In a way, the thought of vintage bumper cars sort of brings back painful memories from my childhood, as operators often called me out for crashing them too aggressively as a youngster in the seventies on the Dodgem ride at Fair Park in Nashville, and later on the Country Bumpkin Bumper Cars at Opryland. I still recall being fascinated watching the sparks fly where the metal conducting rods hit the electric ceiling, although I always thought they’d be more realistic if each individual car had its own gas-powered engine. If you feel the same, you’re in luck, as this vintage Lusse unit here on Facebook Marketplace has been converted into petrol power. Located in Massillon, Ohio, you can get behind the wheel of this one for just $1,650, and we’d like to acknowledge reader JDC for sending in such a fun tip here!
If a builder is intent on modifying a bumper car, choosing a good one to start with is imperative. That certainly appears to be the case here, as many amusement ride enthusiasts hail the Lusse Auto Skooters as among the finest ever made, with some fans noting their ability to turn harder and go faster on the rink than competitors. Although the older Lusse-brand offerings have a more vintage automobile shape than this one, it still has the classic bumper-car vibe, with the seller reporting that the body is in good condition. The red finish shows a bit of fading, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s still the original paint or molded color.
With the pole removed and no overhead system to provide electricity, this one now runs on a Briggs & Stratton gasoline engine, and the 7 HP rating sounds like plenty to get it moving capably. My biggest concern here is the mounting location, as it’s between the steering column and very near the seat, which could present a few potential safety issues. However, the padding has been retained on the steering wheel, so at least some parts of your body will be protected if there’s an accident.
Unfortunately, this one is said to have been inoperative and sitting for a number of years, so it is not currently running. The seller mentions that the engine seems to turn freely when the cord is pulled, so perhaps with some fuel-system work, that can be remedied without a complete rebuild. Though this creation may have a somewhat limited buying audience, I can appreciate the mods and craftsmanship displayed here, and it seems like a fun automobilia or amusement park novelty for a reasonable price. Any thoughts to share on this Lusse bumper car?
Cool, but not only the engine location, but it looks like not much floor to put your feet.
These on a larger scale would be ideal for modern traffic.
This is great, but we need two for all the fun.
Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg, Pa still has some of the older model ones that have a front end like an early 50’s Cadillac. They were my favorite and I always tried to grab one of them when I rode the bumper cars. I’ve also seen pictures online of these made legal for street use. So I guess there is an a** for every seat.
definitely a few safety concerns but it does have a 5 mph rated bumper.
I’m not a tree hugger…thinking $1,000 and go electric from a junk ezgo golf cart
Sometimes it’s fun when you find something that goes bump in the night..
Certain body parts may be protected, but certain other more valuable body parts aren’t. Where are you even going to actually sit in the thing?
Ha! The Dodgem bumper cars. It was the earliest form of stress relief for kids. Teacher bugging you, parents? Take it out on the bumper cars. Well worth the nickel. Like go-karts, you had to watch which ones were the duds, and avoid them. It was a sprint to the “good” ones. I usually got the one that didn’t go when you hit the pedal. Then, of course, it was your duty to attack the kid with the dud. It subliminally provided a foundation for driving later on in life,,,for some. It’s funny, bumper cars have been around almost as long as regular cars. It provided relief from road rage early on, and still one of the most popular rides to this day. I’ve never seen a gas powered one, always electric. This just looks dangerous, and I’d figure a way to “Jimmy” the governor,,,:D
You’d have “Briggs and Stratton” seared onto your calves, after around 3 minutes of driving this thing. Unless your wore your asbestos chaps.
Now THAT’S a tattoo for a gearhead!!!
None of the Teutonic “Porsche” script, “Honda” Japanese characters or “Ferrari” written in Latin!
A proud bold lawn mower motor company seared into your skin-THAT’S a tattoo!
Driving our new electric Volvos in the 1 pedal mode my mind goes back to bumper cars at Myers’s Lake which was just outside Massillon, Ohio. I tell our customers 1 pedal mode feels like an amusement park bumper car !
Stick an RD350 engine in it and go head hunting…OK well, better then an LS swap which I’m surprised no ones mentioned yet!
I’d love to add this to the collection, but Ohio is a long way from South Carolina, and I’m too darned old to drive aimlessly up north!
There was a tiny amusement park in Scotch Plains NJ that was on route 22 west, they closed in 2018 and sold the land to developers for an insane price.
They were GIVING AWAY all the bumper cars and flying rockets and stuff.
I was a road technician for the Raymomd forklift company and none of them would fit in my service van.
The owner said that they would be gone by the time I got to steal the flatbed truck after hours to pick the whole bunch up.
Alas he was right.
Totally skunked out 😐😵
In memery of Jerry Lee Lewis ” GOODNESS GRAYCOS GREAT BALLS OF FIRE”
At the Pike, in Long Beach, CA, we never got to complete a full ride on these. The operator, would kick us out after the first deliberate head-on crash! What fun.
Yee-haw! Safety? When you have an opportunity to run this? I’d look like a monkey riding a football, but what the heck. Let’s see, we need a heat shield/scatter shield…what else?
Here’s a “toy” that is car-adjacent. At least we won’t hear from the “stop featuring non-car stuff” complainers.
Hopefully.
This thing is cool! I used to have this back roads commute to work and when I went a certain way, someone had 2 old bumper cars as yard art. That also was very cool to me.
I would have installed a moden electric motor in the original location and a bank of lithium batteries under the seat. I would have left the pole too… at the top of the pole is a flat piece of metal that made contact the with the celing.
I would devise something that should shoot SPARKS upon demand!
(Ps: my design would retain the original 360 degree steering.do you . remember how we reversed bumper cars?? We turned the steering wheel 180 degrees!
REMEMBER…
YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD TO HAVE A HAPPY CHILDHOOD!
Part of the fun were the sparks from the overhead contact and that faint whiff of ozone.
Thanks Paolo!
I think definitely that there would be room in my design for an OZONE GENERATOR or an OZONE TANK!!. Great Idea.
Maybe some realistic blood splatter graphics on the exterior
How about a lhidden loudspeaker with a loop recording of the whirrr of the motor and some bumper car collisions. … maybe some screams!
WEEEEEEEEEEE!
cool but i see some burned legs here
Just get a go cart and have real fun.
I think a smaller engine should’ve been mounted on the back and connected to an alternator or generator, that way the original steering would not need to be changed. I was chief electrician at Williams Grove amusement park and I serviced all of their bumper cars. They were always run at 90 V DC. Sometimes an unauthorized person would get into the power shack and increase the motor generator set up past 100 volts. They would really move and there were many injuries that would occur and usually the tire would blow out on impact.
Now I see where the Stellantis guys got the idea for the Ram front end.