Donald's Car
Taliaferro introduced Donald's car, a 1934 Belchfire Runabout, on July 1, 1938. Donald is said to have constructed it himself from spare parts of various sources. It is recognizable by its license plate number 313. The car is modeled around the 1938 American Bantam. Though Donald briefly drove other cars both in Taliaferro's strip and in later stories, this car would stay with Donald throughout the following decades. The car's constant breakdowns and need of repairs is often used as a source of humor. Immediately recognizable by readers, it seems to have become as much a trademark of Donald as his sailor shirt and cap. His alias Paperinik on the other side has the 313 (which sports a different plate, namely X) equipped with a lot of high tech gadgets by Gyro Gearloose to combat crime. In "Recalled Wreck" by Don Rosa, Donald tells his nephews he can't buy new car parts instead of having them fixed because his car is made of parts that are no longer produced. It is said that Donald Duck's license plate number is 313 because he was supposed to have been born on the thirteenth of March.
Read more about this topic: Donald Duck In Comics
Famous quotes containing the word car:
“One way to do it might be by making the scenery penetrate the automobile. A polished black sedan was a good subject, especially if parked at the intersection of a tree-bordered street and one of those heavyish spring skies whose bloated gray clouds and amoeba-shaped blotches of blue seem more physical than the reticent elms and effusive pavement. Now break the body of the car into separate curves and panels; then put it together in terms of reflections.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)