Written by Tara Bush
At 16, Antonio Pasin immigrated to Chicago from Italy in 1917 and started building wooden toy wagons to haul his custom wood phonograph cabinets and tools. He started receiving orders for the wagons and soon began making stamped steel wagons using the mass manufacturing techniques of the auto industry. In 1930, he named the new Radio Flyer wagon as a tribute to two famous men of the day; Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi who developed the first transatlantic radio signal and Charles Lindbergh who completed the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic.
Today, the Radio Flyer is still popular among many adults who have the nostalgia of playing with them as children, and the positive childhood memories the Radio Flyer invokes.
Zot Barazzotto is one such guy who not only enjoyed the Radio Flyer but wanted to be immersed, literally, with the little red wagon. He got the idea about three years ago from a couple in Alaska (video HERE). He started with a 2001 Ford Ranger and with the help of a local shop in Dayton, Ohio and a real Radio Flyer All Terrain Wagon for scale, they made a cardboard mockup. Everything after that was guesswork. Not perfect workmanship, but once you integrate your childhood memories, the imperfections disappear.
The Flyer drives as well as any Ford Ranger would but it’s a lot more fun when it is warm out and not raining. His Ohio license plate reads “FUN RF”. Zot compares it to a dog with its head hanging out the window…smells and sounds are a new experience. He wears ear phones but mostly to keep his hat on.
Living as a snowbird near Leesburg, Zot drives the Flyer to car shows, parades, kid’s events, and an occasional grocery trip or
cross-state rides. He even does car guys last rides in which the tailgate opens, slip in the coffin, and head to the cemetery. It makes for a momentous memory for the family.
Life with a real-life Radio Flyer is never dull. Honks, waves, picture taking, and at gas stops, it immediately draws a crowd. Zot always gets special parking at the local shows. The kids enjoy getting their photos taking inside the Flyer. He has yet to be pulled over by the law, although it is hardly the getaway vehicle.
When Zot was asked how the Flyer has changed his life, he said that he is old and married but the Flyer is the world’s best chick magnet….girls just love it.
