For those of you old enough to remember, bumper cars were first called 'Dodgems,' and for a decade beginning in the 1920's they were the only game in town. Dodgems were almost totally undriveable -- you could spend half your ride just trying to turn around -- but it was still thrilling to have a chance, no matter how slight, to crash into your father.
But then came the fabulous Lusse Brothers cars -- steerable, with headlights and air bumpers, built from some kind of indestructible plastic -- YOWZA! You could CREAM Dad! You could race alongside him, cut him off, whack him into the siderails. Heaven for an 11-year-old!
The Lusse guys came out of Philadelphia, and their innovations quickly dominated the ride. Indeed, rides became so frenetic that many amusement parks hired security guards to stave off what surely was the birth of road rage -- despite "NO HEAD-ON COLLISIONS" warning signs, nose-to-nose crashes were like grand-slam home runs, and the joy of such bone-jarring hits was easily worth instant ejection from the premises.
Alas, most bumper cars today are imported from Italy. They are lighter and slower than the classic Lusse, and they don't 'bump' so much as nudge.
But as the Lone Ranger's narrator used to say, "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear!" The Keansburg Amusement Park still runs the classic Lusse Cars! The entire park, in fact, is like Jersey Shore time travel -- Skee-Ball, Fascination, funnel cakes, sausage and peppers and more people under 21 than over.
Go get some extra-hold Polident and have at it!
For the VERY interesting whole story, click on the title
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