Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Great La Costa Bumper Car Mystery Solved

The Great La Costa Bumper Car Mystery Solved

The research elves are out in the solarium toweling off from this marathon caper. They're beat. Grandma Alice is making a batch of Gatorade-tofu-Red Bull smoothies to get them back in fighting trim. Here's the remaining skinny on the bumper cars.

Sponsored
Sponsored

They're owned by one North County family and originated at a local paint shop. Usually, the drivers you see are relatives of the owner, who is a lifelong car tinkerer and has done the conversions himself with the help of a build team. Modesty prevents him from revealing personal details; he won't sell what he has or build any more, so please don't ask. What you see is all we'll get. And, odds are, we've got the only way-cool, tooling-around bumper cars in the country. Another perk of living in Dago.

The whole thing started a few decades ago, when the Long Beach Pike amusement park closed. A car collector bought one of the park's bumper cars, planning to renovate it into a conversation piece for his family room. That idea went the way of most expensive, elaborate, guy-type brainstorms. The car just sat in his collection, collecting dust. But along comes our particular North County tinkerer. The bumper car reminded him of his growing-up days on the ride at the Pike. He spent many happy hours bashing into friends and strangers there, maybe in that exact car! Of course, there's no use fighting nostalgia. He takes the bumper car off the collector's hands, intending to turn it into a conversation piece for his family room.

Here's where we separate the ordinary thinkers from the visionaries. The collector was just a collector; but the tinkerer was a true car nut and decided the bumper car had to be reworked into a self-powered fun ride for the grandkids. Fifty thousand dollars later, he had his car and the kids had the coolest grandpa on the block. It was so much fun he made seven more from cars originally used at amusement parks in Petaluma, Coney Island, Atlanta, Detroit, Germany, and Austria. They're powered by Yamaha and Kawasaki engines; the original Harleys shook the cars too badly and had to be replaced.

If you haven't seen them at a local car show, check out the pictures from the first 101 Beach'n Cruise: http://www.drivethe101.com. Click on the images link, then find the link to pictures taken at the Oceanside Pier. In batches 4 and 5, you'll find the bumper cars, including a woodie version. Thanks to N.D. Webster for the site.

Reader Efren and a reader in Clairemont who apparently goes through life without a name alert us to some vehicles that you might mistake for our real bumper cars. Each one is about the right size, with a windshield and two roll bars. They're three-wheeled, open-top, two-seaters painted bright primary colors. They're rented out by a company called Tour Coupes, on Seventh Avenue in downtown San Diego and licensed as motorcycles. (The drivers will be wearing helmets.) Check them out at http://www.tourcoupes.com, but don't confuse them with the genuine article.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ian Anderson’s apogees

The best eating of ten-ish years
Next Article

A rope course designed to resemble the Giant Dipper at Belmont Part

Maruta Gardner Playground - a parent's playground

The Great La Costa Bumper Car Mystery Solved

The research elves are out in the solarium toweling off from this marathon caper. They're beat. Grandma Alice is making a batch of Gatorade-tofu-Red Bull smoothies to get them back in fighting trim. Here's the remaining skinny on the bumper cars.

Sponsored
Sponsored

They're owned by one North County family and originated at a local paint shop. Usually, the drivers you see are relatives of the owner, who is a lifelong car tinkerer and has done the conversions himself with the help of a build team. Modesty prevents him from revealing personal details; he won't sell what he has or build any more, so please don't ask. What you see is all we'll get. And, odds are, we've got the only way-cool, tooling-around bumper cars in the country. Another perk of living in Dago.

The whole thing started a few decades ago, when the Long Beach Pike amusement park closed. A car collector bought one of the park's bumper cars, planning to renovate it into a conversation piece for his family room. That idea went the way of most expensive, elaborate, guy-type brainstorms. The car just sat in his collection, collecting dust. But along comes our particular North County tinkerer. The bumper car reminded him of his growing-up days on the ride at the Pike. He spent many happy hours bashing into friends and strangers there, maybe in that exact car! Of course, there's no use fighting nostalgia. He takes the bumper car off the collector's hands, intending to turn it into a conversation piece for his family room.

Here's where we separate the ordinary thinkers from the visionaries. The collector was just a collector; but the tinkerer was a true car nut and decided the bumper car had to be reworked into a self-powered fun ride for the grandkids. Fifty thousand dollars later, he had his car and the kids had the coolest grandpa on the block. It was so much fun he made seven more from cars originally used at amusement parks in Petaluma, Coney Island, Atlanta, Detroit, Germany, and Austria. They're powered by Yamaha and Kawasaki engines; the original Harleys shook the cars too badly and had to be replaced.

If you haven't seen them at a local car show, check out the pictures from the first 101 Beach'n Cruise: http://www.drivethe101.com. Click on the images link, then find the link to pictures taken at the Oceanside Pier. In batches 4 and 5, you'll find the bumper cars, including a woodie version. Thanks to N.D. Webster for the site.

Reader Efren and a reader in Clairemont who apparently goes through life without a name alert us to some vehicles that you might mistake for our real bumper cars. Each one is about the right size, with a windshield and two roll bars. They're three-wheeled, open-top, two-seaters painted bright primary colors. They're rented out by a company called Tour Coupes, on Seventh Avenue in downtown San Diego and licensed as motorcycles. (The drivers will be wearing helmets.) Check them out at http://www.tourcoupes.com, but don't confuse them with the genuine article.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The ups and downs of Cel Cerro on a bike

Best outdoors times
Next Article

San Diego Reader's Best Of Poll 2024: Remington Tattoo Wins!

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader