Green Machine Reborn!
The Green Machine was one of my favorite toys as a kid. Somehow it seemed faster than a big wheel even though I don’t think it had a mechanical or aerodynamic advantage that would actually make this true. It’s biggest feature was the rear wheel steering via levers as opposed to a conventional steering wheel. At first this method of control was rather awkward. However after some time behind the levers it became second nature. This method of steering also made incredible power slides incredibly easy. Loved that thing.
Well when I went to Sports Authority over lunch looking for sand socks what do I see by the door but a GREEN MACHINE! This is a Green Machine for the 21st century. It looks very similar but they made some minor styling changes and I noticed the steering levers are a more durable metal variety instead of the plastic type I cut my teeth on. It still looked cool. 80 bucks! Whew that is some serious scratch for the young driving enthusiast. I am happy to see the Green Machine return to make a new generation of kids smile.
X15gnome
Green Machine – I remember them. Being slightly older, I was the prous owner of the X15. Similar in that it offered rear-wheel steering. Several differences though – Steering was accomplished with a metal joy-stick type lever…left to go right, right to go left. the whole thing was metal with heavy rubber wheels…impossible to slide. Had a goofy seat, made to look like some kind of space craft. We thought it woul dbe cool to remove the seat sides. The only problem was that everytime you’d go into a hard turn you would now fly off the side of the thing. It was indestructible but cumbersome….plastic wheels = more fun.