By Courtney Potter
Start your engines! The storied Walt Disney Archives, which has preserved Disney history for nearly 55 years, opens its vaults once more at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event to curate an all-new, truly incredible exhibit. “A Great Big Beautiful Car Show” pays homage to vintage car shows and Americana—from racing Fords and Ferraris to fan-favorite love bugs, fabulous pink convertibles, and Flubber-powered Model Ts—giving visitors an up-close look at dozens of vehicles from the Archives’ collection. A “Worlds Beyond” area showcases fantastical vehicles from distant lands, such as Rey’s speeder from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and a transport rover from Prometheus (2012).
Becky Cline, director of the Walt Disney Archives, is particularly excited to see this display come to life. “This year’s exhibition is particularly special because it’s the biggest exhibition we have ever done,” she tells D23. “In the Archives for sure, but possibly at Disney overall. It’s 24,000 square feet—that’s a lot of space to fill! We have some of our biggest items here, including a tank,” she explains, chuckling. “The Prometheus rover is a Czechoslovakian military tank that’s been dressed up to ‘space age.’ It’s pretty special to have all these amazing things that I was hoping we’d find a place one day to display.” Check out this fun video of the rover driving onto the Anaheim Convention Center show floor:
She continues, “Every once in a while, in our exhibits, you can display one or two big pieces—but in here we have 32 cars, from tanks to a little teeny Interpol car from Muppets Most Wanted [2014]. So there’s something for everybody here, including two vehicles that Walt himself drove.”
Step on the gas to begin with some 1950s and ’60s kitsch! The first area we see is themed to resemble a display outside the Ford’s Magic Skyway pavilion at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this very year. An original Ford Mustang used in the Magic Skyway attraction—on loan to the Archives for D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event—is displayed on a gigantic turntable. During their visit to this particular space, guests will also see Cruella’s 1974 Panther De Ville from 101 Dalmatians (1996) and 102 Dalmatians (2000); Cruella’s 1987 Zaiker from ABC’s Once Upon a Time; “Herbie,” Maggie Peyton’s 1963 Volkswagen Beetle from Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005); the DHARMA Van, a 1971 Volkswagen Type 2, from ABC’s Lost; the 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 from Ford v Ferrari (2019); and many more.
The green lights continue into the next section: Kingswell Service Station. Named after the site of the first Disney Studio, Kingswell draws inspiration from classic Americana and service stations of the 1950s. Don’t miss Ned Brainard’s 1915 Ford Model T Touring from The Absent-Minded Professor (1961); Fern’s 2006 Ford E-250 Van from Nomadland (2020); Sam Flynn’s 2009 Ducati Sport 1000 from Tron: Legacy (2010); Sharpay’s 2008 Honda S2000 Convertible from High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008); and several adorable vehicles related to The Muppets—including Beauregard’s 1959 Austin A35 taxi from both the 1981 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Studio Backlot Tour (c. 1996-2014).
Finally, round the corner into an area themed to the park that started it all: Disneyland! Before Disney California Adventure Park was built, the Disneyland parking lot tram used to drop guests off directly in front of the park gates. It should come as no surprise, then, that this area showcases vehicles used at Disneyland. Keep your eyes peeled for Mickey’s 1939 Bantam Roadster from the Cruisin’ the Kingdom Cavalcade at Disneyland (c. 1995-1997); an early ’60s-era Main Street, U.S.A., Runabout Vehicle; and even a Parking Lot Tram Tractor and Car, used between 1968 and 1997.
Once guests have taken their spin through the car show area, they can step through a portal—literally, a 20-foot-wide tunnel with over 200 LEDs!—that “transports” them to “Worlds Beyond”… where fantastical vehicles from distant lands, like Jakku from Star Wars and LV-223 from Prometheus, come to life within immersive environments. Slow down and make sure to admire the 2054 Lexus Roadster from Minority Report (2002); the 2089 Weyland RT01 Transport Rover from Prometheus (2012)—the biggest vehicle in the entire exhibit!; a Lightcycle from Disney California Adventure Park’s ElecTRONica (2010–2012) and the promotional tour for TRON: Legacy; and more.
Attending D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event? This is your (turn) signal to visit “A Great Big Beautiful Car Show,” located in Hall D on the 1st floor—to discover how various vehicles have helped drive creativity forward throughout the worlds of Disney.
Three Especially Admired Autos
Cline picks three treasures from “A Great Big Beautiful Car Show”—and tells us why they’re so exceptional:
- “The last blue and yellow parking lot tram that Disneyland had. We’ve been storing it for years, looking for a way to display it. And I was very happy to be able to finally find a good setting for it.”
- “Well, I love the Cruella de Vil cars. Yeah. We have three Cruella cars that are fabulous!”
- “One thing that’s really special—something that we borrowed—is the Ford Mustang from the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair; it has a place of honor with a rotating turntable. This is the 60th anniversary year of the fair, and to celebrate that, we were able to borrow from a collector one of the original Mustangs that went through the Ford Pavilion and was actually a ride vehicle! Guests rode on a real Mustang that went through the attraction. So that’s real special. I think fans of the New York World’s Fair, something that’s so important to Disney’s history, are going to be excited to see one.”