconiosis, or 'dust lung') and could barely earn a living as a result. The then chairman of the board of the Austin works, Sir Leonard Lord, decided to start an employment project for these miners: the Austin Junior Car Factory. A special team of designers was even set up, and so a miniature pedal-car version was built from the leftover scrap of the Austin Somerset. Working headlamps, moving parts, (imitation) leather upholstery, spark plugs and even a horn. In short, the A40 had a little son: the J40 (J for junior). At its peak the project provided work for some 250 people, and between 1950 and 1971 more than 32,000 of these little cars were built. To this day parts are still being supplied, and new 'Juniors' are even being made again.
By now my curiosity was aroused even further. So there were several photographers who used a J40 as a prop. I put that question to "Chat" as well. The answer: yes, Han, this was very common. Especially on public holidays and at weekends, photographs were taken at places that drew a lot of visitors. You were given a little ticket and could collect the photos later. I remember myself that in the seventies photos were taken which you could pick up at the end of your visit if you wanted them.
"Chat", ever curious, then asked: where was the photograph taken? Shall I see whether I know who might have been taking photographs there? I could no longer contain my curiosity… In the Haarlemmerhout, I wrote to "Chat". And then came the answer:
Han, the photographer was Fotopersbureau de Boer. I was speechless. That turned out to be my father-in-law Cees, the father of my wife Germaine. The grandfather of our two sons. Sadly we can no longer ask him about it. So there is quite a story behind that one little photograph!
September 2026
