Wow! This is cool to see Autoworld again! Karen Owens sometime that year did a 90 second piece on my friends and I when we built a small log cabin.That year, at the age of 13, I "stole" the family canoe and went down the Flint River with my best friend Danny whose father was one of the carpenters working on the Autoworld project. When we pulled ashore, we were a short walk from it and they were having their grand opening that week. We took turns, one stayed with the canoe and the other went inside for a few minutes. We each scored free apples, pencils, and maybe some candies and pamphlets and other goodies in a plastic bag. They were showing off the new 1985 Buicks. Seeing that film "Speed" on the IMAX screen later that year was ASTONISHING! What a nice Tom Sawyer type of adventure. I still have a coffee mug and keychain from Autoworld.
Yeah, well, sadly you and a couple of your friends apparently represent the tiny minority of people who found the place vaguely interesting. A "theme park" with three or four rides....and an IMAX movie theater? That was about it. It was always a ridiculous idea.....a folly of the old rich in Genesee County. It literally closed, for the first time, six months after it opened. They nursed it along for 10 years, with limited hours, but the thing was always an awful concept.
1st off..THANKS!!!! I am a former Six Flags host @ the also defunct AstroWorld. There was a ride that featured a stage & in the background was a map of America. It had the logos of all the 6 flags parks. I started there in 1985. SF Power Plant was another. 6 flags "foray" into "Disney like" attractions WAS a noble stretch by Six Flags. I had a press kit from AutoWorld (including a bumper sticker) I only had still photos + magazine articles. Your video certainly brought it to "life" The amusement industry is a fickle one at best. With ALL the feasibility studies...(can not predict economy, peoples tastes, or the weather) it was rumored that thrill rides would be added "outside" the park. So sad it was not meant to be. Still, another indoor attraction Sid & Marty Krofft World "died" sooner than SF AutoWorld. Again, Thanks for the video!
I went there as a kid, and the problem with it was once you saw it, it was neat, but you really didn't feel like going back. Really more like a museum than a amusement park IMO.
I'm so glad I found this. I was born in 83 so I never saw the place open and operating normally, though I did go for special events in like the late-80s early-90s (FOX66 Kids Club etc.). I remember thinking it was super cool. This is definitely #1 on my list if I ever get my hands on a time machine!
Thanks for putting this up. My dad worked for Oldsmobile at headquarters in Lansing for 30 years and took me to AutoWorld the week it opened in July of '84. It's hard to believe they shut it down in just a few months. We used to have a cabin not too far north of Lapeer and used to go through Flint all the time. It's shockingly sad how Flint has devolved since the early 80s.
yeah, we went in the summer of 84 as well. I was 13, sis was 9, I remember bits and pieces of it after seeing this video....they had a touch screen television setup there...!
I went there a couple times in the early 90s before it closed. I remember the big engine and the water spout that looked like it was floating in mid air, an illusion of course
I was thinking the same thing. It seems to be a big joke nowadays that this place was even built...probably by people who watched Roger & Me, but look at all the excitement and planning that went into this place. It looks like they did a really great job too. Kinda makes me sad at how people must have felt when it didn't work out.
I remember going here.. My dad worked at GM Flint for over 40 years. I was mostly freaked out by those creepy talking models as a kid. You just can't make an amusement park out of a historical museum.
Despite the haters that say Auto World was a huge failure and a disappointment. I think it was nice to see that this was attempted. I get tired of all the Flint bashing. I think Flints been through enough. We should be more proud of our automotive history. We are the birthplace of GM. One of the biggest leaders of automation. If it was not for our for fathers inventions, we would not has vehicles like we have today.
I think the problem is the city used over $60 million that could have helped the city on this failed project when it could have done anything else for its citizens with that money and debt.
