Beautiful Autopia, April 1963
I have a pair of really nice Autopia photos for you today, from the Lou Perry archives, shared with us by Lou's daughter Sue B. They're from April, 1963.
A boy anxiously awaits his turn to drive one of the sporty little Mark V vehicles. I wonder if he is hoping for a particular color? The deep coral pink vehicle next to the turquoise car look pretty great together, I'd be happy with either one. I was thinking that it was all-boys in this pic, but a girl in pink pants is standing behind her dad to the right. I hope he let her drive.
Those are some impressive clouds in the sky! But Disneyland has bright sunshine - I'll bet there was a cool breeze that day too. I love the look of all those Autopia cars - they have so many, can't they give me just one?
THANKS to Lou and Sue!
31 comments:
Major-
What lovely photos-!
[And as long as we're on the subject] who needs a center rail-??!! In that second image, we can see the black/white-striped R-R crossing gate raised in the background. Also of note, just to the right of the yellow Autopia vehicle at the base of the light pole, is an outdoor-rated switch cover. I'm going to assume it controls that single PAR lamp appended to the right-side of the double luminaire.
Thanks to Lou & Sue.
Lou pic #1- I think the Monorail gliding by makes this image much more than your average Autopia pic. I bet Lou waited for it to come into view before snapping the picture. That's what I would've done as well.
Lou pic #2- It must have been chilly that day in April; the lady in the yellow car is wearing a coat with a fur collar.
Major, Disneyland is (or was) the Magic Kingdom, the sun always shines and it never rains.
Thank you, Lou, Sue, and Major.
These are nice!! The color is so great! Lou definitely knows what he’s doing ! I think after the Mark 7 AUTOPIA style , these are my next favorite ..... I know , I know .....they very mega heavy .... but all cars were then!
Notice in these images the none of the hoods appear to have any of the “Disneyland” script plate on the hoods like we saw some examples off in previous posts.... and there are no attachment bolt holes either ....
I love days like this at Disneyland .... cool , high dramatic clouds but no heavy rains ... just some light scattered showers ...
“WELCOME TO THE MAGIC KINDOM OF DISNEYLAND! WE’RE SORRY THAT THE WEATHER ISN’T A BIT MORE PLEASANT, BUT ALL SHOWS RIDES AND ATTRACTIONS THAT CAN OPERATE SAFELY WILL REMAIN OPEN FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT. BUT WHATEVER THE WEATHER THERE IS STILL LOTS FOR YOU TO SEE AND DO! THE WEATHERMAN HAS A SAYING ; INTO EVERY LIFE A LITTLE RAIN MUST FALL ..... AND IT LOOKS LIKE TODAY IS OUR DAY, BUT STILL WE SAY WELCOME TO THIS HAPPY PLACE CALLED DISNEYLAND!!”
-1980’s Ticket Book Plaza Inclement Weather Jack Wagoner Spiel
Mike, I can hear that announcement playing outside the front gate, as if it were only yesterday. And I can remember being so excited to be at the park, even on those drizzly days.
It looks like it had already rained that day, because there are a couple puddles alongside the fencing, in that second pic.
Thank you Lou, Sue, and the Major, too!
Just the way to start the day. Wonderful Lou's photos. Or Lou's wonderful photos, take your pick.
TM, definitely rained that day, water in the first photo too. A little rain and a bright mid-day and afternoon. Doesn't get much better at the park. Brings back memories of days like that from that time period but they float around and I can't pin them down to any particular trip during the 60s.
Any color will do, but I leaned towards green and turquoise. In the second pic, there's that brown car behind Nanook's outdoor rated switch cover. It took me a few seconds to identify that thing hanging down over the trunk. Accelerated decrepitude in action.
Now if we're talking a Carousel ride, I used to get really picky. Still would if given the chance for a spin.
Many thanks, Lou, Sue and Mr. Major.
Nanook, I’ve always kind of wondered about that center rail; it certainly wouldn’t have kept cars from rear-ending one another. Maybe kids used just trash the cars by smashing into those curbs? Or they smashed into the cast members!
