Bumper car history
would not be the same without the Dodgem  production line. Dodgem cars were invented in 1919 by Max and Harold Stoehrer of Methuen, Massachusetts. A 1921 test by Scientific American called the rear-steering Dodgem cars “highly unmanageable ... the steering is only relative.” It didn’t matter. People liked banging into one another and Dodgem cars became wildly popular. Dodgem went out of business in the early 1970s.

It is hoped that this pictorial section will help illustrate some of the different years. This is not a complete library of all models, but more a general overview of each decade.

Click the links below, and explore some of the illustrated years of these great cars.

Dodgem by Decades

1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s