Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Somebody knows... Maybe you?
Post Reply
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5091
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by coppinpr »

Truth is, I think I know the answer, and it's no. But I had to ask. Yet another TV program (this time it's Salvage hunters) is restoring a coin-op machine and needs help. This time it's an International Mutoscope "Drive-Mobile Drive Yourself Road Test" from 1954. They would like to photograph a restored version if one exists in the UK, so if anyone has one and is interested please let me know. This is thought to be the first seated game of its kind anyone know any different?

machine 1.jpg
machine 1.jpg (10.04 KiB) Viewed 3183 times

The same goes for anyone with a restored German Fussball that looks like this rare looking one (poor photo. It's all I have at the moment)
Attachments
Fußball-Match.png
Fußball-Match.png (92.15 KiB) Viewed 3183 times
pennymachines
Site Admin
Posts: 6634
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2002 12:12 am
Reaction score: 54
Location: The Black Country

Re: Has anyone got one of these?

Post by pennymachines »

coppinpr wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:32 pm Truth is, I think I know the answer, and it's no.

There are a few in the UK. I believe Clive operated one, there was one at the Mablethorpe arcade, and one went unsold at the EH, 2016.


104.jpg


catalogue wrote:Made by Mutoscope as "Drivemobile" - but interestingly this UK version states on the backflash "Mills Novelty Co."

The Brighton Run theme suggests it was made for export to the UK.


Image

One of our members here posted about his M1-themed Mills novelty Road Test in 2008. Again this seems to be Mutoscope's Drivemobile. Maybe they were made under license?

Image
coppinpr wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:32 pm This is thought to be the first seated game of its kind. Anyone know any different?

26 years earlier, Algernon Evans filed British patent GB322268 for a seated driving game. See: Oldest known car driving/motorcycle riding games?

coppinpr wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:32 pm The same goes for anyone with a restored German Fussball that looks like this rare looking one (poor photo. It's all I have at the moment)

I also received an email from Curve Media about this a couple of weeks ago. They had noticed the page here about these games: Glerios, Seipel & Co. Fußball-Match identified. Unfortunately, that's the sum total of my knowledge about them.
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5091
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by coppinpr »

Mr P., perhaps you can answer something that has been bothering me as I research the "road test". The Mutoscope Co shows in several places on the net as going out of business in 1950, yet their "Road Test", still under their name in the USA, came out in July 1954. Now I see that the UK versions "M1" (which is the one the TV company has) and "Brighton Run" carry the Mills Name (at least sometimes). Is there any evidence that Mills bought out the old company in 1950?
pennymachines
Site Admin
Posts: 6634
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2002 12:12 am
Reaction score: 54
Location: The Black Country

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by pennymachines »

I don't know where you got that date but, according to Alexander Smith, William Rabkin, founder of International Mutoscope, died in 1956, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1969 and, "while it managed to limp along for a few more years was never a potent force in the business again."
Historical Interlude: The History of Coin-Op Part 5, Consolidation and Stagnation
coppinpr wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 5:13 pmIs there any evidence that Mills bought out the old company in 1950?

None that I'm aware of, but I haven't researched it.
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5091
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by coppinpr »

pennymachines wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:03 pmI don't know where you got that date,
I know it doesn't mean a thing in reality but I found that date in three places including the science museum and Wikipedia, in the end you have to believe something
pennymachines
Site Admin
Posts: 6634
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2002 12:12 am
Reaction score: 54
Location: The Black Country

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by pennymachines »

Acknowledged experts and researchers, like Bueschel, Costa etc., who've chased down original documentation and quote their sources, are more trustworthy than Wikipedia.

They're not as convenient as a computer, but you still can't beat books for this sort of information. Alexander Smith quotes his sources (books, correspondence, etc.)

Wikipedia is only as good as the anonymous editor who submits to it. I've found it unreliable on our specialist interest. They have the company's demise as 1949 (as does the Science Museum). One probably got the date from the other. This is why you have to chase information back to its origin, otherwise errors on a popular site get duplicated, mutate again at some point, and ignorance and confusion prevails.

Remember the Bell-Fruit Gum Company?
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5091
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by coppinpr »

that IS why I said "it doesn't mean a thing in reality" :cool:
User avatar
JC
Posts: 1082
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:38 pm
Reaction score: 9
Location: Kent
Contact:

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by JC »

pennymachines wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 2:44 pmWikipedia is only as good as the anonymous editor who submits to it. I've found it unreliable on our specialist interest. They have the company's demise as 1949 (as does the Science Museum).

I suspect there was some confusion here - the William Rabkin mutoscopes were produced from 1925 - 1949.
pennymachines wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 2:44 pmThe Brighton Run theme suggests it was made for export to the UK.
pennymachines wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 2:44 pmOne of our members here posted about his M1-themed Mills novelty Road Test in 2008. Again this seems to be Mutoscope's Drivemobile. Maybe they were made under license?

