We Found Atari's Legendary Pole Position Cockpit Arcade Cabinet!

[@jasonrackawack9369]

Me being 6 years old, This game being new, The awesome sit down console, Playing it in a Showbiz Pizza, is still burned into brain as one of my all time top favorite memories of being a kid in the 80s.

[@richardson.1424]

This was the game I played every single time I went to the arcades way back when. I would save my last quarter just to play this. Great memories with this cabinet. Thanks for uploading!

[@LyonsArcade]

I think a lot of it was the cool countdown audio that you could hear all the way across the arcade!

[@richardson.1424]

Joe's Classic Video Games It was like a siren of sorts! It worked everytime on me. I still play it on Xbox 360. Not the same, I know, but until I get my hands on a cabinet, it'll do.

[@trombone7]

I'm right there with you, but to think about it today... adjusted for inflation, that would be about 80 cents a game. Whuh ? What were we thinking ?

[@russb3816]

I spent so much money and time on this game in my youth and it was worth every penny. One of the greatest games ever.

[@LyonsArcade]

Definitely a great one!

[@MultiRetroMan]

I remember playing this in the arcades and being able to watch someone play from behind looking through the glass is awesome. I always wanted one of these cabinets :D

[@LyonsArcade]

These are pretty hard to find anymore, most of them were destroyed by the operators when they stopped making money, since they were oversized and harder to store...

[@MultiRetroMan]

@@LyonsArcade It's such a shame isn't it? I love these old games and although I've got my own arcade machine now is a Centi cabinet, I always wanted a driving cabinet that I could have all the great racing games but then I remembered a Wec Le Mans machine that actually spun round when you went round the corners and who can forget the deluxe Outrun cabinets that tilted from side to side as you went round the corners and the boom bass of the speakers behind your head. Oh those were the days :D

[@AdamsBrew78]

This was cutting edge gaming when I was 4 ... Was my favorite arcade game.

[@TheGorillafoot]

Was one of my favorite game growing out. Man, that brings me back.

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah it was a real masterpiece!

[@kevingrant9617]

@@LyonsArcade are you selling it. It was my favorite game. I always stayed number one

[@bryanspocketchange]

one of the best classics out there..they are working on a remake board. The board will be designed to plug into the existing harness.. should bring tons of these cabinets back from the dead.. thanks for the videos

[@tomypower4898]

Bryan Roth Yes to mention multichannel audio etc

[@MrDirkles]

I remember this being delivered to the arcade. I remember it being switched on for the first time and the crash helmet that the arcade owner supplied for players to wear when playing.

[@bobgomez9481]

Crash helmet for retards?

[@hey_buddy_waz_up]

This game always had a crowd around it at Showbiz Pizza.

[@LyonsArcade]

Part of it was the cool sound :)

[@CT-dh6vf]

Fuck lol showbiz pizza. God damn I forgot about them. Track and Field can I borrow your pencil

[@geraldford6409]

Lots of hours on the 5200 home version back in the day A large part of the fun of this game were the controls- that extra beefy nearly indesturctable shifter your could throw up and down with all your might. And that shiny metal steering wheel that spun infinitely around 360, ie most other driving games of the time had stops to the left/right or at the bottom 180

[@The.Last.Guitar.Hero.]

Used to work at London Gatwick airport in 85/86 when I first left school and they used to have this video game there. Just the sound brought back memories

[@snow69413]

Thank you for making this video. Awesome Cabinet.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Snow Man! East Bound and Down!

[@alanmacmillan6957]

I played it in arcade around '83, '84. it was very slick at the time ; people sometimes look at it now and think it's too basic but till '83 best you had was maybe space invaders, pinball and dig dug or centipede type stuff - real flat graphics in 2d. The atari 8-bit version of this wasn''t bad either , along with the atari console versions. love this.

[@NarfBLAST]

This is still Fresh as all heck in 2021. Watched till the very end.

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah it's a great game, timeless!