I loved this place when i was younger. I was about 10 years old then. I was an easy to impress kid. I wasn't into big scary rides. I loved the Imax screen, loved the animatronic characters, the big engine. I liked it all. It was a blast. I wanted to go back but it closed :-(
I worked on this project as a lab bench technician at Fantasee Lighting (back when it was in Depot Town, Ypsilanti, Michigan - before the fire) in the early 1980s. I must have soldered what seemed like a quarter-million incandescent lightbulbs to magnet inside the spark plug "wires" that were precisely synchronized with the motion of the GIANT V8 engine (in the background at 3:37): th-cam.com/video/yJiR2biLTAQ/w-d-xo.html Another quite realistic special effect for the time included authentically-dressed characters whose live-motion video captured from the faces of actors that was projected on the faces of the character mannequins. The faces of the mannequins were a plain white surface that acted as a tiny projection screen that reflected back the full-motion video(?)/film(?) that was projected onto them. Along with the synchronized voice recording, the effects was quite compelling (for 1980's technology). A big shout-out to Bob Gregory who was the brilliant lead design engineer at Fantasee Lighting whose creativity fueled much of the lighting-related atmosphere on that project that helped make everything come alive! Bob was an outstanding mentor to me. He took time out to explain not only WHAT I was building, but HOW it worked. I learned a great deal from him that summer - Thanks Bob! And thanks for uploading this video -it brings back a lot of memories!
Wish I would have been able to see it. I lived in Flint from 2012 to 2017 and grew to love the city. I still go back weekly. The city might be having a hard time but the people are amazing and the history is amazing.
Thanks for posting this video tour. I'm actually sitting in a building across the Flint river, staring at the site where Auto world once stood. I remember going to Auto world a few times as a teenager. These days, Ive tried to described the property and theme park to my teenage children. This video will help me show them what it was like. At the time, I agreed that it was a decent place to go to, once or twice, but then it quickly lost it lacker. The IMAX was pretty cool, but I had questioned the park's long term viability, even as a teenager.
You probably dont care but if you're bored like me atm then you can stream all the latest movies on InstaFlixxer. Have been watching with my gf during the lockdown xD
Thanks for uploading this because it seemed like the day it opened it was doomed, I went there me dad worked at GM still does…….it’s kinda sad this place isn’t still around……. I’m so glad I grew up in the 80’s…..,. I think we went there a couple times….. I think we are looking at times that are worse than the late 70’s early 80’s and if you didn’t live though it it was bad
It wasn't marketed correctly. I interviewed for the position and when I mentioned promoting Autoworld to neighboring states and Canada, I was looked at like I was crazy.
before the end of flint . before crime and murder . before the water can kill you . this was a good place to live . now not so much . its heartbreaking what has become to my homeland . the 80,s in flint was a great time to grow up . now in 2017 everything is gone .
@@plaguex1 To be more accurate, a combination of turbo and crony capitalism. Neither of which our boomer parents and their parents recognized at the time.
I grew up watching that Channel 12 news lady but can't remember her name. I was in the 4'th grade in May of 1985 when my class went from Reese Michigan to Auto World in Flint. It had a ferris wheel an auto museum and a huge mall with all kinds of shops.
The IMAX bit is hilarious. "It's one of the best attractions in the whole place." It probably was the only worthy attraction that place had. "I liked it when you went down the roller coaster! It seemed like you were really on it!" If only Autoworld HAD a roller coaster, things might have gone differently for the park! Poor Autoworld...
@@scaryhobbit211 Roger Smith, the CEO of General Motors is the one who's responsible for AutoWorld closing its doors. When he started closing down factories in Flint, Michigan and moving them to Mexico, the city started losing revenue. People started leaving town to find employment. Now Flint is a dump!
@@Ocea8i53 General Motors started moving plants to Mexico which left a lot of people jobless in Flint, MI. The AutoWorld theme park was built in Flint to generate revenue in the city, but hardly anyone came. It closed just ten years later.
Basically, there was nothing all that interesting to see or do - but, hey, it was a great way to piss away 40 million bucks. As others have noted, basically it was a museum with a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, and a carousel. Wow. Brilliant. In other words, it was really crappier than the county fair. Born and raised in Flint, I always knew this whole thing was a poison idea. I never even went to the silly thing as I got plenty of reviews from friends and neighbors who were seriously underwhelmed. The thing was the yawn I expected. I really don't know what they thought they were doing when they constructed what soon became this weird albatross of an almost-amusement park.
At least people tried to save their city with some innovative ideas. It's really easy to sit back, have done nothing except complain, and say "I knew all along this would fail." No risk, no gain.
I was 19 in 1984 when this opened and I wanted to be a entertainer there. I never got hired. They liked me too! It failed because it was not the Disney World here that people wanted. It lasted just one year than closed. No longer here now in 2020! U of M Flint put another building there. Memories of it remain. Where are these reporters now??
