A bumper car? Yes, but way much more. The 1953 Lusse Auto Skooter was a peek into our automotive future. Elon Musk still hasn’t come up with a fun, two seat electric car with unlimited range. The car not only survives crashes, it encourages them. These had 5 MPH bumpers long before anyone else. And just look at that kids face; I think we may have a future car guy here.
I’ve got a bloody nose in one of those. I was to little for the strap to hold me in the seat and there were no air bags either! But as a true car guy I finished my round while holding a tissue under my nose.
I lost my front baby teeth on the steering wheel of one. Blood everywhere! I cried and cried and when my father announced that we’d go home I cried even louder. Corn on the cob was off the menu that summer.
Circa 1971-Saskatoon “Pioneera”, a 10th rate pass-thru carnival…
Picture this exact unit, except 20 years old with faded paint,
I’m in my dads lap steering, power goes out , he puts his feet out to try and move it of the jam-up, power goes on, other unit smashes his foot,
trip to Emergency, Mom has to drive, hates driving the Galaxie,(too big for her prefers her Mustang)
No joy that day
I remember slipping and sliding on that floor and the smell of the ozone. Points were scored for rear ending as many as possible.
Perhaps one of the most robust cars ever built. Wrecked daily by countless drivers for years on end and still going strong – who else has ever built such a car?
It’s been several years since I’ve seen or been in one of these, but they always seem to have a 1950ish Chrysler vibe to them.
They always reminded me of ’46-’48 Chryslers, maybe a warm up for the Imperials outlawed in destruction derby’s
Bumper cars! This is what I’ve missed all summer. Never too old! There’s still some summer left – I may have to hit Six Flags Great America…
Fastest dodge-em Ever:
https://youtu.be/fGr0oifJMEI
If we were to put overhead catenary on our highways, we’d have unlimited range.
So, that’s where Beck Taxi got their livery colours!
You guys are a riot! Thanks for the histories. My brother and I enjoyed bumper cars st Rye Playland in Rye, New York on The Long Island Sound. We loved that ride!
With the huge pad on the steering wheel, these always reminded me of a Mercedes in the 60s.
Many hours and quarters spent on/in these 50 years ago ……
-Nate
GREAT stories today, everyone!
I’ll dig up a couple ads–here’s what the 1949 product looked like (I can’t find a 1953 ad):
And as any good car ad, It shows a swell looking doll enjoying it!?
I see production was halted during WWII for war work (1943 ad here). A 1946 writeup says that they’re trying to quickly fill orders, but that “rubber and motors” are the toughest things to get:
It’s apparently a thing to convert these to 12v and run them untethered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbbKIi89wb0
Also, someone’s still supplying replacement parts and such:
http://www.lusseautoscooters.com
A 12V Lusse is the perfect city car. Imagine parallel parking one of these!
Brilliant choice for a CC. Where is this one?
There’s a fine history of the Lusse bumper cars at the Lusse Bumper Cars site. Scroll down a bit to “A Short History of Bumper Cars”, originally written in 1977 by Automobile Magazine.
Lusse was quite innovative. “Ray Lusse understood that not only did people want to bang into one another, they wanted to choose who it was they collided with.” “Given the youth and inexperience of many of the operators, the car had to be able to be backed out of a crash by simply continuing to turn the steering wheel.” Their mechanically clever solution, patented in 1928, is described in good detail in the article. Ray Lusse prospered for the rest of his life.
We visited Seaside, Oregon, recently and they still have their bumper cars. Looks like they’re Lusse’s.
This was also shot in Seaside Oregon. The bumper car business was brisk the day I was there.
I rode in these a few times as a kid, but I wasn’t really into it. I remember that one bumper-car track had signs saying “Head-on collisions not allowed,” or words to that effect. I assume experience had taught the operators that some people would try to have head-on collisions.
When will we see a rinkside classic on the Zamboni?
These were the bumper cars used in Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh back in the day. One of my favorite rides. Kennywood is still in operation and is a historic landmark.
My strategy was NOT to collide with anyone, stay to the outside of the track, and see how many laps I could complete. Of course, it was impossible to avoid all collisions.
Here in Santa Cruz our Beach and Boardwalk amusement park uses Saab 900’s. Perhaps more appropriate for a liberal California college town.
