In 1979, Brian Collins undertook a significant revamped of the Amusement Park franchise that he had operated behind the ruins at Alton Towers for nearly 20 years. Most of the oldest rides departed to make way for new, more thrilling headliners.
The Dodgems that had been a staple of the amusement park since its earliest days were swapped out for a brand new Maxwell Waltzer, which was in stark contrast to what has gone before. The park had always had a very traditional look, but the new ride was an unashamedly modern affair. In place of traditionally painted roundings and shutters, the waltzer had a blocky baby-blue and pink geometric design, created out of fibre glass, along with an updated ride system providing a quieter ride than old-fashioned waltzers.
By this point Brian Collins would have already known about John Broome's plan for Alton Towers, and no doubt these new additions were designed to operate alongside the new, more modern rides that would arrive in 1980. Over the Winter of 1979, however, it became clear that it was not going to be possible for the Amusement Park to continue to operate, and so the Waltzers only had one season at Alton Towers before they departed with Brian Collins.
But the story didn't end there... The Maxwell Waltzer reappeared in 1984, when Brian Collins took over the lease of the recently closed Butlins in Clacton on Sea and opened Atlas Park. The park was short-lived and the waltzers were sold on many times after it closed, moving to several smaller parks around the south of the UK, but eventually they returned to Clacton in 1995, where they still operate on the pier today, known as Thunder-Dome.