When I was a little kid in public school, we often had visits from the local police to foster a good relationship. Once a year, the Metro Toronto Police would bring Blinky the talking police car to our school, and he would teach kids about road safety. Blinky was very expressive, and his eyes would move around to look directly at kids who asked him questions. He had speakers built into his nostrils, and black tinted windows so you never knew who was driving.
In kindergartem we learned songs about looking both ways before crossing the street and got colouring books. In the older grades, Blinky would gently explain the dangers of playing near traffic. There was a rumour that for the big kids in grade 8, Blinky would drive over a rubber doll filled with red paint, but I never saw something so heavy handed.
Blinky went through a couple incarnations; he was originally a mid 70’s Plymouth Grand Fury, but by the time I met him he was a boxy, early 80’s Plymouth in yellow, like all cop cars.
This year, a fully-restored Blinky was at the Honda Indy Toronto, painted white like current police cars (seems that in other cities, taxis are yellow, not police cars). Blinky was one of the historic vehicles to Police Department brought, and anyone over the age of 30 looked so happy to see him. Sure it’s nostalgia, but Blinky did good in the community. Even kids in my class whose family were in the mafia loved Blinky and had a better view of the cos then their parents did.
Last week I stumbled across an article on The Autopian calling Blinky an abomination, and terrifying. Part of me says it’s just a matter of perspective; if you didn’t grow up with Blinky the talking police car or Elmer the Safety Elephant, you just don’t get it. The other part of me says fuck you Jason Torchinsky and your slanted journalism.
Blinky may not have been as sophisticated as Lightning McQueen, but he was our own home-grown talking police car who did plenty of good.
~ by Chris #16 Demaras ~
And the horse you came in on, jason.
What a meanie! I used to read his stuff on Jalopnik (comedic motoring website) but now that he’s just mean.
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Blinky was part of the childhood of millions of kids in Ontario from the 70s to the 90s. Why dump on him? I think that considering the technological limitations of the era Blinky was built, he was a pretty creative car!
Very creative! Sometimes I think the 24hr news cycle has lowered the standards of people and they are willing to trash things because they think it will make them relevant.
Yes! I know EXACTLY what you mean! When people have nothing to contribute, their solution is to be critical of others’ ideas or concepts.
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I’ve grown tired of this trend in mass media and news stations. But this one just bothered me because it was a beloved icon of my childhood. Blinky was like Chuck-E-Cheese or the Hall of Presidents at Disney; I think they were called ‘animatronics’ and they were high tech in their day. So I think it’s really pathetic for someone to judge those creation by today’s higher-tech standards.
I see that judgment of the past by today’s standards in a lot of areas. I get it in the sense that I was once 23 and knew everything. Probably if we didn’t have social media or the 24 hr news cycle things could still be more thoughtful. But SM and 24HNC are why we can’t have nice things.
I’m culturally challenged at times. Who’s Blinky? How do they see to drive that car?
Blinky is a local celebrity. An anthropomorphic police car they would send to public schools to teach kids about road safety. Blinky’s eyes would move to look right at the kid he was speaking to.
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And those big nostrils are actually speakers.
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He couldn’t drive, always got towed on a flat bed, and the ‘operator’ would stand nearby in disguise and remote control the eyes and ‘speak’ for Blinky.
Thanks for the explanation.
Bro…I loved Blinky when I was a kid. So happy to see him at the Indy Toronto this year. I even watched the Toronto Santa Clause parade on Sunday and looked for him…but no dice.
Are any of you crafty? It would be fun to make a homemade version of blinky to set on your desk.
Thank goodness you said that. I totally forgot to add in this picture (link below) that my daughter took. She was on a school field trip to the Toronto Police Museum, and they had old-times stuff like ‘Elmer the Safety Elephant’ and a carboard cut out of Blinky!
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This could be a good project over the winter break.
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https://demaras.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_55871-1.jpg
That picture of yellow Blinky was the entire idea behind this article!
That is pretty cool!
You have a Santa Claus parade in Toronto? We have a Twinkle Light parade sans Santa in our village.
Without Santa? How odd…can’t be religious reasons for Santa’s exclusion. I wonder why.
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Yes, this year was the 120th annual Toronto Santa Clause Parade. Goes right through the downtown core, and is broadcast on TV as a same-day, tape-delay so you can go to the parade then hurry home and watch it on channel 3.
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Except this year it was on YouTube instead….
Can’t help but think of Maximum Overdrive when I see these pictures…
No…Blinky is cute!
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Like Emilio Esteves…not that evil truck.