16 replies to this topic

[GAcoaster]

Click below to view the whole

Spotlight!

[The Master]

Looked like a neat ride.

[29yrswithaGApass]

If you revisit the Grand Prix Spotlight you will see that the Technical Specs have now been added.

In reseraching this I was surprised to see that the Grand Prix had 32 cars. If I had to guess, they probably kept several cars in the interior pit for maintenance at all times.

[ChuckR]

The fair I just went to in Duren actually had something similar to it. I never even knew that Great Adventure had these or I would of taken pictures of it.



You can see it right behind the white tent.

[gafreak]

32 cars seems like alot. But i guess rubbins part of racing!

[greg90]

I rode this as a kid. The track was not flat, you had to get up that first hill after the start as you turned left. I think there were problems with some cars not making it up. It was a very slight incline, however - and then you came down the hill in the last turn.

The Mike Douglas Show went to Great Adventure in the mid 70s - may have even been 74 or 75. I don't remember if it was a whole week, but may have been. One of the segments featured the Grand Prix. I believe Mike raced against someone - Mario Andretti, maybe, No - one of the Unsers, I think. Anyway, you get the idea. It was a cool ride.

[GAcoaster]

One of the pictures we found for the book was Mike Douglas on the Grand Prix.

I feel really old that most of my co-workers have no idea who Mike Douglas was...

[Gary Hill]

I remember when The "Merv Griffin" Show visited and produced a show at GA. They came through the Safari and he had Alex Carris , an animal "expert" with him and I set up a shot with them petting Squeaker, the rhino.

Edited by Gary Hill, 14 September 2009 - 09:24 PM.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Way back in the early 80s I obtained my first copy of Great Adventure's original souvenir booklet - the yellow one with the hot air balloon on the cover. I studied each and every photo in that book for hours on end. One of the hardest photos to really appreciate was the Grand Prix ride simply because it was one of the smallest images (see below). Even several weeks ago when we did the Grand Prix Spotlight, all we had was a zoomed in scan of that particular photo.



Well, if you are curious to see what this Grand Prix photo looks like in all its 35mm glory, click HERE and double click the image to see it in full screen! It is a beautiful thing!

[gafreak]

looks kinda like alot of fun to drive those cars around

[29yrswithaGApass]

Photos of some attractions are really rare so I always like it when we run across a shot of a ride tucked away in the background of a photograph. In this photo taken from the fountain you can see the Grand Prix ride off in the distance, on the site currently occupied by the Buccaneer ride!

[29yrswithaGApass]

Here is nice picture that shows both the Grand Prix and the Traffic Jam car rides in the same shot! They could have made an "Auto Land" section fo the park back in the mid 70s.

[gafreak]

man i miss the swings!

[29yrswithaGApass]

Another Grand Prix spotting! This photo is from 1979, the last year the ride was in the park.

[29yrswithaGApass]

As you can see in this 1979 aerial, the Grand Prix was one of the park's largest flat rides! It was almost twice the size of the Traffic Jam bumper cars ride.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Now with more racing fun!

[29yrswithaGApass]

Taken from the patio of Gingerbread Fancy, this view gives a great perspective of where the Grand Prix was originally located. In today's word it would have been where the Tornado Snacks and wooden sign shop are located (just to the left of the Heist/Kingpin games building).