JB, Yes, that first one is especially nice, and I agree, having that Monorail right there increases the greatness by 27%. Lou was pretty good about dating his slides, so if Sue says that they are from April, I can only assume that is accurate. It can be chilly in April, believe it or not!
Mike Cozart, yes, I realize that the Mark V cars had all sorts of mechanical issues that Bob Gurr did not like, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t LOOK good. I’m not sure why some of the cars would have the “Disneyland” script while others didn’t. And I can tell Jack Wagner that one of the best times I ever had at the park was on a rainy day (admittedly the rain did stop -mostly- at around 1:00)!
TokyoMagic!, I’m sure I have that announcement somewhere on a hard drive or on my computer, there was a time when I avidly looked for any of those great vintage Disneyland tracks. Did they ever wash the Autopia track, the way they washed Main Street? I thought the puddles might come from that, but you’re probably right, it probably did rain.
DrGoat, there is something standing in a bright sunny area, surrounded by stormy skies (or vice-versa, too), it’s always dramatic and beautiful. I’m like you, I have smatterings of memories, but nothing that gels into one big adventure. You can’t go wrong with the green and turquoise cars!
Everyone: I will probably be away from my computer for the better part of the day (helping somebody move - so much fun), but I will check back in when I get home later!
Lou, Sue, Major, what beautiful pictures! Thank you!
I think these are the Fantasyland Autopia, the load direction is reversed? I don’t recall ever riding this side, we always seem to do the one under the Skyway. The landscaping is more open here too.
I love the vehicle colors and the “Roger Rabbit” headlights, you could almost expect to hear the cars talk.
I am glad they resisted the urge to put “Cars” IP in Autopia, and did a whole new ride instead, but I’m wondering if there will be an Autopia movie in the future.
See the red Santa Fe logos on the Monorail…
JG
Major-
"I’ve always kind of wondered about that center rail; it certainly wouldn’t have kept cars from rear-ending one another". Of course not, but to quote from "The 55ers - The Pioneers Who Settled Disneyland"...
"... guests frequently gave into the temptation to plow into the driver in front of them, possibly because the only other trackless miniature car rides they'd ever experienced were bumper cars...
"The cars weren't on tracks," Roger Garren said. "They had little curbs, about four inches high on each side and the six- and seven-year-olds didn't follow lines. They were jumping over onto curbs. We had to jump on cars (to redirect them). One guy broke his leg".
Disney intentionally designed the course a little over two car-widths wide, to allow the vehicles to pass each other. But often three cars would try to ride side by side by side. "Sometimes you'd get three cars wedged between the curbs," Jim George said. It was a bear getting them out - and you'd have to watch your fingers. (It was most-dangerous) at loading and unloading; the adults would pull away really fast, like they were going to mow you down... "Some drivers considered the lookouts stationed along the track to be moving targets. Little motorists, recalled Chuck Abbott, "liked to try and cream us!...
"The wider lanes also gave drivers room to swing U-turns and head in the wrong direction, or to go over the curbs and drive on the lawns...
"Disney constantly tweaked the ride -- adding flexible bumpers and softer steering wheels, using governors to cap the cars' speed at 11 miles per hour, and further reducing the maximum possible speed to 7 mph, before finally, in 1965, installing a center guiderail".
Wow... hearing about all the shenanigans going on at 'the highway of the future', it's hard to believe 'crazed' motorists were allowed to do so for about 10 years. Good times... except for those CM's who had to maintain law and order-! (A belated big round of 'thanks' for all that work, sans hazard pay-!)
According to Jason's Disneyland Almanac, there were eight days in April with recorded rainfall - although only Friday, April 26th recorded an entire half-an-inch. Only two of the remaining days had as much as .2" of rainfall; with the balance racking-up mere 100's of an inch.
To me, California weather is perfect—my memories are mainly from the spring and fall months, and I only recall one day of rain, over my 60 years of trips there (I’m sure my mind probably blanked out other days of rain). Can’t say the same about WDW...the cold, HEAVY, all-day winter and spring rains are awful, in Florida—I recall many of them. The daily summer rains are short, but the humidity is a whole ‘nother issue.
