THE DREAM CAR

It is said that many guys never get over their first car. Years after selling it, they find themselves fantasizing about finding another one just like it. For Kevin Miller that first car has a special meaning. Kevin has owned many cars in his 23 years of driving but his search was not for a gold 1972 Plymouth Satellite but for something from much farther back in his memories.

Every child loves to play like they are grownups.. They mimic people, pretend and dress up. When a child goes to the local amusement park it is no different. They get on airplanes and they are suddenly transformed into the Red Baron. They run to the rockets and to the bumper cars; but there is nothing like the gas powered car that a child can drive himself. To hear the loud putter and pop of the single cylinder engine and to be legally allowed to drive even on a rail is the thrill of a lifetime.

That was a thrill that Kevin Miller has never outgrown. Now 39 years old, Kevin’s 10 year search for his Streifthau Turnpike Cruiser came to a very surprising end on a blustery Saturday in February 2005. The car he dreamed of for so long was found behind the garage of Tom Kinsey, president of the King Midget car club. The Streifthau Turnpike Cruiser was a fiberglass-bodied car made popular in amusement parks throughout the country in the late fifties and sixties.

The Streifthau Dream Car awaiting some tender loving care. [Photo by Kevin Miller]	The Streifthau Dream Car interior was very basic. [Photo by Kevin Miller]

They were built on the grounds of the Fantasy Farm Amusement Park in Middletown, Ohio, developed and managed by Edgar Streifthau. Edgar also was owner of the Streifthau Manufacturing Company which built Erie motorbikes. He was the founder of LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park also known as Americana. Edgar teamed up with Frank Dodd of Oxford, Ohio to build a turnpike car.

Frank visited the newly built Disneyland just after returning from a stint in the military. Frank saw the gas powered cars of Disney and was hooked. Upon his return home Frank sculpted the body of a car to resemble the features of the average car of the time. Frank then turned to Sam Neihoff also of Oxford. Sam built the chassis for the first generation car. They found a frame of a cart with a wheelbase of 47 inches and the overall width of 32 inches. The first chassis used 1 inch square tubing, as did the King Midget Junior that the chassis was somewhat copied from. The early cars from the late fifties had two headlights and tall narrow tail fins. They were steered by the driver. Some of the earliest runs for the cars were through a maze of straw setup on High Street in Oxford for a street fest in the late fifties.

A number of engines and clutches were experimented with. the Cushman engine and clutch combination was found to be the combo of choice to handle the heat of running in an enclosed box all day for years. Once setup in amusement parks kids would drive them hard and run into guardrails and each other. The frame was not up to the rigors of amusement park service so Edgar's son, Lindy Streifthau set out to build a second generation car that had a frame built from angle iron and was much heavier. The chassis had rack and pinion steering and grease fittings on the bearings. The bodies had four headlights and wider but shorter tail fins and a fiberglass floorpan. The beefier cars were marketed acorss the country and sold to parks including Cedar Point, Coney Island, Knotts Berry Farm, LeSourdsville Lake and many parks along the east coast.

Kevin was doing some research into the long since defunct Streifthau Manufacturing Company. Kevin called Frank Dodd. Kevin was glued to every word from the creator of his dream car. Kevin had hoped that Frank would have a car or two around but Frank could only provide the name Larry Neihoff, the son of Sam Neihoff.

Frank Dodd assited in designing the car and made it look like actual cars.. [Photo by Kevin Miller]	The Streifthau Dream Car chasis. [Photo by Kevin Miller]

Kevin called Larry in search for a car. Larry said that he had long since sold or scrapped everything he had. There was however one vital piece of information Larry offered that led Kevin to his dream car. One of the early chassis was based on a frame built from a company in Athens, Ohio. Larry said he could not remember the name of the company but Kevin knew exactly who it was. The chassis he was looking for was a King Midget Junior. Kevin was now learning much about the old car company. Using a first generation body purchased at a swap meet last summer Kevin decided to start building one from scratch. The first thing Kevin did was to join the Yahoo group for King Midget. Kevin sent out a request for plans, blueprints, drawings, an original car or a reproduction, anything to get a start in building his dream car. Kathy Kinsey the secretary of the King Midget car club, replied to the email within five minutes.

Kathy said that her husband had a King Midget Junior for sale. Kevin received a call from Tom a couple days later. Kevin made the one-hour trip to Tom’s house. He had no idea what else he was about to find. Kevin had no idea that the car of his dreams sat behind Tom’s garage. After seeing the Junior Tom said come back here for a minute. Kevin walked behind the garage to find it sitting under a truck cap; a Streifthau Turnpike Cruiser.

"I didn’t know if I should laugh, cry, jump up and down, or wet myself," said Kevin. "I have not seen this car in twenty-eight years and now all of the sudden the search was over."

Kevin bought the King Midget Junior and the Streifthau Turnpike Cruiser. It turns out that the Cruiser was one of ten Fantasy Farm Turnpike cars. The car spent its life running first at LeSourdsville Lake and from 1963-1991 at Fantasy Farm next to the brick building it was originally built in.

Fourteen years after the auction of the rides at Fantasy Farm, Kevin was reunited with his first love. Not just a Turnpike Cruiser but one of the very cars he drove so many years ago. The car was completly restored and was featured in the Middletown Memorial Day Parade in May 2005.

Kevin is an amusement park history buff, a certified mechanic and a training coordinator at a precision metal forming company. Kevin plans to drive the car in more parades and hopes it will rekindle sentiment for LeSourdsville Lake.

"I want this car to come roaring back through Middletown and do what it can to save one of Americas last great traditional amusement parks," said Kevin.

Paragon Park was one of many parks across the country that purchased Streifthau Turnpike cars. [Photo: park archives]	The Streifthau Dream Car is taken out for its first test drive. [Photo by Kevin Miller]
The Streifthau car at Cedar Point in 1959	and at Hershey Park