No, this car was not stolen from an amusement park: it was made from sketches into an attraction, but doubled in size.
An American pensioner of Slavic origin, Dan Grigorkov, lives in Pennsylvania and does interesting projects on his own.. Among them are an enlarged children's car and a submarine. And during the Covid quarantine, 72-year-old Dan decided to do something unusual. Naturally nostalgic. He remembered his childhood and decided to make an amusement car with a rubber bumper, but not on a metal track, but on a real road.. To do this, it had to be doubled.
Based on 1953 bumper models found at an amusement park in Elysburg, Pennsylvania called Knoebels, he bent patterns and made a body 3.9 meters long and 1.6 meters wide. Everything else was taken from an old Chevrolet Aveo car and a motorcycle.
By the way, this nostalgic amusement park in Elysburg takes adults back to their childhood.. Grandfathers and parents still bring their grandchildren and children here to enjoy the rides and fun bumper cars.. Knoebels advertises itself as “America's Best Bumpers.”
This is what the bumper car craft looks like. Photo: Katie Grigorkov
Returning home, he reproduced the body in polystyrene foam. This blank was then used to create molds from which the fiberglass car body was cast in parts.
This is what this toy car looks like in an amusement park. Photo: pennlive.com
He installed the engine from the front-wheel drive Chevrolet Aveo along with the gearbox in the rear of the car. Thus, the bumper car became rear-wheel drive.
The steering wheel was taken from a motorcycle. It is not paired here, but one. Thus, a three-wheeled car was created. Due to the fact that the front wheel turns at a right angle by 90 degrees, the car turns in place almost around its axis.
The brake system, main and information lighting devices here fully comply with American vehicle standards. Thus, Dan Grigorkov received permission to travel on public roads. The beam at the back, which ends with a contact strip, is fake – just to remind you of the bumper rides of the car.