@@erikag3615 I worked with Karen Gatlin. Anyone not on TV she thought of as pond scum. If her or Larry Elliot made a mistake on live TV it was, "Oh, ha ha, oops! We messed up. Oh, well! Ha ha. No big deal." If anyone on the production side messed up it was, "WTF?! How unprofessional! You shouldn't be working in television. Shame on you!"
I remember wanting to go to this theme park as a kid/young teen...and hearing/reading about the world’s largest engine...I also remember thinking how are they going to have many rides indoors. Well now I know they didn’t have many rides...which led to Autoworld not really being able to attract enough visitors to stay in business. Can you imagine working on building that...just to watch it be torn down shortly thereafter...just a waste of time and resources. Throwing money away...they needed to develop it MUCH bigger or just not even do it...this is in an era(really after) of The Beast...The Gemini...The Demon Drop...maybe even the Magnum XL 200(probably before). People would have liked the museum aspect of this park...BUT...it needed to have at least 2 decent roller coasters. They could have been enclosed tracks outside of the main building/s...also...maybe 1 log ride as well...designed as part of the historic wilderness of the area.
Cool! Maybe I saw you. I went to Autoworld several times. Even after it was officially closed they opened it sever times for GM families like mine. Later I worked at WJRT, the TV station that produced this segment. Karen Gatlin was NOT a friendly person. A total prima donna. She looked down on ANYONE who wasn't in front of the camera.
I went there when it opened . then years later. When it was closed. I remember the building with the Durant factory has the statue of c.s Mott and Durant out front. We was in the basement way before it was fixed up and there was racks of 1930s car doors from a blue star any one know what up with that building.?
@@rach2509 Woke? Really? Anyone living in Flint saw the writing on the wall long before any of you "OMG they're moving all the factories to China" idiots did.
I haven't seen this in person, ive only heard stories from my father and his friends of what a place this used to be, now seeing it, I want to do something to bring the city back on its feet. being a resident of Flint, this is all ive wanted to see in the city, growth, not decay, inspiration, not killings and murders and violence, we cannot be the poorest city in the nation anymore, we just cant! we need something that will spark flint again, make it the Flint we all know it is, this change needs to happen, or the city will become a wasteland as most of it already is. Change needs to happen, not by focusing on the violence but getting something rather that will drive away the violence, the only reason people become violent is either they need something, or want something that they cant get on there own so the only way to do so is by violence, this city has turned into a mean and nasty place, and I believe if we can get something in the city that will help drive away violence, not by force, but a material thing, or jobs, or re introducing industry to the area. Flint has become known as Murdertown. when it was once known as Vehicle city. It has fallen into a state of emergency, for 4 years now, startin in 14 when Obama declared it. NOTHINGS BEEN DONE! IM TIRED OF SEEING THIS CITY FALL INTO NOTHINGNESS, CHANGE NEEDS TO HAPPEN!
Most people in Flint complain about the cold during winter. This would have provided everyone with a semi-tropical environment all year long. How did this fail? Ice cream, movies, food, walking space. Today it would have wifi with indoor trick or treating. Presidents would have made speeches at AutoWorld. At least it was not converted into a prison.
I never got the chance to visit this place but it seems interesting. I think it could’ve worked but I’m sure the residents of Flint were frustrated because GM was closing plants and laying off workers. It’s so sad what GM did to Flint and got away with it.
$24 admission in today's dollars. It had no replay value. Why would anyone that worked in a plant all week want to go to a place to see more work related crap?
Autoworld did not last long. It closed just ONE YEAR after it opened and it just sat there vacant from 1985 to 1997 until it was demolished. It could have been used for something else. it costs more to demolish it than build it!
Bob Cummings...so Six Flags had a contract to operate it for 10 years...ummmm...what happened? Why didn’t the Mott Foundation(if remember correctly from video) step in and spend some more money to run the place at least for 4 more years? I mean...build that for millions and just let it close its doors after only 1 year...silly.
Bob Cummings...also...I watched a different video...it said it opened on July 4th, 1984 and “essentially” closed in January, 1985...so did it make it to July of 1985? Just a bit curious.
@@F1JV It didn't close in 1985, But investors stopped investing around that time, it officially closed in 1994. I went as a kid around 1988. It was still operational then. But I don't remember how much was running on fumes by then.
neoasura...so was it just opened part of the year at that time...because another videos talks about it being opened seasonally? And being in Michigan...I don’t know if it would be better to have an indoor “amusement/history” park opened in the summer or winter months...”HOT/vacation” period or “COLD/nothing better to do” period?
It was a really cool place. Fun and educational for car people. The downside was, in my opinion, that once you saw it there was nothing to bring you back a second time.
Good Lord, that is lame. How could it have cost $69 Million to create this un-amusement park? The monumental waste of money is impressive, however. So lame.
Autoworld was a monster JOKE! People wanted another Disneyworld but was disappointed when they seen it. A waste of taxpayers money. Glad it got demolished in 1997!
It "was" until people seen the inside of it. U should have been here like I was in 1984. I was just 19 at the time too, Lebron! I love your playing. I still play basketball at age 53 and I am still super for it. I play like the Globetrotters!
Lebron, why does the NBA retire players at age 40?? 2 young yet!!! They can still ball in their 40's!! Age does not define them! I am 53 and I still play super basketball. I can still play hard with the younger dudes! I am full of energy! NBA is SCARED of 40 and they scare me! LOL! Answer back please.
I will . Are you going to play until they retire you at 39 0r 40?? I hope not. It would be a huge loss to them! You should come to Flint,Mich. and see me play. I could be the most mature NBA player ever! I am still da bomb! :D!!!
Wow! This is cool to see Autoworld again! Karen Owens sometime that year did a 90 second piece on my friends and I when we built a small log cabin.That year, at the age of 13, I "stole" the family canoe and went down the Flint River with my best friend Danny whose father was one of the carpenters working on the Autoworld project. When we pulled ashore, we were a short walk from it and they were having their grand opening that week. We took turns, one stayed with the canoe and the other went inside for a few minutes. We each scored free apples, pencils, and maybe some candies and pamphlets and other goodies in a plastic bag. They were showing off the new 1985 Buicks. Seeing that film "Speed" on the IMAX screen later that year was ASTONISHING! What a nice Tom Sawyer type of adventure. I still have a coffee mug and keychain from Autoworld.
Yeah, well, sadly you and a couple of your friends apparently represent the tiny minority of people who found the place vaguely interesting. A "theme park" with three or four rides....and an IMAX movie theater? That was about it. It was always a ridiculous idea.....a folly of the old rich in Genesee County. It literally closed, for the first time, six months after it opened. They nursed it along for 10 years, with limited hours, but the thing was always an awful concept.
My parents owned the old time photography studio inside autoworld. Spent alot of my childhood exploring that place.
Like a whole 6 months…wow.
1st off..THANKS!!!! I am a former Six Flags host @ the also defunct AstroWorld. There was a ride that featured a stage & in the background was a map of America. It had the logos of all the 6 flags parks. I started there in 1985. SF Power Plant was another. 6 flags "foray" into "Disney like" attractions WAS a noble stretch by Six Flags. I had a press kit from AutoWorld (including a bumper sticker) I only had still photos + magazine articles. Your video certainly brought it to "life" The amusement industry is a fickle one at best. With ALL the feasibility studies...(can not predict economy, peoples tastes, or the weather) it was rumored that thrill rides would be added "outside" the park. So sad it was not meant to be. Still, another indoor attraction Sid & Marty Krofft World "died" sooner than SF AutoWorld. Again, Thanks for the video!
Post the press kit!
it was open longer than Wild West World in Wichita KS
I went there as a kid, and the problem with it was once you saw it, it was neat, but you really didn't feel like going back. Really more like a museum than a amusement park IMO.
No rollercoaster, but, here: watch a movie about being on a rollercoaster. LOL MICHICAN
I'm so glad I found this. I was born in 83 so I never saw the place open and operating normally, though I did go for special events in like the late-80s early-90s (FOX66 Kids Club etc.). I remember thinking it was super cool. This is definitely #1 on my list if I ever get my hands on a time machine!
Thank You for uploading this. The end credits showing various stages of construction was awesome.
