Bumper Rage

It’s easy for a gear-head to be discouraged about the state of the world. But occasionally a bright light of fun renews the spirit. Road-legal bumper cars do just that. Yes, you read that right; these little bumper buddies are street legal. They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines and co-opt vintage bumper car bodies into the most awesome form of mini-car we’ve seen in too long.

There are seven of these little monsters floating around California and they’re all the creation of one man, Tom Wright. A builder in the outskirts of San Diego, California who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap. Harley motors originally powered them but they rattled your teeth loose. Tom replaces them with Honda or Kawasaki 750’s and a couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase.