AUTOPIA |
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MAIN STREET U.S.A. | ADVENTURELAND | FRONTIERLAND | NEW ORLEANS SQUARE | CRITTER COUNTRY | FANTASYLAND | TOONTOWN | TOMORROWLAND | DCA | WDW |
')) (July 17, 1955–Present) BACKSTORY: In a memo that he dictated on August 7, 1954, Walt listed The Auto Speedway as number five for The Land of Tomorrow. The name transitioned into Autopia by October 30, 1954 and stayed that way ever since. Sponsored by Richfield (1955–1970), it represented the future of America’s highways. Bob Gurr, a recent graduate from an automotive design school, created the design of the body for the car, inspired by a Porsche 550 Spider and a custom Ferrari he had once seen. The Fiberglass bodies were constructed by Glasspar of Costa Mesa. Each of the 40 original Autopia cars were powered by a Gladden “75,” a one-cylinder mill producing 7.5 horsepower. This was the same engine used in the Mustang motorcycle and was assembled in Glendale, California. Cars without bumpers were almost completely destroyed by the test drivers, so bumpers were fitted around the vehicle; spring-loaded bumpers were eventually installed to discourage collisions. Imagineer Bob Gurr tells the story how the Autopia got a "garage": "After Disneyland opened, we had a lot of trouble with the Autopia cars. The majority of them were failing, and no one had figured out the support side of the attractions. I had been repairing the cars with my own tools on-site. Walt came by, looked at the whole scene, and asked, 'What do you need?' I told him we needed mechanics to work on the cars and that we didn't have any kind of facilities. In less than an hour, here comes this tractor dragging an old building, and the drivers says, 'Here's your building. Where do you want it?' We had mechanics the next morning."The Tomorrowland version received makeovers in 1967 & 1999. Other versions included the Midget Autopia, Fantasyland Autopia (Rescue Rangers Raceway), and Junior Autopia. Of these, the Tomorrowland Autopia existed the longest. The Midget Autopia opened April 23, 1957. It was the third and smallest track, after the Tomorrowland Autopia (1955) and the Junior Autopia in Fantasyland (1956). It was located next to the Storybook Land Canal Boats and the Motor Boat Cruise at the very edge of Fantasyland. Closed in 1966 and dismantled to make way for “It’s a Small World.” The ride was donated to the city of Marceline where it operated for a few years. In 2000 both existing Autopia tracks were replaced with a much larger Autopia sponsored by Chevron. The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray-inspired cars were replaced by three different kinds of cars: Dusty (off-road style), Sparky (sports car), and Suzy(Volkswagen Beetle-style). Each was designed to be tied into the Chevron line of animated “Chevron Cars”; 4 versions were sold as toys during the 2000 summer season at Chevron stations. |
| FANTASYLAND AUTOPIA | JUNIOR AUTOPIA | MIDGET AUTOPIA |
Consider car covers or motorcycle covers to protect a cherished vehicle that is kept outside |
1950’s |
THE POLICE CARS |
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“40 POUNDS OF TROUBLE,” 1962 |
) ) Released on December 31, 1962, “40 Pounds of Trouble” was a remake of the 1934 Shirley Temple film “Little Miss Marker,” based on a book by Damon Runyon. For the 1962 film, it was shot on location at Disneyland (one of the few non-Disney movies allowed to shoot on location) and Lake Tahoe. The story is about Lake Tahoe casino manager Steve McCluskey (Tony Curtis), who is taking a break from women (thanks to a bad first marriage), being forced to chaperone his boss Bernie Friedman’s (Phil Silvers) niece, Chris Lockwood (Suzanne Pleshette), who also happens to be the headlining talent at the hotel. Wanting to stay on his boss’ good side, he agrees to the arrangement as well as taking on five-year-old Penny Piper (Claire Wilcox in her film debut) who has been left as a marker by her father at the casino rather than pay his gambling debt. Steve grows fond of Penny, who thinks that Steve should settle down and get married. She does her best to fix him up with Chris. When it becomes clear that the father will never return, Tony risks a trip to Disneyland for the little girl before he has to break the bad news to Penny.Filming at Disneyland took about a week to finish. Almost 15 out of the film’s 106 minutes are shot at Disneyland; it offers some very interesting and rare vintage views of the park circa May 1962 when the movie was being filmed. For nit-picky Disneyland Geeks, you’ll note a number of goofs and continuity errors, such as boarding one Fantasyland Dark Ride but actually seeing two or three other ones. In another scene, Tony Curtis makes a phone call from a booth (put in as a movie prop) located on the path between Tomorrowland and Main Street. In the scene where the detective chases Curtis through the same area, the phone booth is gone. When Curtis makes the phone call from the booth near Tomorrowland, the whistle from the steamboat can be heard loudly. However, the steamboat is in Frontierland and cannot normally be heard from Tomorrowland. Canadian Norman Jewison (“Fiddler on the Roof” and “Moonstruck”) made his film directorial debut with “40 Pounds.” Norman Jewison directed the Judy Garland “comeback” special that aired in 1961, which included Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and led to a weekly show that Jewison eventually took over the direction of. Visiting the studio during rehearsal for the special, Tony Curtis suggested to Jewison that he should direct a feature film. “Forty Pounds of Trouble” turned out to be that feature film.The film was panned when it was released. Bosley Crowther of The New York TImes said, “The trouble with 40 Pounds of Trouble is that it is just too hackneyed and dull.” Here is his complete review: '40 Pounds of Trouble': Film Is Witless Remake of a Runyon Story, Blunt Promotion
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1961–1965 |
1966–1969 |
) May 1966 |
) Sept. 1966 |
) Aug. 1967 |
) Aug. 1967 |
) Vacationland Magazine Ad, Summer1967 |
) Sept. 1968 |
) Sept. 1968 |
) Jan. 1969 |
) June 1969 |
) June 1969 |
) Sept. 1969 |
) 1960’s |
) 1960’s |
) 1960’s |
) 1960’s |
) 1960’s |
) 1960’s |
) 1960’s |
DAVID WOTRUBA: THE ENVY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD |
) ) Part of going to Disneyland is checking out the souvenirs; they vary in cost (and quality) from el cheapo pencils to exorbitantly expensive limited edition collectibles. However, for the big Disneyland collectors, the ultimate souvenir is having a piece of the park itself...namely an attraction vehicle. Daveland reader David W. emailed recently about his acquisition: an Autopia Car! Imagine racing around the neighborhood in that?!? Here’s his story:Whenever I visited Disneyland's Emporium on Main Street late at night, I marveled at people frantic to buy something. Something that would allow them to take home a piece of the magic they had seen at Disneyland. Often I would see guests buying the biggest plush Mickey they could find. When the Autopia car bodies were auctioned by Disney, I missed out on the opportunity to own one, but, months later, when Phil Sears put some up for sale, I knew what I must do. It took $1295 but was worth every penny. I did not believe that I could engineer and build a complete car under the fiberglass shell—but that’s exactly what I did in only 3 months. A local mover, Steve Hill, picked up the car for me in Anaheim and brought it to me, no charge. It took three months to build the frame and chassis and to get the car “on the road”. So, what do I have? A souvenir of Disneyland park, four feet wide and ten feet long! It sits outside our bedroom window—the first thing I see each morning.
To read more about David transforming the body into a working Autopia car, visit his website. |
1970’s–1990’s |
) November 1970 |
) March 1976 |
) Aug. 1976 |
) Aug. 1976 |
) Aug. 1976 |
) April 1977 |
) April 1977 |
) April 1977 |
) April 1979 |
1970's |
) Aug. 1982 |
) Aug. 1982 |
) Sept. 9, 1990 |
2000+ |
JUNIOR/MIDGET/FANTASYLAND AUTOPIA |
(1956—1999) BACKSTORY: The popularity of the Tomorrowland Autopia led to Junior Autopia in 1956 on an unused piece of land across from Storybook Land. Although the vehicles looked the same as those at the Tomorrowland Autopia, extension blocks were placed on the foot pedals and booster seats added to accommodate smaller drivers. The third (and smallest) Autopia track, The Midget Autopia, designed for the youngest drivers, featured a ride system that was more similar to the Fantasyland dark rides than the other Autopias. The child-size cars ran along a center bus bar through tunnels, along straightaways, and through a barn. Located next to Storybook Land, the Midget Autopia ran from April 23, 1957 to 1966. It was closed in April 1966 to make way for the wide path up to It’s a Small World.Walt Disney donated the ride to his boyhood hometown of Marceline, Missouri, where it was installed in a park named in his honor. For several years, it operated as a ride for the children of Marceline. Unfortunately, the cars were too difficult and expensive to maintain. You can still see a Midget Autopia car in Marceline. A lemon-yellow car is on display in the town’s Walt Disney Hometown Museum. The museum is open from April through October in the town’s former Santa Fe railroad depot—an appropriate place to honor lifelong train buff Walt Disney |
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