Thanks for putting this up. My dad worked for Oldsmobile at headquarters in Lansing for 30 years and took me to AutoWorld the week it opened in July of '84. It's hard to believe they shut it down in just a few months. We used to have a cabin not too far north of Lapeer and used to go through Flint all the time. It's shockingly sad how Flint has devolved since the early 80s.
This has been fun yet sad to watch. People had such hopes for Flint. Remember seeing the huge motor at 4 years old.
yeah, we went in the summer of 84 as well. I was 13, sis was 9, I remember bits and pieces of it after seeing this video....they had a touch screen television setup there...!
I went there a couple times in the early 90s before it closed. I remember the big engine and the water spout that looked like it was floating in mid air, an illusion of course
I was thinking the same thing. It seems to be a big joke nowadays that this place was even built...probably by people who watched Roger & Me, but look at all the excitement and planning that went into this place. It looks like they did a really great job too. Kinda makes me sad at how people must have felt when it didn't work out.
6:04 "The average stay at Autoworld is expected to be about five hours"
LOL
More like one hour
I very faintly remember going there once as a kid. Seeing these attractions, I understand why we never went back.
Thanks for posting this...really cool...including the ‘80s commercials.
I chuckled when I saw the bill Cosby commercial
I remember going here.. My dad worked at GM Flint for over 40 years. I was mostly freaked out by those creepy talking models as a kid. You just can't make an amusement park out of a historical museum.
Despite the haters that say Auto World was a huge failure and a disappointment. I think it was nice to see that this was attempted. I get tired of all the Flint bashing. I think Flints been through enough. We should be more proud of our automotive history. We are the birthplace of GM. One of the biggest leaders of automation. If it was not for our for fathers inventions, we would not has vehicles like we have today.
I think the problem is the city used over $60 million that could have helped the city on this failed project when it could have done anything else for its citizens with that money and debt.
flint was the victim of deindustrialization, no more or less
#HELP-CLEAN-UP-FLINT💫
I loved this place when i was younger. I was about 10 years old then. I was an easy to impress kid. I wasn't into big scary rides. I loved the Imax screen, loved the animatronic characters, the big engine. I liked it all. It was a blast. I wanted to go back but it closed :-(
It would be great if Flint MI could rebuild and revive this place. I remember being a little kid going there.
Thank you so much for sharing this!! Never knew much about this!
I worked on this project as a lab bench technician at Fantasee Lighting (back when it was in Depot Town, Ypsilanti, Michigan - before the fire) in the early 1980s.
I must have soldered what seemed like a quarter-million incandescent lightbulbs to magnet inside the spark plug "wires" that were precisely synchronized with the motion of the GIANT V8 engine (in the background at 3:37): th-cam.com/video/yJiR2biLTAQ/w-d-xo.html
Another quite realistic special effect for the time included authentically-dressed characters whose live-motion video captured from the faces of actors that was projected on the faces of the character mannequins. The faces of the mannequins were a plain white surface that acted as a tiny projection screen that reflected back the full-motion video(?)/film(?) that was projected onto them. Along with the synchronized voice recording, the effects was quite compelling (for 1980's technology).
A big shout-out to Bob Gregory who was the brilliant lead design engineer at Fantasee Lighting whose creativity fueled much of the lighting-related atmosphere on that project that helped make everything come alive!
Bob was an outstanding mentor to me.
He took time out to explain not only WHAT I was building, but HOW it worked.
I learned a great deal from him that summer
- Thanks Bob!
And thanks for uploading this video -it brings back a lot of memories!
Wish I would have been able to see it. I lived in Flint from 2012 to 2017 and grew to love the city. I still go back weekly. The city might be having a hard time but the people are amazing and the history is amazing.
Thanks for posting this video tour. I'm actually sitting in a building across the Flint river, staring at the site where Auto world once stood. I remember going to Auto world a few times as a teenager. These days, Ive tried to described the property and theme park to my teenage children. This video will help me show them what it was like. At the time, I agreed that it was a decent place to go to, once or twice, but then it quickly lost it lacker. The IMAX was pretty cool, but I had questioned the park's long term viability, even as a teenager.
Look how skinny everyone was back then compared to now
You probably dont care but if you're bored like me atm then you can stream all the latest movies on InstaFlixxer. Have been watching with my gf during the lockdown xD
@Kaison Brett Yea, I've been watching on Instaflixxer for since december myself :)
Cigarettes and crack will do that for you.
