The Wild Mouse (Wilden Maus) was designed by Franz Mack of Germany in 1957. The ride became an instant hit and licenses to build the design were quickly sold worldwide.
In Australia Ted Hopkins (General Manager of Luna Park, Sydney) saw it at the Seattle Worlds Fair while he was touring the U.S. in 1962 for a new park attraction. He negotiated for the Australian license to manufacture the German ride. To minimise costs he had three built - one for his Luna Park, the other two for a showman by the name of Green. It was rumoured to reduce the sign costs he changed the name from Wild Mouse to Mad Mouse.
No huge rollercoaster drops by today’s terms but lots of tight, unbanked 180° ’switchback’ turns and speedy dips. Most of the excitement is from that the skateboard-sized wheel-base under the car that appears to come off the track. Children of all ages love it.
All three rides still exist. The Adelaide Mad Mouse was operated by Bob Lawrence till 2007 while the Melbourne unit owned by Wittingslow, is used once a year at the Rye Summer Carnival, after being a staple attraction of the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds till its removal in 2003. The original Wild Mouse of the late Ted Hopkins resides in Sydney’s Luna Park today is subject to a heritage order. There is one other Wild Mouse at Aussie World (previously located in the Perth Showgrounds, Western Australia); and before that, in the USA.
This is a truely GRAT ride,fo sho!
ba-boss-bomb - July 2nd, 2009 at 7:49 am