Thanks for sharing that spiel, Mike. I wouldn’t mind being there, hearing it now, rainfall and all.
Nanook, thanks for the quotes...I’m chuckling at the thought of 3 cars wedged together. I hope David W., KS, and the others—chime in with more crazy car stories.
Thanks, everyone, for the nice comments and fun info!
Lou and Sue.. My tenure on the Autopia was quite short...all of 3 months of part-time weekend work. It was enough of an experience to request a transfer back to Adventure/Frontierland for the very reasons of the noise of cars bashing into each other...the squeal of brakes, gasoline fumes, heat, let alone that little tricky maneuver of taking over the throttle of the vehicle as it came in to unload. Still, I have friends who loved it and have their stories to tell, like Chuck Abbot...whom we sadly lost just a couple years ago. One item sticks in my mind...overriding the governor on the car when we wanted a stubborn kid who was driving slowly or goofing off in the back area. We'd ask him if he wanted to go REALLY fast...what kid wouldn't?? So we stood on the back bumper, opening the rear 'hood' and manually pushed the restrictive plate away and would tell him to floor it! It got the car to unload quickly and was kinda of a thrill for us too. Of course, we'd jump off the car and the governor would kick-in before we could be seen by a supervisor...a bit beyond the bridge in the first pic. LOL KS
Great story, KS, thank you for sharing!
Now I’m wondering how fast you (any of the workers) would personally drive those cars around the track—when supervisors weren’t in view. ;o)
I'm thinking it was around 15 mph...it seemed plenty fast enough hanging on. The cars would sort of buck with the concrete segments. LOL! KS
Love all the Autopia stories! I’m starting to like it better. Life is better with shenanigans! The cars are cool, but I’m afraid I would have asked for my West side job back too. Fumes and noise and maniacs and heat. Not a fan of any of those. I’ve mentioned in a previous post that the Autopia employees were a bit tougher than the rest- I can see why you had to be! I can say in all my years hanging out at night Or the morning I never saw any power washers on the Autopia track. Perhaps they relied solely on Mother Nature…just like the 5 fwy! It seems a bit criminal that with all the iterations of Autopia cars that very very few exist. Maybe they are in some car graveyard underneath other squashed cars? It would be nice to go to the grocery store in one…just driving around like it was totally normal. I recently had a 1967 Country Squire Wagon…had to give it up. Wood siding- so cool. People would become unglued when they saw it- waving and honking…it was almost like being a celebrity. Driving around in an Autopia car- I think people would be pulling out their hair…
@ Bu-
"Driving around in an Autopia car - I think people would be pulling out their hair…" I would say at the very least-!
Several years ago I got rid of a storage unit I had in Fullerton ... it had my Rocket Jet and Autopia cars in it. All were relocated to San Diego to join my PeopleMover. I borrowed my brother-in-law’s truck to cart these things around . The Rocket Jet wasn’t really visible siting in the truck bed , but the Autopia bodies had to travel on end at angles ... the whole way to San Diego people honked their horns and waved and pointed at the bright colored Autopia’s .... they obviously recognized. At a gas station people cane over to talk about them ... all friendly and excited. Got many offers to sell them . The third Autopia I drove up in the same truck to an popular auction house .... my youngest niece cane with me for the drive .... this time the Autopia car had the whole truck bed to itself but it had to sit up high because of the removable 5th wheel hitch base ... and the same thing ; ... passers by in cars gave friendly honks and waves and smiled seeing what they obviously recognized. At intersection lights people would ask where it was going or if it was for sale. ( I should have sold it outright and saved the INSANE auction house seller premiums ) I was nervous it would be stollen or “Autopia jacked” outta the truck when I hit surface streets of LA , but it made it fine.
To quote my niece Haley at the time : “ Unel Mike, why do you have these things??” Lol!!
Several years ago I got rid of a storage unit I had in Fullerton ... it had my Rocket Jet and Autopia cars in it. All were relocated to San Diego to join my PeopleMover.
How cool(!) is that to read?! Mike, some of us are picking our jaws up off the floor.
