Vintage Car Ride

What could be more fun then to take to the open roads before you’re even allowed to take your driving test? Well the Vintage Car Ride put youngsters behind the wheel of their very own Model T Ford and let them meet some of the friendliest neighbours on Cred Street.

To put parents’ minds at ease, the cars were kept on the roads by a guide rail preventing any mishaps, though the Vintage Cars’ very own bearchanic was on hand to put any motor problems right. As there was no need for a navigator, it meant both front seats got their very own steering wheel, and the horn just added to the fun as youngsters headed round the track toward the Gingerbread House.

When the Vintage Car Ride originally opened in 1983, it was located up above Dinosaur Land in Fantasy World. For many years it sat juxtaposed to the neighbouring space-based Black Hole, until 1993 when it found a much more fitting setting behind the Towers in the Land of Make Believe. Even following their departure the Vintage Car Ride left their mark on X Sector, as the overflow queue of Black Hole followed the old route of the ride, having been built directly on top of its track.

The classic cars gently trundled their way through the conversion of Land of Make Believe into Cred Street and operated right through to the 2004 season when a mysterious fence was constructed across Cred Street and the Vintage Car Ride spent the season ‘Standing But Not Operating’ alongside the neighbouring Cred Street Carousel. Rumour was rife about the potential redevelopment of the area but defying the odds the rides re-opened for 2005.

However after its season SBNO it was clear the ride was on borrowed time and at the end of the 2005 season the Vintage Car Ride closed for good to be replaced by the Driving School during the summer of 2006. The legacy of the Vintage Car Ride still lives on though, as the Gingerbread House can still be seen today, now masquerading as the Driving School’s Car Wash.