Salad bar
Eh
Thanks for uploading this because it seemed like the day it opened it was doomed, I went there me dad worked at GM still does…….it’s kinda sad this place isn’t still around……. I’m so glad I grew up in the 80’s…..,. I think we went there a couple times….. I think we are looking at times that are worse than the late 70’s early 80’s and if you didn’t live though it it was bad
Something strange about this. Like a wierd dream. Almost creepy.
It wasn't marketed correctly. I interviewed for the position and when I mentioned promoting Autoworld to neighboring states and Canada, I was looked at like I was crazy.
before the end of flint . before crime and murder . before the water can kill you . this was a good place to live . now not so much . its heartbreaking what has become to my homeland . the 80,s in flint was a great time to grow up . now in 2017 everything is gone .
Before capitalism began completely eating the middle class
@@plaguex1 To be more accurate, a combination of turbo and crony capitalism. Neither of which our boomer parents and their parents recognized at the time.
Funny, here I thought the guy at 14:05 saying that the downtown was getting a bad wrap, in 1984 mind you, sounded no different than your comment...
interesting, I just found out that the building I take art classes in stands on top of what used to be Auto World
BrokeBot white?
@@juliegraham5704yes, the White building.
I grew up watching that Channel 12 news lady but can't remember her name. I was in the 4'th grade in May of 1985 when my class went from Reese Michigan to Auto World in Flint. It had a ferris wheel an auto museum and a huge mall with all kinds of shops.
What a fantastic waste of money! This place cost roughly 80 million dollars to build. No sooner than it opened up, it was closing down.
The IMAX bit is hilarious.
"It's one of the best attractions in the whole place."
It probably was the only worthy attraction that place had.
"I liked it when you went down the roller coaster! It seemed like you were really on it!"
If only Autoworld HAD a roller coaster, things might have gone differently for the park!
Poor Autoworld...
@@scaryhobbit211
Roger Smith, the CEO of General Motors is the one who's responsible for AutoWorld closing its doors. When he started closing down factories in Flint, Michigan and moving them to Mexico, the city started losing revenue. People started leaving town to find employment. Now Flint is a dump!
What happened to make it fail?
@@Ocea8i53
General Motors started moving plants to Mexico which left a lot of people jobless in Flint, MI. The AutoWorld theme park was built in Flint to generate revenue in the city, but hardly anyone came. It closed just ten years later.
@@alanmorris7669 how sad, of what could of had been
Basically, there was nothing all that interesting to see or do - but, hey, it was a great way to piss away 40 million bucks. As others have noted, basically it was a museum with a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, and a carousel. Wow. Brilliant. In other words, it was really crappier than the county fair. Born and raised in Flint, I always knew this whole thing was a poison idea. I never even went to the silly thing as I got plenty of reviews from friends and neighbors who were seriously underwhelmed. The thing was the yawn I expected. I really don't know what they thought they were doing when they constructed what soon became this weird albatross of an almost-amusement park.
At least people tried to save their city with some innovative ideas. It's really easy to sit back, have done nothing except complain, and say "I knew all along this would fail." No risk, no gain.
Great video Gary!
I miss this place
I was 19 in 1984 when this opened and I wanted to be a entertainer there. I never got hired. They liked me too! It failed because it was not the Disney World here that people wanted. It lasted just one year than closed. No longer here now in 2020! U of M Flint put another building there. Memories of it remain. Where are these reporters now??
Bob cummings Karen Gatlin retired maybe 7 years ago. She moved to Florida. When I student taught in 2003, her oldest son was in my class at FHS.
@@erikag3615 I worked with Karen Gatlin. Anyone not on TV she thought of as pond scum. If her or Larry Elliot made a mistake on live TV it was, "Oh, ha ha, oops! We messed up. Oh, well! Ha ha. No big deal." If anyone on the production side messed up it was, "WTF?! How unprofessional! You shouldn't be working in television. Shame on you!"
I do remember visiting, I would of been 6 years old. I remember seeing the imax.
And yet my town STILL hasn't gotten an IMAX screen (Toledo, OH)!
Love the Bill Cosby commercial!!!!!!!!
