Friday, August 15, 2014

Beautiful Autopia, 1960's

Today, I am happy to present two especially nice Autopia beauties for you.

Just look at the color on this one, wow! The Autopia cars, the Skyway buckets, and even the playful Skyway marquee look so great on this sunny day with the brilliant blue sky. This might be my favorite image from the last few months. Yessirreebob.


Down below, one lad is excited as hell to be driving his fabulous aqua vehicle. From the look on his face, he can't wait to start ramming the car in front of him! 


12 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Oh man-! My eyes are starting to pulse from being under the influence of all these incredible colors.

And as for the lad (read: speed demon) in the second picture, I'd be more concerned about the fella to his rear - he looks sinister-!

Thanks, Major for the cornucopia of colors.

Nancy said...

just beautiful!!

Happy Friday, everyone! :-)

K. Martinez said...

What I find interesting is that the holding area (island) is full of Autopia vehicles with guests in them. How did guests get in that area? Did they risk getting ran over by crossing the active track to get to or from those vehicles? Are they about to be released onto the Autopia track or have they been rounded up and removed from circulation?

K. Martinez said...

I love the Autopia structure with the blue and white awning. As for the Skyway sign, I've seen footage in which the sign rotated along with the doodads. Very kinetic. Sort of an early Tower of the Four Winds.

Happy Friday to you too, Nancy.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

I concur the color in photo number 1 is really eyecatching. I never realized how open the early skyway station was. The people to the left look as though they are hovering in mid air waiting to board a bucket.

Melissa said...

From this angle, the Skyway and Space Bar signs balance each other out so perfectly! It really as a golden age of theme park design.

And I love the picture of young Drew Carey in his first car.

Nanook said...

Oddly-enough the color - although quite stunning - does have a "cool" color temperature to it - perhaps adding to the 'look', as it provides a very realistic palette without pushing it too far in the 'warmer', saturated direction, more akin to the ole look of Technicolor/Kodachrome.

Melissa said...

OK, the more I look at these two shots, the more nostalgic I get. Can you stand a little personal rambling?

My Grandma, whose ghost often appears here at GDB, was a passionate lover of the color turquoise. Her kitchen was a sea of white and turquoise, Her favorite driving babushka was a lovely shade of aquamarine, and when they first came out with telephones what weren’t plain black, she made the man from the phone company get in his truck and drive all the way back to headquarters in the county seat to get her a turquoise wall phone (which she had until the day she died). Although her own cars were usually candy-apple red convertibles, when she agreed to co-sign the loan for my mother’s first good used car, it was only on the firm condition that Mom get the turquoise one instead of the baby-blue one she really wanted. So, Grandma may not be in this particular picture, but Little Boy Buzzcut seems to be a kindred spirit.


This one's actually theme-park related. I grew up practically next door to Darien Lake, and we went at least once a summer, not including school trips. They have a ride called Tin Lizzy's, which is a clone of the Autopia but with old-timey cars like Model A's and T's. You could get an on-ride photo in a little keychain like this one, where you peek in one end and see your picture in the other. Kind of like a View-Master without the 3-D binocular effect. I waited forever at the booth to pick mine up, even though I was sure I wouldn't buy it because of my terrible teenage body image. Well, surprise, surprise - something about the angle or the lighting or whatever was just right, and I looked like freaking hot stuff. (I don't mind saying that, because I know it was just the picture and not really me!) Even the ragged old sweatshirt I had pulled out of Dad's castoffs was hanging just right so I looked like a million bucks. I asked if I could buy more than one, but they said they couldn't make copies. I had that thing on my keychain for more than a decade, so every time I needed a little pick-me-up I could take a peek at That One Day I Didn't Look Like Crap. I tried to take it apart to get the little picture out in the hopes I could get it blown up for the family album, but I couldn't do it without breaking the case. I hope the kid in the turquoise car got as much pleasure out of his picture as I did out of mine.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, yes, he looks sinister too!

Nancy, happy Friday to you too.

K. Martinez, it's hard to tell, it looks to me like the cars furthest from the walkway that guests would use don't have people in them. Or am I looking in the wrong place? That Skyway sign has a very Rolly Crump vibe to it, though I believe it pre-dates Rolly's involvement with Imagineering by some years.

Alonzo, they are SO darn excited, that they ARE hovering!

Melissa, yes, those signs are simple, but fun and elegant. Speaking of Drew Carey, he sat right next to me when I was eating at the Hard Rock Hotel. I tried to play it cool!

Nanook, it almost looks as if a cool filter was used, though I'm sure it was just the film stock that looked blueish - but it sure accentuated the reds and yellows too.

Melissa again, it's like your Grandma visits GDB every once in a while. Hi Grandma! I love turquoise, who doesn't? It's an awesome color. My Grandma's kitchen was white and turquoise (one bathroom was yellow, one was pink). I am surprised that your G'ma would be so particular as to insist on turquoise vs. baby blue - yes, they're different, but not THAT different. I wonder if the Tin Lizzies at Darien Lake were made by Arrow Development? As for those keychains, I want one! Disneyland should have had those. I wish we could see your example, but I guess that wouldn't be possible.

Melissa said...

I just asked Dr. Wikipedia,and he says that the Darien Lake Tin Lizzies were indeed made by Arrow.

K. Martinez said...

Major - It's in the first pic. Those guests in the Autopia cars are in the area where cars are stored separate from the circuit.

Alex Blasingame said...

I see those round skyway buckets and think, " This mus be before 1965!" I've read way too much Davelandblog. Great pics.