Mitt Romney's Childhood In Pictures

George and Mitt Romney, who would have been 11 years old, in 1958. Not originally published in LIFE.

A caption from the March 1958 issue of LIFE: "On desk George Romney keeps prehistoric animals to remind him of favorite 'big-car' analogy. 'Some dinosaurs had a 70-foot wheelbase and huge fuel consumption. The principal factor in their extinction was the fact that they got so big they were unable to live.'"

George and Mitt Romney again in the March '58 issue of LIFE.

George Romney sleeps in a station wagon's built-in bed, March 1958.

14-year-old Mitt Romney, in rear with sisters Jane and Lynn, with their parents and Jane's and Lynn's children. From a February 1962 issue of LIFE.

Here, 16-year-old Mitt Romney places a birthday cake before his mother Lenore. Not originally published in LIFE.