Yup! At one time these things were affordable 15- 20 years ago. The big expense was the storage fees on the items! I owned a Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean boat too at one time..... it was an original ‘67 .... I wish I had kept it but it took up my whole garage then .... so she had to go since Tomorrowland was my real focus.
Beautopia!
I think I've mentioned my Grandma's passion for the color turquoise before - she would only agree to cosign my mother's first car loan if the got the turquoise Chevy instead of the powder blue one she wanted.
The posture of the boy with his back to the camera in the first picture speaks volumes. He can't wait to get out there on the highway to the danger zone!
I owned a Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean boat too at one time..... it was an original ‘67...
Mike, some of us are now picking our entire bodies up off the floor. Wow! PLEASE share details. How did you get it? How long did you have it? Do you have photos to share with us?
If only Mike had enough storage space to replicate the entire classic park...
JG, Lou does it again (with full credit to Sue of course)! Hmmm, now that you mention it, I do feel like I’ve seen photos of the load area with cars going from left to right. I’m not sure what to make of that. I always think that the “face” on these Mark V vehicles looks unpleasantly shocked, as it ate something unpleasant or heard something stunning. If they have resisted making the Autopia “Cars” themed so far, I think we are pretty safe - until the entire ride is removed (which I think is almost inevitable).
Nanook, it sounds like working the Autopia was pretty “exciting”! Nothing like risking life and/or limb for an amusement park ride. Imagine breaking your leg working the Autopia! Who would have ever imagined that seven-year-olds wouldn’t listen to directions? They are always so reasonable! I guess I was such a well-behaved kid that it would have never occurred to me to try to make my Autopia car jump the curb, and I certainly would not have tried to run an actual person down. Makes me wonder about a large segment of our population, it might explain some things.
Nanook, good detective work! I wonder if today’s photos were taken on Friday the 26th, or possibly Saturday the 27th? My vote goes to the 26th!
Lou and Sue, SoCal has good weather often, but it’s like any place, it can be “too hot” or “too windy” or “too smoggy” (does smog count as weather?). Admittedly rain is usually not something to worry about at Disneyland, but it CAN happen! I’m surprised that I don’t see more photos of WDW with those heavy rains, maybe I’m just not looking in the right places.
KS, I can totally understand why you would want to move back to a relatively calm position in Frontierland or Adventureland! The squeal of brakes alone sounds like torture. Wow, taking those vehicles for a spin without the governor sounds like a dream! It sounds like so much fun. I didn’t know that they could be disabled so easily!
Lou and Sue, yes, that was fun!
KS, considering how fast 15 mph feels on a bicycle, I can only imagine that it would feel very fast in those low-to-the-ground cars.
Bu, yes, cast member shenanigans are always great to hear about. I wonder about the people who enjoyed working the Autopia; maybe “gear heads” and car fiends just loved the smell and the sounds and the potential danger! I’m sure you’re right about the Autopia track never being power washed. Wow, I am jealous of your Country Squire wagon, I have grown to have a whole new appreciation for wonderful old station wagons. Funny that yours elicited so much excitement!
Nanook, I once went to a shop where a guy had a Mark VII Autopia shell (fiberglass), and he was turning it into an electric vehicle for somebody. He offered to let me come back and drive it around the lot, but even at the time I knew that it wasn’t going to happen.
Mike Cozart, just thinking about your collection of vehicles is astonishing! You were certainly very smart to see why they were so great.Did you acquire them all at cast member auctions? Was the bidding hot and heavy? You don’t see many Rocket Jets, I think I’ve only seen Richard Kraft’s example. What a thing to own! I love your stories of transporting the vehicles on the freeway, and how excited people got when they saw them! I would be excited too. “Is that… could it be?”. I wonder how much a random person on the street would have been willing to offer? I guess the thing about auctions is that you never know how high the price can go, it makes it hard to know what to do if somebody comes along first to make an offer.
Lou and Sue, don’t you have a bunch of Disneyland vehicles in storage? ;-)
Mike Cozart, amazing. Wow, a “Pirates” boat too! Those things are big!
