Autopia

Autopia is a race track attraction at various Disney theme parks, in which patrons steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track. Versions of Autopia exist at Disneyland at Anaheim, California and Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. There was also an Autopia at Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island, Hong Kong before it closed on June 11, 2016. Other versions of the attraction can be found at the Magic Kingdom as the Tomorrowland Speedway and formerly at Tokyo Disneyland as the Grand Circuit Raceway. A previous generation of Disneyland's Autopia operated for over a decade at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri; one of the retired cars is now on display.

The term autopia is a portmanteau of the words "automobile utopia" and was first coined in the 1920s. The term was later popularized in the 1970s to describe the effect of freeways on urbanization and architecture, particularly by English architecture critic Reyner Banham in his 1971 book Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies and in American architect Denise Scott Brown’s 1972 book Learning from Las Vegas.

The Disneyland Autopia, in one form or another, is one of the few current attractions that opened with the park on July 17, 1955. When it opened, it represented the future of what would become America's multilane limited-access highways, which were still being developed. President Eisenhower had yet to sign the Interstate Highway legislation at the time Disneyland opened. Disneyland Autopia’s original sponsor from 1955 until 1970 was Richfield Oil.

Drivers can use the steering wheel along the track but the center rail will guide the cars along the track regardless of steering input. Drivers/children too short to depress the gas pedal are paired with taller individuals who can. Brakes are applied automatically when the driver releases the gas pedal.

The original Disneyland Autopia cars were designed by Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr to resemble actual full-sized vehicles rather than a common bumper car. The cars were constructed with fiberglass bodies on a 64-inch wheelbase. They used a Gladden Products Corp. 4-stroke, single-cylinder 318 cc motor rated at 7.5 bhp at 3400 rpm. The 475-lb cars were limited to a top speed of 11 mph.

Before the park opened, the cars were tested without the bumpers, and were almost completely destroyed by the test drivers. Bumpers were fitted around the vehicle, but there were still problems with collisions. After opening day, many of the 39 cars in service were broken. Eventually the vehicles were fitted with spring-loaded bumpers to discourage collisions, roadway dividers and guide rails were added.

The first fleet of Autopia cars were dubbed "Mark I". Throughout Disneyland's first few years, Autopia went through a few fleets, as the cars took much abuse. Though basically the same look, they went through Mark I, II, III, and IV by 1958. When the Monorail, Submarine Voyage, and Matterhorn debuted in 1959, so did a new fleet with an all-new look – the "Mark Vs". The next design, Mark VI, came in 1964. It was at this time (1965) the center guide rail was first installed. 1967 brought another new design, the Mark VIIs, which cost $5,000 for each car and looked similar to the new Corvette Stingray. They would remain in service through 1999, till a breed of Mark VIIIs would hit the Autopia roadway. The cars were manufactured by Intermountain Design, Utah.

Unitl 2008, the Disneyland Autopia cars were powered by 286 cc (17.5 cu in) two-stroke gasoline motors from Kawasaki. After Honda agreed to sponsor the ride in 2008, cars were re-engined with the 270 cc (16 cu in) Honda iGX270, a four-stroke gasoline engine which was quieter and produced fewer emissions.