[@brianlipinski473]

Cockpit version of Pole Position, my favorite arcade game ever, along with the Cockpit version of Star Wars, spent a lot of quarters on those machines.

[@ElectroCurmudgeon]

really cool cabinet. had not idea they overheated that bad. that makes sense why i always saw the stand up ones.

[@PistonAvatarGuy]

I can't even imagine how awesome this game must have been in the early '80s, I didn't even encounter it until the early '90s, but still loved it.

[@LyonsArcade]

We used to play it at the flea market in the early 90's too, and yup it was even great then! Thanks for watching PistonAvatarGuy!

[@beanerandclyde6868]

I missed the school bus...a LOT...because of this game. I still found a way to sit down in the seat the next morning even though my arse was blistered from the belt when mom found out I was late to school.

[@tomypower4898]

cool pole position arcade game I love it!

[@LyonsArcade]

I wish we had another one!

[@jimkuna8687]

You guys get the choicest games love your videos I dont know anything about how it fix em but it's so interesting to learn and watch. And remember being kid playing em and the smoke smell lol

[@PM9Video]

So cool. Glad I found this video.

[@codydrury8954]

I just picked one of these up for $50 bucks and im so excited to get started on trying to make it work

[@LyonsArcade]

Cody that is a DEAL. You stole that one.

[@codydrury8954]

@@LyonsArcade ya I couldn't believe it when I saw it in happy with it even if I can't get it to work lol I just love the graphics

[@mrburns366]

and it has a CRT the way god intended! 😁

[@PTS20242]

Wow! Unbelievable. Prepare to qualify.....

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah this one was a real peach...

[@danielwright8490]

They had one of these in my local pizza parlor back in the 80's. We kids discovered that if we kicked it hard enough in just the right spot we could get a free game......

[@chrismansker8870]

I just picked up a 1980 sega Monaco gp cockpit game that needs complete restoration but I got it to play blind so far. I wanted a pole position maybe some day very cool game

[@LyonsArcade]

We've got a cabaret Monaco GP we're going to do eventually. If you got it to play blind you got the hard part done, I heard the boards are hard to work on but haven't messed with it yet.

[@chrismansker8870]

well I only paid 50 for it so I figured it was worth the risk but there seem to be a damaged part on the neck board I am new to all of this stuff but its a large white plastic piece that dose not look factory there is a similar green plastic piece on the other side and there is suppose to be a cover on it and both are some kind of fuse or resistor that are damaged. im not sure what they are called yet

[@SurviventheOnslaught]

my local dairy queen had a pole position upright, after the ice cream token was turned in..............it was pole position time

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah buddy!

[@Cohenfx9000]

Atari Pole Position is awesome

[@CharlieBrown-fy3zy]

the pole position at the arcade i go to has the stand up version and it has no break pedal

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah I think we have a video of one on here somewhere.... it was a lot more common!

[@johnnydanielsen3438]

Memories 🥰😎❤️

[@blayze2580]

Nice find

[@overbuiltautomotive1299]

i just got one just like it works but monitor is pin cushion mushed out i need to clean up my art work n all that but i love it..

[@LyonsArcade]

That's weird for one of these 19" monitors to get a pincushion problem, do you know what type of monitor is in it?

[@GavinGardner2004]

I love Pole Position, it’s better than any Mario Kart!

[@LyonsArcade]

It is if you get really good at it :)

[@jonathanbranhamsgaminganda8799]

Nice work 👍

[@geraldford6409]

PP and Turbo Greatest driving games of the Video Game Golden Age (pre crash)

[@izzynutz2000]

Every time I touched one of these games I always got pole position and high score no matter where the game was but I knew some shortcuts..😉😉

[@TBONE_2004]

Namco-Bandai and Arcade1UP need to give this a revival! There's too many dead cabinets out there, sadly...

[@LyonsArcade]

There is a guy making a replacement board but he's been working on it, no crap, for TWELVE YEARS. We've all gave up on him, but he's really talented and may eventually make it. He already made the prototype and it works perfectly.