Melissa, your grandmother had great taste! And who could be too upset about driving a turquoise car rather than a powder blue car? And at a certain age, there is nothing that sounds more fun than driving a car, even a little one.
Lou and Sue, those are good questions, I’d like to know too!
Chuck, AMEN.
All came directly from Disney . In fact I got the Autopia cars for 35% off on the last day of a Official Disneyanna Convention held at the Disneyland hotel - they have no engines or steering btw.... except one has steering now - no engine. They were about 150.00 EACH .... I would have bought more if I had the way to transport them and store them on a Sunday nite at 8pm!
PeopleMover, Rocket Jet , Rocket Jet Tower blast cone, came from Disney Auctioneers on EBAY between 2003 and 2004.
The Pirate boat was sold to a friend of mine via Disneyland property control ... then years later to me . I also had a Skyway gondola but sold it to help pay for the PeopleMover car .. all of vehicles I still have a platform underneath with swivel cart wheels so they can easily be moved. Except one the Autopia cars and of course the Rocket Jet Tower blast cone. I actually purchased the blast cone for parts as when I purchased the Rocket Jet some other people who purchased one had missing or broken nose cones .... and the exhaust tail is a nose cone facing in and not out. The blast tail cone is one of the three tail ends to the vertical Rocket Jet tower . It’s is an identical part as the end tails of the Rocket Jet vehicle with just shorter tail fins. Luckily my Rocket Jet has its nose and tail cones intact so I was able to keep the Rocket tower tail cone intact as well. People who don’t know what it is see it and think it’s a planter or some kind of industrial carpet cleaner!! Lol.
Mike, wow! And when is your museum opening?
How much did the POTC boat weigh?? Did you just have the ‘shell’ of it?
I remember you told us you had the opportunity to purchase the old Main Street Cinema marquee. Any other missed opportunities?
Thanks for taking the time to share so many details!
If I had a PotC boat, I would make it into a bed. Forget race cars!
Melissa, YES!
It was a complete boat ( except the spacing and slide wheels and hardware had been removed) Disney auctioned many of the later pirate boats .... I’ve never seen another 1967 one out there. Well for BIG things not really ... I had bid on Space Mountain Rocket sleds and WDW 1971 Toad cars and lost .... mainly because they came up for auction so close to the PeopleMover cars and I was afraid if I spend all my money on those items i couldn’t get a chance to get my “Holy Grail” .. a DL PeopleMover. There have been other big things from the parks I owned for awhile but let them go because of space and storage ... park benches , trashcans , hitching posts ... larger signs. Onetime a friend of mine and I had met a gentleman who had been a DL property control manager then transferred to Florida in the early 70’s ... we flew to Florida to WDW and tied in a visit with him ( he was long retired)we bought lots of amazing things ... and carried it back with us or arranged for freight back to California .... but we passed on some great things because figuring out how we would freight it and more importantly...where to store it.
Oh in the mid 90’s I was given the chance to purchase the removed tender body shell to the CK Holiday locomotive from the Disneyland Railroad .... it dated from the 80’s ( they have to be replaced all the tine because the water tanks inside the pretty part rot out. ) the charge was the scrap metal value : but I passed - reluctantly- because I had no place to store something like that - easily anyhow.
Also all of you are reading this and applying today’s INSANE prices on these things .... even 15-20 years ago these vehicles and large props were expensive yes, but not INSANE . The most money I ever paid for a vehicle was under 5k for the PeopleMover. Today it would sell for dozens of times that.
I can’t say it’s really an investment ... because it’s hard to let them go ... and when I do ... I end up buying more things ..With the funds .
Regarding the pirates boat - the under side hardware was removed - it still retained its safety bars , sets , aft bumpers and mooring ornament .
Mike... I probably loaded/unloaded that boat a few times! KS
With just a little bit of money they could swap out the internal combustion engines with an all electric system and remove the center rail to be replaced with sensors that auto-steer back to the middle when the car gets close to the side. At least it would bring Autopia up to today's standards.
Adding an in-car visual system and some futuristic items along the pathway could be an easy way to show future innovations... C'mon Disney!! :)
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