Anyone remember those old bumper cars at the fair?

Alfa Car is my fave!

"Something, something, something, Dark Side, something, something."

[ Edited by: beadtiki 2009-11-14 13:22 ]

rad.....
great customizations on some of those!

They are built by somebody here in north county San Diego. I've seen them flying down the street. They are powered by 750cc Kawasaki engines. :o

Awesome!!!!!

Dontcha just want to jump in and start bonking into each other?! No? LOL I wouldn't want to hurt such little buities - they did their time! It's like when they were bumper cars they dreamed of driving the open roads with LOTS of space all around 'em! Doesn't that sound like a new Disney-Pixar movie?

It's amazing they are street legal.

Story

:lol: I didn't notice at first that they still have the electrical contact "mast" sticking up :lol:

Very cool!

EDIT - Let's try Mr Bunga's link again http://www.benchrace.com/html/8.36.html

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2009-11-16 08:58 ]

As a classic amusement park purist its difficult for me to get into this concept, let alone praise it.

In my perfect world scenario, all remaining classic Lusse Auto Skooters are restored and happily GIVEN :) back to the few remaining Auto Skooter ride owners still left in North America (mostly east coast). Why? For future generations to enjoy as intended by the original manufacturer. Have you ridden a modern bumper car recently? They suck in comparison to the Lusse models.

The original Auto Skooter ride pavilions are rare and deserve to be preserved in their original format with all original equipment. I say give a break to the owners of the few original Auto Skooters that remain so they may maintain them without financial hardship - due to competition with "nostalgia brokers" with no intention of restoring the vehicles for amusement park use.

Its a shame that people who purchase these American icons buy (usually) for personal use, converting them into breakfast nooks, go-carts, flower beds, kids tables, etc. Its their money. I understand. Personal ingenuity, craftsmanship & workmanship...I embrace. I support it 100% but sometimes we tend to shit on the original purpose of our beloved nostalgic artifacts.

Just curious to see if anybody else shares my humble opinion on TC. In the classic amusement park afficianado's world I'm not alone on this specific topic.

I hear what you're saying there TikiG - it's sort of like raiding a tomb - but at least they ARE being lovingly restored and treated with all the respect a vintage bumpercar derserves. I believe the same could be said about Merry-Go-Round animals. I personally would rather see them restored and loved by those who really DO love them than know that they're rotting in a warehouse somewhere.

The Santa Monica Pier use to have the old style bumper cars. They were the inspiration for the song "Blue Spark" by X. They have been replace by the new Sig Alert EV. They are probably lots safer than the older ones. I think there is some sort of law of physics that states when you increase the safety factor, the fun factor decreases.

Mad - thanks for the link to the article. They look like a fun bunch of characters!

Merry-Go-Round animals...that's another sore subject for me too. Funny I didn't think about that as I wrote my rant above.

Can't fault the restoration aspects at all. Better restored than rot.

Thanks beadtiki for your enlightening post.

TikiG, I think the same argument could be made about almost anything. My brother has an old Morris Minor (English car) that he turned into a hotrod with a V6, tubbed real wheels, etc - really pissed someone off because he didn't keep it original.

I was unfamiliar with these bumper cars so I went to Lusse Autoscooters to check it out. Turns out Lusse were the ones who sold the cars to the guys who motorized them :lol:

*"Sold some bumper cars to this really cool guy in San Diego. He had the knack to retrofit these with 750 cc Kawasaki motors and make them street legal!

We took a ride while visiting, and they're a kick in the ass!"*

MDM -

I had the pleasure of touring the old Lusse building in Pennsylvania back in the late 80's - their building was near the old Philadelphia Toboggan Company (builders of carousels and coasters) building - Lusse was just about completely $ broke. I don't remember seeing much as far as old inventory goes. Basically a creepy old brick warehouse. In the rubble I found a couple Lusse nameplates which I could take as souvenirs. I sold them to a collector in Great Britain several years ago. The current president of PTC almost bought the Lusse company at that time - I believe a price could not be agreed upon - although the capitol could have been raised and I do remember being told of legal knots that seemed impossible to undue regarding the Lusse owner.

Didn't realize this Lusse company in Utah existed until this morning, really.

Sad the guys couldn't replicate the Auto Skooters from scratch and save the real ones as future stock to continue to run as bumper cars.

Like I've said before, when it comes to classic American amusement parks and equipment I'm steadfast in my belief that you shouldn't f..k with original design intent and use.

TikiG - I think you're the first person EVER to be enlighted by ME! Ask my 19 year old - I've NEVER been able to enlighten her as she was born pre-enligthened (like most kids!) :wink: I'm glad we can have a discussion without resorting to, well, my 19 year old's mindset!