These machines were all made by Mutoscope as 'Drivemobile'. A small number were imported into this country and converted for British use, specifically for 240v operation, and were renamed either 'M1 Road Test' or 'Brighton Run'.

Mills Novelty Co is just a made-up name. The bloke who imported them (can't remember his name, but I can probably find out) had a workshop unit in an old Lancashire Mill - that's where he got the Mills name from.
pennymachines
Site Admin
Posts: 6634
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2002 12:12 am
Reaction score: 54
Location: The Black Country

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by pennymachines »

Such tidbits of information are sometimes crucial to understanding how a machine came down to us in its current form. Funny (and confusing) that he unwittingly hit upon the real name of another American game manufacturer of the period.

JC wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:39 pm I suspect there was some confusion here - the William Rabkin mutoscopes were produced from 1925 - 1949.

Something like that, no doubt. It says the company, "continued to manufacture arcade machines... until 1949", and "may have been the first to market the claw machine", both of which we know are incorrect. Rabkin claimed his was the first digger, although Exhibit Supply challenged Mutoscope over patent rights on their slightly earlier game, and Norwat's Steam Shovel was on the scene in 1926.
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5091
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by coppinpr »

JC wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:56 pmcan't remember his name, but I can probably find out
Jerry, that would be very useful, if it's not too much trouble. !THUMBS!
User avatar
brigham
Posts: 1178
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:37 pm
Reaction score: 2

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by brigham »

Playing the Brighton Run made an indelible impression on me. It remains my idea of how a driving game OUGHT to be.
Strangely, I can't remember where I used to play it.
Good to know more of its history.
pinballsurgery
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:40 pm
Reaction score: 0

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by pinballsurgery »

I'm restoring one of these at the moment, I suspect the one mentioned at the start of the article. I can answer the colour question now I have started to disassemble the machine. the main body was red with a white speckle.

20210511_144119924_iOSa.jpg

Unfortunately although I have a Mutoscope schematic it is nothing like the innards of this machine. If anyone knows what this unit was actually called or did I would be grateful.

20210511_144106845_iOSa.jpg

It's turned to rust inside but by my best guess is that I think it was some sort of step, pulse or ratchet relay. There appears to have been a single switch contact that was closed by a wheel with six 'fingers' which in turn was moved by a coil pulling a cog attached to that wheel. So when power was applied it looks like there would have been a break/make which was held until power was released - unfortunately this raises the question of why a standard ratchet relay was not used so maybe it generated pulses. Whatever way I'm going to have to fabricate a replacement.
User avatar
brigham
Posts: 1178
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:37 pm
Reaction score: 2

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by brigham »

It might be better to work to the original diagram, unless a better example of the conversion turns up, to copy.
I suppose the GB version is ALSO a collectors' item by now!
pinballsurgery
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:40 pm
Reaction score: 0

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by pinballsurgery »

I have the original schematics but they do not marry up with this machine. There are several major changes, it looks like the machine's wiring is original so I will have to make a new wiring diagram based on what I have to get to the bottom of this. One thing that would be helpful is the schematic has a bell, this machine does not but it does have two spare wires going into a terminal block. My guess would be that the bell has been removed but if anyone does have a UK 'Mills' based driving machine it would be good to know if it does own a bell.
User avatar
brigham
Posts: 1178
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:37 pm
Reaction score: 2

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by brigham »

It has a harsh buzzer, rather than a bell. It buzzes in time with a flashing light, on whichever side of the road you've run off.
pinballsurgery
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:40 pm
Reaction score: 0

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by pinballsurgery »

The machine is now restored and fully working. It will be on Series 5 of Salvage Hunters - The Restorers next year. If anyone else comes across one of these machines based on the restoration process I found that the internal workings of the UK 'Mills' machine bears no resemblance to the US Mutoscope original, either in wiring or function. The US machine runs on all 110v while the UK version had three voltages 240v AC, 28v DC and 24v AC and the US machine was built to a better internal component layout and design. In particular, from the schematics, the US version had a far better random play aspect down to extra drum and play switches. Given that the drum of the UK machine is painted for left hand drive and more importantly many of the parts and motors appear to be UK in origin my best guess would be that the machines were licenced and made in the UK. In the change to multiple voltages it looks like the builders dropped flashing lamps and the entire random reverse drum circuit, based on the original design I have reinstalled both. At the end of the day it's a fun game to play. My grandson absolutely loved it, which goes to show once again that there is still a lot of fun to be had from these wonderful old machines.
mr merrivale
Posts: 170
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2016 1:08 pm
Reaction score: 3

Re: Has anyone got a Mutoscope Drivemobile?

Post by mr merrivale »

I did the program recording yesterday in my Great Yarmouth arcade
20210915_140358.jpg

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests