I can remember the shape of the wheels on my crawl-a-gator and the jumping seat that hung from the door frame.

Let me see if I can find a picture.. yep that's it http://daddytypes.com/2009/02/12/brother_can_you_spare_a_cra...

It sounds like this poor kid spent a lot of time on the streets, literally. It's not surprising to me that he was able to recognize it later.