We spoke to the ride’s original designer Bob Gurr about the history and future of the iconic attraction
After more than 70 years, Disneyland is replacing the loud and smelly (but beloved) gasoline-powered cars in the Autopia attraction in Tomorrowland with electrically powered vehicles sometime next year. The park had been under fire from the California Air Resources Board after state officials alleged that the Honda engines that power the tiny cars had been operating without emissions controls that met state standards. For years, the company had been making gestures towards a non-polluting vehicle, but the end of the gas cars is coming after the company agreed to pay a $56,000 fine. The company has set a goal of net-zero emissions by 2030.
Autopia at DisneylandCredit: Photo by Simon Doggett/Flickr
Autopia is one of the few remaining opening day attractions at Disneyland. A squad of the Mark I cars represented Tomorrowland in the parade down Main Street USA on July 17, 1955. One of the drivers that day was Bob Gurr.
Ed Martindale and Jim Mangels testing Disneyland Autopia cars at Mameco Inc.in Newport Beach, July 1955Credit: Photo courtesy County of Orange
Gurr had not been out of art school for all that long when he got the call that Walt Disney was looking for someone to design some cars for an amusement park he was building in Anaheim. Although he had published books on futuristic car designs and put in a stint working at Ford Motor Company, at age 22 he was back in L.A. delivering typewriters in a Model T.
Gurr studied automotive design at ArtCenter College of Design but was taken by surprise when Disney approved his design for the body and asked him to go ahead and make the prototype run. Gurr is an artist with the soul of an engineer and an indefatigable can-do spirit who figured it out as he went along. “It’s kind of fun,” his old boss Walt Disney said. “To do the impossible.”
Autopia at DisneylandCredit: Photo by The Fun Chronicles/Flickr
“Autopia is a concentration of highly inefficient little one-cylinder putt-putt cars,” Gurr tells Los Angeles. “But Disney has to have it or little kids will sue Disneyland for taking it out.” Earlier this year, Gurr was invited to meet with the team tasked with reimaging “his” cars. “They were very sharp and enthusiastic,” Gurr says. “And eagerly awaiting my appearance. There were two photographers and the box lunches were ready!”
Scroll to continue reading
Valley Times newsboys riding Autopia in 1955Credit: Photo by Valley Times Photo Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
Gurr says talk of replacing the gas cars began decades ago when Chevron took over sponsorship of the attraction around the turn of the century. Gurr remembers the president of the oil company as “a car guy” who “loved classic cars” but admitted that “we’re gonna have to add electricity someday.” The day has finally arrived.
Bob Gurr behind the wheel of a Model T in 2025Credit: Photo by Chris Nichols
Disney has not yet revealed details on the changes to Autopia, but Gurr says the dimensions of the cars and track will remain unchanged. “The course will be the same, but the roadway will be entirely different,” he says, adding that the new cars will have enhanced lighting and sound effects. “It’s a clever piece of showbiz. Parents will say ‘How in the hell are they doing that?”
The 94-year-old Disney legend, who personally upgraded his gas-powered SUV for an electric Chevrolet Bolt, is sold on the transformation. “The car will do the same thing,” he says. “But this time instead of being in some previous century it will be clean and green. This is an installation that will probably last more than 50 years.”
Standing L to R: Bob Gurr, Bill Cottrell, Dick Irvine. Kneeling: Roger Broggie. Seated in car: Walt Disney, 1955Credit: Photo courtesy Fandom Productions