Candylab, Pioneer Classic

Wide body, magnetic canoe on the roof, chunky rubber tyres, and the unmistakable silhouette of a truck that means business.

The Pioneer Classic is the Candylab vehicle that launched a thousand collections — a big, boxy 4x4 in the style of the 1960s expedition trucks that still define what adventure looks like. The shape is immediately right: the wide stance, the wood-panelled sides, the canoe sitting magnetically on the roof ready for whatever lake or river is coming next.

Made from solid beech wood, painted with water-based paint and sealed with a clear urethane coat that can take the kind of sustained play that separates a toy from a display object. White ABS plastic rims, food-grade rubber tyres, metal axles. Safety tested to US CPSIA, European, Australian and New Zealand standards. Pairs naturally with the Airstream Camper for the complete road trip setup.

• Solid beech wood body with magnetic canoe accessory on roof
• Water-based paint, clear urethane coat; white ABS plastic rims, food-grade rubber tyres
• 18.7 x 9.6 x 7.6cm, 397g — substantial in the hand, displayable on a shelf
• Pairs with the Candylab Airstream Camper (available separately) for the full road trip setup
• Safety tested to CPSIA, European, Australian and New Zealand standards. Ages 3 and up

Candylab was founded by Romanian architect Vlad Drăgușin, who grew up loving mid-century American muscle cars and couldn't find toy versions worth keeping. His first cars — funded on Kickstarter, made in Brooklyn — ended up at MoMA, the Design Museum in London, and at Colette in Paris. The toy car that children play with and adults quietly decide to keep.