the original autopia cars rode opened at disneyland on july 17, 1955.
when did the original autopia cars ride open at disneyland?
july 17, 1955
the disneyland autopia, in one form or another, is one of the few current attractions that opened with the park on july 17, 1955. when it opened, it represented the future of what would become america's multilane limited-access highways, which were still being developed. president eisenhower had yet to sign the interstate highway legislation at the time disneyland opened.
autopia
in 2000, disneyland replaced both existing autopia tracks with a new, much larger autopia sponsored by chevron. the colorful chevrolet corvette stingray-style cars were replaced by three different kinds of cars: dusty, an off-road style car; sparky, a sports car; and suzy, a volkswagen beetle-style car. each was designed to be tied into the chevron line of animated 'chevron cars', and four versions of the autopia cars were sold as toys during the 2000 summer season at chevron stations nationwide. the queue featured animated dioramas featuring the chevron cars, and the ride's background music is taken directly from the park's former peoplemover attraction, which had closed five years prior to the new autopia's opening. the voice of dusty the autopia car is voiced by matthew howard, who is said to be (as of 2004) the youngest disney ride announcer. in response to several minor incidents, the ride safety spiel was re-recorded in 2004 in order to remind parents to watch their children. new for the track was a short "off-road" section. chevron's sponsorship ended in the summer of 2012, though the chevron cars still appeared in the attraction's preshow until honda took over sponsorship, with all overt references to chevron removed.
autopia