Your Model T Ford awaits, as young guests were invited to hit the road and experience what it's like to 'drive' a real car on this classic attraction. The Vintage Car Ride originally opened as part of Fantasy World in 1983, where they operated for 10 years, on the hill just above Black Hole.
When Land of Make Believe opened in 1993, the cars moved to the new area, gaining a new storybook theme as well as a dramatic new backdrop, in the shadow of the Towers themselves. Whilst the ride retained the same layout in its new location, the track took riders past various storybook characters and through a magical Gingerbread House. They remained in this spot for the rest of their operational life, retaining the same theme when they eventually became part of Cred Street.
Change was afoot, however, by 2004 when the ride was SBNO for the season alongside the neighbouring Cred Street Carousel. Over the season there was much speculation about the ride's removal, but defying the odds, it re-opened again the following year. But the Vintage Cars would only have one more season, and it turned out that 2005 would be their final year. By the summer of 2006 the site became home to the Peugeot 207 Driving School and the much loved kids ride had been scrapped.
But the story didn't end there... after the ride's closure, one of the brightly coloured Model T Fords found its way to the entrance of Magic HQ, Alton Towers' staff headquarters, where it became a behind the scenes photo op.
Rather unusually, the ride's original track in Fantasy World survived for almost 20 years after the ride was relocated, long after even the Cred Street version of the Vintage Car Ride had been removed. After the ride was relocated in 1993, the original path of the ride was used as the foundations for the Black Hole's overflow queue in later years. It therefore survived in X- Sector right up to 2012, when the site was excavated to become part of The Smiler.
Meanwhile, whilst attending the Driving School, younger guests can still find their way into the ride's old Gingerbread House, which these day's is better known as the ride's colourful Car Wash.