Red Koornwinder Car

A spectator freely selects a card from the deck, which is then lost and shuffled back in. Several cards are dealt face-down in a row across the table. Then something extraordinary happens: a small toy car is placed at one end of the spread and the spectator — using their own finger — pushes it forward. The car rolls along the row and stops. Dead. Right on the chosen card.

No force. No fishing. The spectator drives the car themselves. That eerie moment when the wheels simply cease — directly over their selection — is one of the most viscerally unsettling reactions close-up magic can produce.

Invented by Dutch magician Dick Koornwinder in the 1960s and awarded first prize for Close-up Magic at the National Dutch Convention in 1971, the Koornwinder Kar has spent decades as one of the most coveted — and most imitated — props in magic. Juan Tamariz, who has long championed this effect as a personal favorite, features his full handling and presentation (titled El Cochecito) on Volume 2 of his Lessons in Magic series — essential viewing for anyone serious about performing this piece.