Knott's Berry Farm answer to Disneyland's Autopia was Henry's Livery Ride where youngsters got to drive a replica Model T through a winding course. This cute ride wound through a more suburban farm themed environment than the modern freeway of the Autopia. I believe the ride was manufactured by Arrow and was powered by a small gasoline engine. One of the better souvenir tickets from Knott's is the ticket for this ride with cute graphics of the Model T and typical early 1900s sayings about automobiles. Image is from a Kodachrome slide marked Aug. 1961.
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Bud Hurlbut owned and operated this until his buy-out in the late 80s. Great shot!
I don't know if it always was in the same location, but this ride was located outside of the park, so you could ride it without paying admission after they started to charge.
This ride was in the park, but the ride called Henry's Auto Livery was outside the park. Henry's was a concession owned by my grandfather, Walter Beckman, and his partners. The cars were a bit bigger than these and rode on a track without the rail. You actually had to stear the car; I even crashed one over the rail the first time I was allowed to drive it. My grandpa and dad helped built the cars from scratch and my dad worked there for most of my childhood. The ride pictured here was one of my favorites too. I spent a lot of time at Knott's as a kid.
I worked at Henry's Livery from 1962 to 1978. My dad, Walter Beckman, was half owner and I worked as the manager. Henry's opened in the summer of 1957 and was an instant success. Most people were amazed that the cars weren't on a rail. We used to drive the cars in parades once in a while in my dad's hometown, Hanford, CA. We lived in Brea, CA which is about 12 miles from Knott's. The cars were sold off when the ride closed in 1978. I have heard that there are still 1 or 2 around the area.
Hello Anonymous- can you e-mail me? I have a friend working on a book and would love to interview you.
It is too bad the Henry's Auto Livery could not have been saved and moved somewhere. These were the cars that I learned to drive on when I was a child. Unlike Disney's auto-topia, the steering actually worked well.
I think this is a more accurate photo of the car posted by someone else. There was no center rail. There were outside rails.
http://members.aol.com/opus1guy/uploads/knottsantiquecar.jpg
He also posted the ticket to ride it.
http://members.aol.com/opus1guy/uploads/knottsantiquecar.jpg
I worked at Henry's in the late 70's. It was my first job and a wonderful job! Walter "Lauren" was a great guy who taught us a great deal including how to weld.
None of the photos on this page are of Henry's, though. They are all from the ride inside the park. If anyone has photos or movies from this ride, I would be very interested in seeing them. I can be emailed at jimeckes@surewest.net.
I owe a great deal to Lauren and his son Rich and will always remember them. I was sad to hear of his passing in the early 90's.
Okay, so what ride DID this come from? I have one of these cars (it's a Maxwell, though) and the attachment for the rail is still there along with the 110 volt motor. You can email direct at thegaspeddlers@gmail.com
If these were the cars owned by Bud Hurlbut, they are likely the ones he moved to Castle Park in Riverside, CA in the early 1980s (where they are still in operation today).
http://www.castlepark.com/
I worked at Henry's for 5 years as did a bunch of us from Brea-Olinda HS. I even have a movie we made there called "Tommy Tourist at Knott's Berry Farm" It is 20 minutes - too big for YouTube. On DVD now with updated sound track! Hi Rich!! Email me... Rob.Bell@juno.com
as I remember: henry's auto livery (as pictured with the dual steering wheels and track electric powered)was a separate newer ride in knotts but the better ride was at the southeast corner of the park in slightly larger gas engine powered single steering wheel 1912 era cars with assorted body style (truck, roadster, touring). how many of the two different car ride cars survive?
good memories...mrspeedyt@peoplepc.com
This was my favorite ride back in the day. It didn't have the metal restraints the autopia had at Disneyland. These cars were really driving at speeds up to 25 -30mph. The only thing that kept them in was the metal barriers around the track. you could drive before you were a teenager. What a ride!
I just noticed that the picture is of a different ride which was near the old mexican village. The livery cars had no track under them.
