When amusement parks close it doesn’t mean that all those unusual rides or features go to a scrap heap or a dump. People can buy them. That’s what happened to the Rocket Ship Car that was once part of a ride at Euclid Beach Park in Cleveland. Before the park closed in 1969, ever since the 1930s, the car was suspended from cables with two others just like it. When passengers sat in the cars, they went in a slow circle.
Joe Tomaro remembered the ride from his childhood and decided he had to have one of the cars after he started collecting Euclid Beach Park memorabilia. To convert the ship into a vehicle that could go on a road, Tomaro added an engine and a chassis.
The car that can hold 10 adults or 15 children resides in Florida in the winter and returns to Ohio for May and the rest of the summer. It’s possible to snag a ride in the Rocket Ship Car for an hour or more. According to the schedule, you can find it most often at Crabby’s Beachwalk at Clearwater Beach in Florida. By the beginning of June, it will be in northern Ohio, most often at Strickland’s Frozen Custard in Mentor. Every Wednesday, starting June 3rd through September, you can climb in it for a free ride. [St. Petersburg Times]