The ones in Coney Island and Rockaway Park back in the 20’s thru to the 50’s ran on electric .
Had a pole on the back going to a metal electrical charged overhead plate.
Remember driving the bumper cars at amusement parks or a fair, don’t you? They were so much fun…..
Well now, what do you do with old Bumper Cars?
(and check out the license plates!)
WHO KNEW?
Yes, you read that right; these little beasties are street legal.
They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines and co-opt vintage bumper car bodies into the most awesome form of mini-car we’ve seen in too long. There are seven of these little monsters floating around California and they’re all the creation of one man, Tom Wright, a builder in the outskirts of San Diego who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap.
They were originally powered by two cylinder Harley Davidson
Motorcycle engines but they rattled like heck because of the two cylinder
Vibration , so Tom replaces them with four cylinder Honda or Kawasaki 750’s
And a couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase.
By the way, they are almost indestructible in accidents!
So cool. My favorite ride, other than the roller coaster.
🙂
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sooooo cool
That sure put a grin on my mug, thanks
Bumper cars…
Hmmmn.
The last time I saw a bumper car.
It was at circus circus in lv.
My sons driving.
The youngest one freaks out.
Turns around.
And starts going the opposite direction.
Clogs up the corner so nobody could get around.
You ever see an old bald man with his grandkids scream at a 8 year old in a bumper car…?
In Vegas…?
That’s not even counting the puke they had to clean up before the next ride.
all that’s missing are the shriner hats.
Here they are:
https://twitter.com/HenryMakow/status/910656228719808512
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LOL…those little bast@rds are HEAVY! I had to help set them up after I set my ride up (yes, I worked a whole season as a carny back in ’98). I used to run the paratrooper (funnest ride to run there). I was supposed to run it no faster than a certain speed, but there was a button I could push to crank it up another notch or two.
That’s when I’d get the most pukers. 🙂
A carny barker! How fun. Once I had a crush on a carny barker. 1957, Gordon MacRae in Carousel as the barker Billy Bigelow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVcj6QrfMTQ
🙂
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🙂 Here’s my all-time favorite carnival barker, galen…
https://youtu.be/EcpTiqKkePY
for galen at 8:10 pm:
Roses.
🙂
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