OT Now for something just a bit different(RoadKill OTW this should iterest you)

[greg g]

This was also at todays show, I will let you ponder for a bit then explain the origin and usage (according to the owner) One hint they were new in 1939 and available on a pay to drive basis.

[randroid]

Greg,

That's a bumper car. By the time I rode my first one in the '50s they were all electric and ran on an indoor "roadway". From the size of the bumpers their's no mistaken their use but I wonder if, with real wheels and a gas engine, there was a reason to make them a little bigger and with larger bumpers.

-Randy

[greg g]

not a bumper car (dodgem or scooter)

[randroid]

Greg,

I was sure I had that puppy nailed! Those bumpers had to be an integral component of their use but they're too short for herding cattle and probably even sheep, so they were used to herd the vast bands of Chihuahuas across the planes and out of the fjords of the Sonoran desert. That's why Chihuahuas always look sad; they're pining for the fjords. Pretty smart, huh?

-Randy

[greg g]

have you had your literary license renewed lately or are you opining while suspended????

Not that the bumpers weren't on purpose, but intentional bshing was not their primary purpose.

[Big_John]

I remember seeing similar, although later model (50's) cars at an amusement park in Lake George. They drove around a track that had rails the same height as the bumpers. Kids drove them, but the bumpers kept the cars on course.

[greg g]

in the zip code, John.

[randroid]

Greg,

You named this thread after a line from Python so I felt it only fitting that I respond in kind. Were you not amused by my driveling doggerel? How would you have worked that line in? Anybody? Can we see a show of hands?

-Randy

[oldodge41]

Amusement Park go-cart racer?

[greg g]

This needs to go to the argument ministry does it not????

[randroid]

Greg,

I can think of several places this could be put and I think "Bed" would be the wisest. Good night, sweet thread, may you never again be seen walking.

-Randy

[greg g]

Walk this way???

[LAKOTA169]

If I could walk that way, I wouldn't need the talcum powder.

[BobT-47P15]

Driver's Ed cars for elementary school children.

[Plymouthy Adams]

special car used to go to the do-nut shop..pevents door ding from careless cops with glazed over eyes..

[JoelOkie]

Greg, does it have something to do with the 1939 World's Fair? Looks like those brackets are guides, and they are made to follow, or go along something, more so than to "bump". Joel

Edited August 14, 2011 by JoelOkie
spelling

[Don Coatney]

Was this treasure once on an island?

[greg g]

The Speed King Auto Racers were indeed featured on the midway of the 1939 World fai in NYC. They were built by R E Chambers Co in Beaver Falls, Pa. The company was know for building rides for carnivals and ammusment parks. they were gas powered, and governored to a top speed of about 18 MPH. They were gas powered. 5 or 6 are still known to exist.

The amusment attraction had about 15 of these running on a board track featuring 80 foot turns and 200 foot straights. The Chambers factory burned down in 62 taking their production records out, but it was speculated that about 75 of these cars were made and tracks were built for them at several ammusment parks, It states the last running ones were at Kennywood out side Pittsburg.

The owner told me he has repowered his with Briggs and Stratten 2 cylinder engine with a snowmobile type clutch and independent brakes. There is some controversy as to what the original powerplants were. There is some indication that they were originally powered by a 2cylinder motorcycle engines. Some were found with engines from Cushman scooter, but the serial numbers fom those engines come back to 47 and 48 vintage so obviously not the original power plants. He says the 24 hp B and S gives him speeds up to 50 MPH. The orange and blue colors were the colors of the fair and NYC.

There is also some indication that when the fair ended its run that the complete set up was sold to an amusment park in Upstate NY. The grills and some sheet metal were supplied from parts stock by the American Bantam plant in Butler, Pa.

Look at the 2:39 mark of this video to see them in action.

[randroid]

Greg,

I still think they look like bumper cars.

-Randy

[Don Coatney]

The picture I posted was from the 1939 Treasure Island Expo in San Francisco. Interesting that this SF expo also had a huge cash register same as NY. Also notice in the picture the ball of death to the right.

[oldodge41]

Kennywood still has this attraction but says they are electric powered. Check out this Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kennywood_Auto_Race_DSCN2817.JPG

[oldodge41]

Here is Kennywood's current attraction site. These are listed under classic rides.

http://www.kennywood.com/site/attractions.html