Drivers Education Goes Old School at DFW Elite Toy Museum.com in Fort Worth, TX

    DALLAS, TX, March 17, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Some of the most popular items exhibited at DFW Elite Toy Museum.com are not toys at all. Instead, these intricate scale models of automotive systems were originally teaching aids. As the post World War II economic boom picked up speed, millions of middle class Germans had the income to buy cars but not the skills to drive or maintain them.

"Remember that German cars in the late 1940s and early 1950s were not equipped with modern safety systems like anti-lock brakes, airbags and seat belts," said DFW Elite Toy Museum Curator Rodney Ross. "Learning to drive by trial and error was dangerous," added Ross.

Germans sought a safer way to teach new drivers how to operate and maintain their cars. German driving schools began to use working cutaway models of the automobile and its systems to teach new drivers much needed skills in the safety of the classroom.

"A driving class at a German driving school in the 1950s didn't involve memorizing a few road signs and taking a multiple choice test," said DFW Elite Toy Museum.com owner Ron Sturgeon. "Students had to know how the engine worked, how the brakes worked, how to diagnose problems and how to maintain their cars," said Sturgeon, a Fort Worth entrepreneur and business consultant.

Although no longer in use as teaching aids, German driving school models by Hohm and V.V.R. have become automotive collectibles because of their intricacy, scarcity and quality. Among the older cutaway models on display is a Holm EH-58 that dates from the 1930s.

DFW Elite Toy Museum has the largest collection of German driving school models in the United States. "Our museum visitors get a kick out of seeing the driving school models. They're not toys, but they are certainly fun to see work," said Sturgeon.

The collection of German driving school models can be seen along with the other rare and antique toy cars in the Toy Museum inside DFW Elite Auto Rental at 5940 Eden in Fort Worth. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, with weekend hours by appointment. In Fort Worth, call 817.838. RENT (7368); in Dallas, call 214.247.4700. For more information, visit them online at http://www.dfwelitetoymuseum.com.

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