I'm confused. As a child who grew up in Buena Park throughout the late 60s to 70s ... I remember just 2 "antique" car rides, in all of Knott's grounds, actual "theme park" grounds, or immediately outside it. The one with a guide rail, that was IN Fiesta Village. And the one without a guide rail ... is the one that paralleled Beach Blvd. and rode to the corner of Crescent and then back. My mom use to use Beach Blvd. all the time to get around, and I would sit in the back of our '69 Riviera .. and look at that antique car ride that was outside the park, and wanted to ride it. But knew it was for BIGGER kids with better handling of the wheel, as it had no rail to guide the cars on. Oh .. the wonderful memories!! :)
The ride inside the park was simply called the "Antique Auto Ride". Still have tickets that show it as a "B" ride. Henry's was an "A"
Anonymous-- Do you remember an incident that took place on the final straightaway when two cars were wrecked? Man, that was the most I ever laughed in my life..The manager said at the time that it was the worst thing that had ever happened there..Thanks for the memories...T. Shoelaces
I worked for the Beckmans about 1967-1968 We lived up cherry st in brea Ca ,Grew up with Bruce and Family,Lauren taught us all alot that I have used all through my life i can be reached at davem7456@gmail.com
I too worked at Henry's Livery in 1961-1963. I met Lauren as he drove one of his creations by my home on Alder st. in Brea, Cal.
The picture shown is NOT of the original Henry's Livery ride.
As others have noted, Henry's ran parallel to Beach Blvd. and past the Trout Farm on the corner.
I found the cars still in operation about 15years ago in Couer De Lain, Idaho.
Joe Hendren
Agreed, the photograph is the Tijuana Taxi ride in Fiesta Village. It was sited near the old merry-go-round location and the Hat Dance ride. Tijuana Taxi's were small, electrically driven cars about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the other self-driving car rides at the park.
There were two other gasoline powered car rides: (1) Henry's Auto Livery described by Beckman's relative above. These were outside the park and ran along Beach Blvd to the corner of Crescent. Like the man said, no center track only side bumpers. As a child I loved these cars, you really felt like you were driving.
(2) Gasoline Alley in the Roaring 20's Airfield. This attraction, originally sponsored by Union 76 Gas, was constructed using a center-track system similar to Autopia. The center track was wide (about 12' wide) when then they didn't want you to steer and about 3/8" wide steel to allow the children the illusion of steering as the ride progressed. Gasoline Alley wound around the Motorcycle Chase / Wacky Soapbox Racer ride.
I recently bought a player piano that reportedly was used at Henry's Livery "Stable" in 1957-1958, and then was sold from Knott's "Old Piano Shop" in 1958. If anyone has any anecdotes about pianos @ Henry's from this period, I'd be interested.
I've since found that the "Old Piano Shop" (whch sold antique and new pianos and player piano rolls) was actually located inside Jeffries Barn (now the Wilderness Dance Hall). The location of the piano shop is shown on 1957 and 1958 maps of Knotts I found on EBay.
I used to ride this with my grandfather in the early to mid '60s along Beach Blvd. I can still remember the whole track very well. I was so proud and so was he when I could drive the whole way without bumping the side rails. You got a little drivers license card at this ride, I wish I still had one. It was my favorite ride, we went there last after a day at the park, sometimes I went twice. I also liked rowing the boats at the lake. It was such a great park. I miss it.
I am Rich and Bruce's cousin and we loved to visit them to drive the cars. My brother, Fred, and I could not wait to get to LA to visit the whole park. We had to stand in line like the rest of the guests and would immediately run to the end of the line when we got off the car so we could ride again. When the cars would come off the last straightwaway, one of the workers would jump on the side running board and control the car with the outside gas pedal to get it back to the beginning. We hit many a corner, on purpose, and the steering wheel would just spin like crazy. We also enjoyed it when they brought the cars to Hanford for the parade. (I lived in Hanford.) Then the governors came off and the cars were a little more speedy. We would ride under hornet's nests and try to knock them down with a stick. Bad children.
This is Tijuana Taxi inside the park. Henry's Livery was outside the park.
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