I remember wanting to go to this theme park as a kid/young teen...and hearing/reading about the world’s largest engine...I also remember thinking how are they going to have many rides indoors. Well now I know they didn’t have many rides...which led to Autoworld not really being able to attract enough visitors to stay in business. Can you imagine working on building that...just to watch it be torn down shortly thereafter...just a waste of time and resources.
Throwing money away...they needed to develop it MUCH bigger or just not even do it...this is in an era(really after) of The Beast...The Gemini...The Demon Drop...maybe even the Magnum XL 200(probably before). People would have liked the museum aspect of this park...BUT...it needed to have at least 2 decent roller coasters. They could have been enclosed tracks outside of the main building/s...also...maybe 1 log ride as well...designed as part of the historic wilderness of the area.
Ive been in there once and went to the IMAX it was big
I worked there back in Christmas of 89. Summer of 90.
Cool! Maybe I saw you. I went to Autoworld several times. Even after it was officially closed they opened it sever times for GM families like mine. Later I worked at WJRT, the TV station that produced this segment. Karen Gatlin was NOT a friendly person. A total prima donna. She looked down on ANYONE who wasn't in front of the camera.
@@jonah1976 that's what I heard. I worked security both times. It was fun.
I went there when it opened . then years later. When it was closed. I remember the building with the Durant factory has the statue of c.s Mott and Durant out front. We was in the basement way before it was fixed up and there was racks of 1930s car doors from a blue star any one know what up with that building.?
The only good thing about Flint Michigan is that it doesn't cost money to leave it.
Home 💙
It's going to come back one day it takes time but Flint will come back.
Ironically climate change will make Michigan an extremely attractive place to live.
@@FridgeToThe Yeah, but NOT in Our Lifetimes
Fridge...yeah...snowing May 8, 2020...lows have been in the 20s...right now May 14, 2020 46 degrees...real-feel...38 degrees. 👌👌👌
Went there August of 1984. Felt weird to be in a place that was glorifying the auto industry just after GM closed the Chevy truck plant in Flint.
Really, bro? You were that woke in '84? Lmao
@@rach2509 Woke? Really? Anyone living in Flint saw the writing on the wall long before any of you "OMG they're moving all the factories to China" idiots did.
"Just please come to Flint! We're desperate! Do you want a street named after you? We'll do it!!"
Great piece of Flint history.
I haven't seen this in person, ive only heard stories from my father and his friends of what a place this used to be, now seeing it, I want to do something to bring the city back on its feet. being a resident of Flint, this is all ive wanted to see in the city, growth, not decay, inspiration, not killings and murders and violence, we cannot be the poorest city in the nation anymore, we just cant! we need something that will spark flint again, make it the Flint we all know it is, this change needs to happen, or the city will become a wasteland as most of it already is. Change needs to happen, not by focusing on the violence but getting something rather that will drive away the violence, the only reason people become violent is either they need something, or want something that they cant get on there own so the only way to do so is by violence, this city has turned into a mean and nasty place, and I believe if we can get something in the city that will help drive away violence, not by force, but a material thing, or jobs, or re introducing industry to the area. Flint has become known as Murdertown. when it was once known as Vehicle city. It has fallen into a state of emergency, for 4 years now, startin in 14 when Obama declared it. NOTHINGS BEEN DONE! IM TIRED OF SEEING THIS CITY FALL INTO NOTHINGNESS, CHANGE NEEDS TO HAPPEN!
All of the rubber from those released balloons are still somewhere, not decomposing for hundreds of years.
$8 in 1984 is equal to about $24 today. In case you were wondering.
Most people in Flint complain about the cold during winter. This would have provided everyone with a semi-tropical environment all year long. How did this fail? Ice cream, movies, food, walking space. Today it would have wifi with indoor trick or treating. Presidents would have made speeches at AutoWorld. At least it was not converted into a prison.
It had nothing to offer to entice repeat visitors such as changing exhibits.
it failed because its in flint michigan lmfao
You mean people weren’t lining up to hear a robot dummy automotive worker complain about the slowdown of Ole 1937!?!? 🤓 Major shocker!!
Or go to Teddy's Tavern and enjoy a wild and crazy warm sarsaparilla and hardtack, just like 100 years ago! Yay!
where's the auto worker singing to the robot?
