The Zipper of Hinchey's Rides and Amusements

The Zipper is an amusement ride invented by Joseph Brown under Chance Rides in 1968. Popular at carnivals and amusement parks in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, it features strong vertical G-forces, numerous spins, and a noted sense of unpredictability. Chance Rides has manufactured more than 200 units since the ride's debut. Most models of the Zipper follow a similar basic format: A long, rotating, oval boom with a cable around its edge that pulls 12 cars around the ride. Except at peak times, most operators will only fill half of the cars at one time with riders. Like most carnival equipment, the ride is designed to be portable; it can be disassembled onto a truck and transported from site to site. Though a staple of amusement parks and carnivals, the original models of the Zipper garnered a reputation for being unsafe due to their rough nature, and a series of deaths on the rides in the late 1970s after cabin doors came unlatched led to a series of revisions, primarily restructuring of the door lock system.[1] No less, the ride has amassed a cult following over its decades in operation,[2] and was named by Popular Mechanics as one of the strangest amusement park rides in the world.