The extent to which the use of hydraulic power for fairground rides could be pushed was seen towards the end of the 20th century, being used to maximum advantage in many of today’s ‘white knuckle’ rides. Hydraulic effects show no signs of abating, as the rides of the 21st century become ever more daring and thrilling.

	The Dive-Bomber in full flight at Stourpaine Bushes in the late 1980s.

This new era had a downside however, as some of the more traditional fairground rides, many having stood the test of time, began to slowly disappear in favour of their new counterparts.

One such ride – the Autodrome – a very fast ride for its time, fell victim to the improvements in hydraulic power. Built by Lang Wheels of Hillingdon, Middlesex in the late 1930s, it followed closely the construction of its predecessor, the Noah’s Ark.

The Autodrome was a very compact machine and where as the Arks all built-up from a centre truck, this ride built around a centre pole, thus dispensing with one load on the road. The actual housing was otherwise very similar to the Ark but it had three main differences: The ride, having no centre truck, meant that the paybox had to be free-standing and needed to be positioned on the outside of the ride. The hills were roughly the same height, however by dispensing with the platforms and bolting the cars directly onto the swifts, much weight was saved.