I have a fondness for all bumper cars, such fun, but especially those of my own youth. In Germany at the time (70’s) there was one common style whose front end strongly resembled a BMW 2002 and another that was a riff on the Saab 99. The BMW was obvious to me as a child, the Saab took a few more years to realize the relationship. Our euro contingent may remember these same ones as well.
Absolutely couldn’t get enough of bumper cars as a kid and then some. And these were always my favorites.
Back about the dawn of the universe, when so many Michigan towns had amusement parks, I ended up at Walled Lake (a bit north of Novi) a lot. I broke the bumper car ride at Walled Lake one evening.
The sheet metal sheathing on the ceiling was held in place with roofing nails. Over the years, some of the nails had started to back out of the sheathing. Meanwhile, wear on the brush on the top of the car’s pole would manifest itself as a hole in the middle of the brush, which was a solid metal strip. That evening, in a million to one shot, The brush on my car ran over a loose nail just right and the brush snagged on the nail. The brush popped off the pole of my car just as I was zeroing in on a hapless target and I went dead in the water.
The operator saw what happened and killed the power. He was tall enough that he could jump up, grab the brush and yank it free of the nail. He plugged the brush back into my car, switched the power back on and the carnage resumed.
All the parks I used to haunt, Silver Beach, Walled Lake, Edgewater and Boblo are long gone now, but I remember the night I broke the bumper car like it was yesterday.
A nice if sad photo Steve .
-Nate
Bob-Lo, and Edgewater for sure, but I don’t think I ever got out to Walled Lake (I was limited to where either my parents, or my older brother would take me).
Living just off 7-Mile, 3 blocks west of Evergreen, Edgewater was quite literally, right up the street. And my Mother, as a hostess at Stouffer’s Downtown, got to know several of the advertising execs working nearby, and one of them kept me in Bob-Lo annual passes from 1965 to 1975.
The Dodge-em cars were without a doubt my favorite ride, usually 2-3 rounds per visit.
Bob-Lo, and Edgewater for sure, but I don’t think I ever got out to Walled Lake (I was limited to where either my parents, or my older brother would take me).
We were in Dearborn, close to Michigan Ave. Don’t know why, but when amusement park came up, it was Walled Lake way more than Edgewater. One thing I seem to remember was Edgewater’s Scrambler had a wimpy electric motor. Walled Lake’s Scrambler was driven by a gas engine and that thing would really crank up. Edgewater had a shooting gallery tho. We must have been going to Walled Lake to the bitter end in 68. The dance hall burned down in 65 and the park was sold to the people who owned Edgewater. I distinctly remember going to Walled Lake after they instituted Edgewater’s “pay one price” scheme, where you pay a flat rate to get in then ride yourself silly without paying for each ride.
… one of them kept me in Bob-Lo annual passes from 1965 to 1975.
You lucky dog! For the non-Detroit people: Bob-Lo is an island in the Detroit River, several miles downstream from Detroit. You got to Bob-Lo by riding two ancient excursion steamers. Being a geek, I figured the real E-ticket ride of the day was the steamers getting to and from the park. One of the steamers had a big opening in the deck at the passenger level, so I could look down into the engine room and watch that big triple expansion engine working.
“We were in Dearborn, close to Michigan Ave. Don’t know why, but when amusement park came up, it was Walled Lake way more than Edgewater.”
We were up the road in Dearborn Heights, just east of Telegraph. Edgewater was the default, right up the road. I’m pretty sure I hitch-hiked there more than once. But boy do I remember the Boblo boats.
Bumper cars were a rare occasion in 60s Israel for me, there were very few places that had the set-up and none in my small home town.
Likewise, and many years before I could (legally) drive a car, I remember discovering the joy and magic of J – turns (reverse to forward) in bumper cars. Flat out backwards, then a quick twist of the wheel would send the little steel wheels skittering across the steel floor, and the front whipping round, for extra momentum, to hit your chosen target.
…. Usually managed a couple, before being ordered off the pitch .
Did a couple rounds with my nephews at the county fair last week. Not sure what kind of bumper cars these were, but they had right hand drive.
Fabulous Sunday morning read. Even learned things about bumper cars. And all the fun comments. Thank you.