Car Buggy
Type: close up
Skill Level: 
Retail Price: $27.50
Effect: A spectator selects a card. The card is then lost into the
deck. A few cards are taken from the deck and ribbon spread across the
table. The magician introduces a small wooden car. The spectator is asked
to push the car across the table in front of the ribbon spread. Remarkably
the car stops in front of a card and cannot be pushed any further. When
the card is turned over, it is the spectator's selected card.
Performance Time: 2 - 4 minutes
Reset Time: none
Angles: 
Quality: Handcrafted in solid walnut, with rubber wheels, Car Buggy
measures 2" x 3". The mechanism is somewhat fragile and we have
become quite adept at repairing them. If you own and perform Car Buggy
eventually you are going to need to learn how to fix it.
Dr. Mitch: Not long ago Juan Tameriz performed this effect on a TV special. So what happens ? Everyone rushes out to buy it. Does it matter if it's "cute" and not spectacular ? NO Does it matter if the product itself is poorly made? NO What matters ? Well..it was done on TV. Sheeeeesh, magicians can be such lemmings. OK..here are my comments on this trick. If you rush out to buy it..then you deserve it.
The instructions consist of 10 ways to force a card and a single paragraph on how to use the car. If your spectator is over zealous then be prepared to have to fix it because it WILL BREAK.
HERE IS A DR. MITCH TIP...save your money. Next time you go to McDonald's get one of those wind-up happy meal toys. Give it 5 or 6 winds and see how far it will walk . Getting a good idea of where it will wind up after 5 or 6 winds will allow you to duplicate the same effect as car buggy..with a much cuter prop and WITHOUT the $27.50 price tag. But hey, if you really want to own this prop please contact me...because I wanna try and sell you my 14 karat gold handkerchief pull.
Mike Maione: When I saw this effect performed
by Juan Tameriz on TV I too wanted that cute little car. I thought Tameriz
was excellent. His incredible style could make any prop riotous. In ordinary
hands, a car that finds the spectators card is no better than any other
card revelation though.
More bad news.... Tannen's would love you to believe the Car Buggy they sell is the same item that Tameriz used on TV. The ads certainly read that way....Well, it really isn't. It might look the same and might even work the same....but it ain't the same. I hear tell that the item is an unlicensed copy of Dick Koornwinder's Koornwinder Car, which is what Tameriz supposedly uses. So in reality, Car Buggy is a fragile, cheaply made knock-off. And it is really fragile. The piece Dr. Mitch and I reviewed belonged to Magic Jeff. It had to be repaired before we could even work with it. Seems Jeff broke it before he even got a chance to perform it.
I suggest you steer clear of this "Edsel".
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