Weird this randomly popped up
7:24 Delightful animation. Definitely not a mutant baby coming out of a car's giant birth canal.
would this had been more successful if it had been located outside of Flint? or would it have failed anywhere?
Failed anywhere
So the big question is now, what the heck happened to make it go so damned bad
Whatever happened to the reporter with the glasses?? I for got who he is! Oh, Chuck Ferrell! Where is he now??
www.linkedin.com/in/chuck-ferrell-b9b8b9111
I never got the chance to visit this place but it seems interesting. I think it could’ve worked but I’m sure the residents of Flint were frustrated because GM was closing plants and laying off workers. It’s so sad what GM did to Flint and got away with it.
You're lucky..... it sucked
$24 admission in today's dollars. It had no replay value. Why would anyone that worked in a plant all week want to go to a place to see more work related crap?
was this supposed to be a theme park or a museum with a bunch of carnival rides?
I wouldn't call rides with animatronics and themeing carnival rides??
マイケルムーアのドキュメンタリーを観てフリントのことを知りました。悲しい。。。
I this this translates to: I watched Michael Moore's documentary and knew about Flint. sad...
Autoworld did not last long. It closed just ONE YEAR after it opened and it just sat there vacant from 1985 to 1997 until it was demolished. It could have been used for something else. it costs more to demolish it than build it!
Would've made for a decent casino
Bob Cummings...so Six Flags had a contract to operate it for 10 years...ummmm...what happened? Why didn’t the Mott Foundation(if remember correctly from video) step in and spend some more money to run the place at least for 4 more years? I mean...build that for millions and just let it close its doors after only 1 year...silly.
Bob Cummings...also...I watched a different video...it said it opened on July 4th, 1984 and “essentially” closed in January, 1985...so did it make it to July of 1985? Just a bit curious.
@@F1JV It didn't close in 1985, But investors stopped investing around that time, it officially closed in 1994. I went as a kid around 1988. It was still operational then. But I don't remember how much was running on fumes by then.
neoasura...so was it just opened part of the year at that time...because another videos talks about it being opened seasonally? And being in Michigan...I don’t know if it would be better to have an indoor “amusement/history” park opened in the summer or winter months...”HOT/vacation” period or “COLD/nothing better to do” period?
That was tacky AF! And that Mott foundation got real *moated* wasting 35 million bucks with this turd.
11:30 So it's just the other ride but two minutes shorter and a different, duller story.
Why did this fail?
Joe Lubas Because not a lot of people cared about car history and animatronic horses.
It was kind of cool but limited to Flint and Auto history. It would be hard to spend 5hrs in there.
I liked it a lot but I am a car guy
It was a really cool place. Fun and educational for car people. The downside was, in my opinion, that once you saw it there was nothing to bring you back a second time.
It would have succeeded if not for all the illegitimate children in flint…..
Good Lord, that is lame. How could it have cost $69 Million to create this un-amusement park? The monumental waste of money is impressive, however. So lame.
That looks...really boring.
Autoworld was a monster JOKE! People wanted another Disneyworld but was disappointed when they seen it. A waste of taxpayers money. Glad it got demolished in 1997!
Bob Cummings seemed like a good park
It "was" until people seen the inside of it. U should have been here like I was in 1984. I was just 19 at the time too, Lebron! I love your playing. I still play basketball at age 53 and I am still super for it. I play like the Globetrotters!
Lebron, why does the NBA retire players at age 40?? 2 young yet!!! They can still ball in their 40's!! Age does not define them! I am 53 and I still play super basketball. I can still play hard with the younger dudes! I am full of energy! NBA is SCARED of 40 and they scare me! LOL! Answer back please.
Bob Cummings yeah I don’t why they retire at 40 well keep playing basketball 🤗 as long as you want...
I will . Are you going to play until they retire you at 39 0r 40?? I hope not. It would be a huge loss to them! You should come to Flint,Mich. and see me play. I could be the most mature NBA player ever! I am still da bomb! :D!!!
What a bunch of cheesy crap.
Good cheese, it’s a shame stuff like this isn’t around anymore
Where did the carousel and robot that Rolled around talking to patrons end up at after it closed??
So sad.
$8 in 1984 is equal to about $24 today. In case you were wondering.