Where Did Old Bumper Cars Go?

The ones in amusement parks back in the 20s thru to the 50s ran on electricity. They had a pole on the back going to a metal electrically charged overhead plate. Do you remember driving bumper cars at amusement parks or fair rides?

They were so much fun, and they are back! These little beasties are street legal.

They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines and transform vintage bumper car bodies into the most awesome form of mini-car we’ve seen in far 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 on the outskirts of San Diego who figured that the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap.

Tom originally built these bumper street machines with two cylinder Harley Davidson Motorcycle engines. They rattled like heck because of the two cylinder vibration, so Tom replaced them with four cylinder Honda or Kawasaki 750 power plants. A couple of these have been measured to a top speed of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase.

By the way, they are almost indestructible in accidents! They remain bumper cars, then, in essense.

See http://www.coolthings.com/tom-wrights-street-legal-bumper-cars/ for more information and, yes, Tom sells the more traditional version of these things! See http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/tom-wright-bumper-cars-for-sale.html

Thanks to Mel Perry for sharing.