Die-cast metal toy model (with turning and functioning steering wheel and tires) of 1986 WHEEL HORSE 417 (400 series) Garden Tractor with an added lawn cart that features a working tailgate.

According to my dad who owned the distributorship, it is the prototype for the 417 or 420 models as they featured the distinctive louvers in the hood and the unique Wheel Horse "red".  Features the traditional black seat and lawn tires in plastic. I have personally owned (and still have) both the C-120 (1976) and the 417-8 (made only for two years, 1985 and 1986) and only the 1986 version introduced the louvers (also the 420 LSE had them but that was a one-year special production machine).   Model is proportioned to 1:12 scale and looks great on a G scale railroad where I have displayed it in recent years.

Not pristine as it has paint chipping but no rust as it was played with by my brothers and I.   Dad kept it under the glass counter in the office of the his Toro dealership (Toro bought Wheel Horse in 1987) owned by my father.  This may have been an Ertl prototype model as I can't find them listed anywhere.  And he always said it was given to him by the Wheel Horse rep before they were purchased by Toro. 

The cart also has markings from Ertl, but I don't believe it is original to the tractor.  It never had the mowing deck, but it used to have chrome hub caps just like the 417's did.  Dad likely lost them or took them off because the cart never had any hub caps.   The family has been in the mower business since the 1960's and we all think this is a 1986 prototype that never got produced because of the pending sale to Toro.  The castings may have evolved into the 1990's Lawn Chief series as I notice some similarities.

All in all it is still very rare, as there must have been very few produced as salesman's samples.