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00:09In nearby Newport, we were building and assembling miniature Autopia racing cars. These will speed along the Tomorrowland Freeway.
00:32Specially designed and built with a frame of steel tubing and a fiberglass body, each of these cars will have its own one-cylinder, six-and-a-half-horsepower motor.
00:47A most difficult problem was to build them to fit the varying sizes of growing youngsters.
00:52We finally agreed on two gas pedals, a close one for the smaller children and one more distant for the older type youngster, say the 16 to 60 variety.
01:03And to give it that authentic, real-life feeling, our freeway will be patrolled by miniature police cars.
01:09In the case of the Autopia car, it was quite obvious that the car needed a little body.
01:14I could see in an instant what was needed, made a few sketches, brought them in on the second Saturday.
01:19They said, well, Walt's got a whole bunch more stuff for you to do here.
01:22And I said, well, just quit my day job and come right over here.
01:25Before we open the park, we have to have a lot of stuff done.
01:28Like in the case of Autopia cars, we had to have 40 Autopia cars on site, but they were only partially completed coming from the factory down in Newport Beach.
01:37So I was out there with some of the ride operators with their own tools, putting the bumpers on the cars and a tent out in the back lot.
01:44Yes, all kinds of chaos, but it was unforgettable.
01:48We were all assigned to be in different places.
01:50And my assignment was to have about a dozen Autopia cars driven from the ride and hold them just off of Main Street and then would phase into our part of the parade with little Autopia cars.
02:01So I can only tell you what opening day was like with this chaos, trying to keep these little Autopia cars running.
02:08It was a hot day.
02:09The gasoline cars, they get vapor lock and you can't restart the engines.
02:13Little kids wanted to ride in the cars.
02:15And then we had to get them out of the television shot and put them back on the ride and be ready for later in the day when invited guests were going to start riding the cars.
02:24Of the four Autopias that have existed in Disneyland, the one in Tomorrowland was the only Autopia up and running on opening day.
02:31This original Autopia track curled across the approximately three unlandscaped acres of Disneyland's eastern edge with most of the track design attributed to Disney legend Mark Davis.
02:43During these early years, the Richfield Oil Company, the official gasoline of Disneyland and the company that in 1970 would become the R in Arco, was a sponsor of the Autopia and the Richfield name was prominently displayed on the signage at the site.
02:57In 1956, Souvenir Book called them Autopia Disneyland Cars of the Future.
03:02So it's hard to see how these small, slow, noisy, gas-powered autos, driven mostly by kids, were futuristic.
03:09Fun, yes? Futuristic now.
03:12For the first decade of operation, the attraction did not have a guide rail running down its center, which means drivers could veer their cars into each other, pass each other, and in some cases even manage to go against traffic.
03:23Not until 1965 was a center rail installed down the middle of the Autopia freeway to keep cars aligned.
03:30The earliest sketches show a bulbous, heavy fenders and running boards on the cars, just like on classic American autos of the 40s and 50s, thus making the cars of the future really more like cars of the recent past.
03:43The Mark 1 cars that hit the Tomorrowland Road in 1955, they were modeled on foreign sports cars, Porsches and Ferraris in particular, to give them a sleek, low-slung look that anticipated styles of the next decade, if not quite the next century.
03:59Unfortunately, with bodies made of fiberglass, and bumpers have sopped on them, the cars couldn't withstand anything more than slight impacts, even though they usually traveled at less than 8 miles per hour.
04:11Before the park opened, the cars were tested without the bumpers, and were almost completely destroyed by the test drivers.
04:17Bumpers were fitted around the vehicle, but there were still problems with collisions, as a guide rail had yet to be implemented on the ride.
04:24Eventually, the vehicles were fitted with spring-loaded bumpers to discourage collisions.
04:30Over the years, Tomorrowland Autopia saw many changes, including a new track when the submarine voyage was built, the addition of Fantasyland Autopia nearby, and new fleets of cars several times.
04:42In the 1950s, kids received a Richfield Autopia driver's license.
04:47The original fleet of 40 cars also contained four black and whites, complete with flashing red lights and sirens.
04:53Ninety-five percent of the cars running at the start of opening day were disabled by the end of the day.
04:59The cars were governed to 7 miles per hour, but are capable of 25 miles per hour.
05:05Mark 1 original cars, 1955.
05:07Mark 2 cars had a smoother engine, 1955.
05:10Mark 3 cars, prototype only, 1955.
05:13Mark 4 cars, new mechanical design, 1956.
05:16Mark 5 cars, all new design, and were twice as heavy, 1959.
05:20Mark 6 cars, first ones built by aero with a center rail, 1965.
05:26Mark 7 cars cost $5,000 each.
05:29In 2022 dollars, it would cost over $45,000 each.
05:33They weighed over 1,000 pounds, 1967.
05:37Nomenclature, May 25, 1955.
05:40Disneyland Autopia, Richfield Exhibit.
05:42The name of the car is the Disneyland Autopia.
05:44Autopia, 32 gas-powered motor cars on the Autopia freeway.
05:494 police cars, 1 Disneyland Autopia special.
05:523 extra cars.
05:53The interpretation of the word Autopia stresses safety and good driving.
06:04Autopia is the safest of all superhighways.
06:08Here, future motorists learn good driving habits.
06:13And have fun doing it.
06:23Appropriately, things are on the move in Tomorrowland.
06:25And one of the most exciting adventures is Autopia, the freeway to fun.
06:30This is the safest superhighway in the world.
06:33In the family car, it's the grown-ups who do the driving.
06:51But here in Autopia, the youngsters are in the driver's seat
06:54and head for the open road on their own.
06:56In Autopia, you're just as young as you think you are.
07:11And here comes the proof.
07:22One attraction in particular was in need of a tune-up.
07:25The Autopia.
07:27Guests were damaging the cars much faster than expected.
07:31And worse, they were damaging the employees.
07:34Thanks to Arrow's work at Santa Cruz,
07:36Walt had found his solution to Autopia's problem.
