Antique Cars - Phasing Out ?

With Busch Gardens Williamsburg removing its Le Mans Raceway, I am sad.

Could it be that the timeless Antique Cars family ride is phasing out of amusement parks? I never thought it would be possible, but maybe it's a sign of the times.

Every time my family would go to amusement parks, it was difficult at times. My Dad and I loved the coasters, my Mom liked them, and my sister was deathly (still is) afraid of them.

However, we all loved the antique cars! It was a ride that crossed all barriers. No matter what you liked or didn't inside an amusement park, there was always the antique cars, and it was what everyone enjoyed. It was one of the rides we all four could go on and enjoy together. It's more fun than just sitting in a gondola on a wheel too.

It would be extraordinarily sad if these were going away.

- J

There aren't any ride manufacturers that I know of that even offer an Antique Car ride at this point, so I would say the answer is yes. The older these rides get, the more cranky they'll get and the more need there will be for new spare parts. Without a manufacturer out there, the cost of custom parts is going to probably cause the downfall of these rides once they exceed their benefit/cost ratio that any park is comfortable with.

If you're a fan, start a company to make new ones! (and make Tumble Bugs and Kangaroos while you're at it ...)

Is it official that Le Mans is being removed? (haven't been following the news that much but I thought it was still speculation).

I hate to say it but it does seem like antique car rides are not in as many parks. It's dissapointing because antique car rides are 1 ride in a park that almost anyone can ride and it's a great family ride. They are always popular too. At a past trip to Dorney, Talon and Hydra and Steel Force were walk ons and the car ride had almost a half hour wait. Same with Hershey, at Springtime in the Park, both tracks had full queues. And of course the Speedway at WDW is always crowded and usually has at least a half hour line even with 4 tracks.

Compounce is adding an attraction for next year, and many, many parks still have versions of this that are very popular.

I think the ones currently in existance will stick around for the most part.

I mean, who else has removed theirs? BGE and PKI, right? That's just two recent parks I think. *** Edited 6/30/2006 10:11:19 PM UTC by matt.***

I read somewhere that July 5th is the last day for LeMans.

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Impulse-ive said:
There aren't any ride manufacturers that I know of that even offer an Antique Car ride at this point, so I would say the answer is yes.

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Chance Morgan still offers replica Antique Cars, though they are electric powered, compared to the old gas-powered 60s/70s Arrow ones that most parks have.

*** Edited 6/30/2006 11:02:32 PM UTC by Dukeis#1***

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matt. said:

I mean, who else has removed theirs? BGE and PKI, right? That's just two recent parks I think. *** Edited 6/30/2006 10:11:19 PM UTC by matt.***

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Yeah, but parks aren't putting them in ...

I thought Great Adventure definitely had one, but they don't. I could envision a great layout for an Antique Car ride at Great Adventure. It's such a shame. There's that picnic area which isn't really used, lovely trees and shade, could be the perfect spot.

You know, if Great Adventure contracted me as a consultant, I'd get them set with a beauty!

And it's true that this ride draws people, really does. But something like a Parachute Drop ride or a Space Shuttle ride? They don't really draw.

But Antique Car rides - you and a buddy get in one, your couple other friends get in the next one, and you can laugh and taunt each other, putter along, have some nice landscaping, a few little bridges, everyone loves this ride. This is a ride that really brings people together!!

NOTE TO MARK SHAPIRO - You want family attractions, get an Antique Car ride!! Antique Cars is the ULTIMATE family attraction!!!!! It just brings everyone together, really does.

- J *** Edited 6/30/2006 11:11:21 PM UTC by ErinGoBraugh***

Chance Morgan still offers replica Antique Cars, though they are electric powered, compared to the old gas-powered 60s/70s Arrow ones that most parks have.

*** Edited 6/30/2006 11:02:32 PM UTC by Dukeis#1***

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I miss the smell of the petrol burning in these cars, the grease, really is reminiscent. Electric just isn't the same, and I bet the electric don't putter and jitter like the originals.

Who made the originals? Who do I have to write to and tell them to get back to it? ;-)

- J

Well honestly, the operating cost of such a ride is not set in stone. Electric rates rise and fall but in most cases these rides were installed when fuel prices were under a dollar a gallon. Tire price, oil price and fuel have all risen not to mention it's a highly staffed ride at many big parks.

Chuck, who seen the electric version at MIA and Dollywood but MIA by the end of the day only had two of the 12 cars they started with running.

In American culture the first great step into adulthood is the driver's license. Ever meet a little kid who didn't want to be behind the wheel?

If not antique autos, the parks need to have some sort of ride to fill the need.

http://www.gouldmanufacturing.com/

Gould Manufacturing makes antique car rides. They just installed one at Lakemont Park.

X Factor

Auto Races for all parks! Put the hills in em too!

Chuck

Ok, so Lakemont recently added some, and Compounce is next year. We've lost PKI's and BGE's.

Sounds like we're roughly even here, guys.

You guys don't think we're at the end of the golden age of roller coasters, too, do you?

Besides fuel costs, I can't see this type of attraction being phased out.

Aren't the engines in these cars equivalent to say a lawn mower? How hard is it to maintain a small scale engine? I can't see this having hard to aquire parts even if manufacturers stopped making them.

When it comes down to it, it's just the cars themselves that need the bulk maintenance. The rest of the ride is a concrete slab with a rail in the middle.

A while back when the Busch Gardens rumors started flying, I read that the park was planning on keeping the Le Mans cars in storage for a possible relocation in a future expansion. Anyone know if that is the case?

*** Edited 7/1/2006 4:19:56 AM UTC by Dukeis#1***

The Morgan electric cars are crap. They break down frequently and have constant maintenance issues. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I've heard from people who have worked with them that they're nothing but a headache.

Chance was offering the more classic antique car ride up until a few years ago, but it appears as though they're now only offering the Morgan electric cars. Hopefully they've improved their product to compensate.

-Nate

KW has two such rides (one of them a one-of-a-kind ride). The Auto Race is likely to stay where it is since it is a classic but I could see the Turnpike being torn out in the future to open up access to an expansion area south of the existing park. Hopefully if this happens, the roadway for it will be rebuilt elsewhere in the park, possibly in the expansion area.

The only thing I feel bad about currently is that the old kiddie Cadillac ride is now gone. That definitely takes away some of the classic character from the Kiddieland just as happened years ago when the swan boats were removed.

As for Arrow gas-powered cars, West View and Idora both had them back before the parks became defunct.

The Antique cars at GL usually has the longest line in the park. I can't see them getting rid of it.

When i was a kid, i loved antique/turnpike rides. Euclid beach had an awesone set-up.

When my kids got tall enough, geauga lakes cars were like the stepping stone to them going on the go carts.

I've often wondered about the maintenance on those. Sure, they're small gas engines, but the parks that have them, have a lot of them. I wonder how much gas they use.

http://www.gouldmanufacturing.com/ says that each car uses about 6 gallons a day.

I remember that HP had such a ride even back in the days when they were a traditional park.

Disneyland is the park that really started major interest in such rides. They put this into the original Tomorrowland section. Later they doubled the number of lanes to increase capacity. Back in the old A, B, C, D, E ticket days, it was a "C" ticket ride. *** Edited 7/1/2006 6:05:09 PM UTC by Arthur Bahl***