Toys R Us the Swedish way

Chubby car, properly made in wood and a children's favorite.  

  • Pleasing to the eye: a Swedish toy classic, the Streamliner. Designed by Ulf Hanses.
  • Chubby car—children’s favorite
    A chubby wooden car, designed by Ulf Hanses and created in 1984, is the most popular children’s toy. It is simple, beautiful and easy for little hands to grasp. It is so pleasing to the eye that it even works as a decoration on a desk or shelf. The little car has a name, of course: Streamliner—after the industrial model that had its breakthrough in the 1930s with trains and eventually cars.
    At first, few noticed Hanses’ toy, but in 1998, the car, which comes in a variety of colors, was chosen as a Swedish design classic by Nationalmuseum (Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts) and by the organization Svensk Form. It is made of hardwood and painted with non-toxic paint. And now there are similar toys by the same designer: airplanes, rocketships and boats.

  • Yes, it's somewhat of a wooden relative to the classic 1948 Buick Streamliner, by many considered the quintessential American Hot Rod.