[@TBONE_2004]

@@LyonsArcade I hope to see it someday! =D

[@bemblake6390]

So who was able to fix the main boards for you? Is he willing to help others get theirs fixed? I have a friend with a couple of cabs and all have PCB failure.

[@vcval]

If you flawlessly qualify and every other lap the speed per lap increases final lap is like 250

[@LyonsArcade]

I don't think I'd ever be able to pull that off!

[@vcval]

@@LyonsArcade Im chasing our old unit to clarify my self /nice to get it back again

[@stphinkle]

Used to play this at Showbiz Pizza Place back in the day.

[@Jason_Moorhees]

You said it rolls really well. Did you have issues rolling it around at all? Did you have to use hand trucks and a lift gate moving to and from your store? I’ve never seen one of these in the wild. How does the weight compare to the stand up version? Could this be pushed up a U-Haul truck ramp that was 26 inches wide? Asking because I might be able to score one pretty cheap but I’m worried about moving it.

[@LyonsArcade]

Out of all the sit down games this one rolls the best... it moves really easily you could push it up the ramp no problem. We have a truck with a liftgate so we can easily move about any game....

[@Jason_Moorhees]

How does the bezel glass and control panel stay in place? I’m having issues with mine.

[@JoeCnNd]

you got a cool intake near the bottom?

[@asgerms]

To blast out full images at THAT framerate and of THAT colordepth in 1982?!? Not to mention multichannel audio, etc.. Must be absolutely cutting edge hardware and have cost a fortune. Wonder how long it would take for such a game to actually make profit, with income only arriving on a quarter-by-quarter basis... Totally enjoy your channel.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks man. Yes, I agree, I think it was pretty cutting edge at the time, I was very young so dont' remember the atmosphere but looking back the game had a lot going on.

[@officerbigmac837]

It was the number-one-earning game of 1983 iirc, bringing in the average hi-traffic arcade around 1100 or 1200 US dollars a week. Paid itself off real quick!!

[@xaos2012]

Do you have any of those boards left to sale?I needs the boards for my upright

[@LyonsArcade]

Unfortunately we don't have any in, they're pretty tough to find. Might want to check with iankellogg.com , he repairs them from time to time...

[@metaljustice4518]

Heard about these, never saw one! How cool is that!?

[@LyonsArcade]

About as cool as it gets in arcade games! Nothing cooler.

[@metaljustice4518]

Joe's Classic Video Games I need one!!

[@woolywoolnut4821]

ohh man. I'm 13 again!

[@LyonsArcade]

+Wooly Woolnut Yeah... it's like going back in time!

[@bigboyanimation3799]

Hello, i remember a game similar to this game i played in the 1980's in arcade cabinet while you racing they throw at you bombs from behind the mountains and you must avoid theme do you know the name of this game? i'm searching on it but cant find it

[@wizpin]

Omg i want one of these so bad 😮😊

[@eltravo2112]

Didn’t the arcade Pole Position have billboard advertising such as Marlboro, Martini & Rossi, Pepsi and Canon?

[@LyonsArcade]

I think perhaps the original Namco version did, this is the Atari version for the US, not sure if the ads were different on the Namco one.

[@eltravo2112]

Oh ok. I was thinking only the computer and console ports were modified. Thank you for the quick response!

[@ThunderFist1978]

The letters in “GAME OVER” spinning toward the player always made me uncomfortable as a kid, but I still always loved this game. And there is nothing like playing this on a cockpit cabinet. I know one of the few people personally, by the way, who has scored over 66,000 points at this game. I think there are fewer than 15 people who are verified to have scored above that, at least on original hardware.

[@crazey331]

I have pol position on a multi pack game for Gameboy advance. I'm going to find it and play it.

[@LyonsArcade]

Definitely a classic and worth a play every now and then :)

[@brianperkins6121]

Pole position and Pole position 2 due to there unique very sensitive weighted optical encoder steering wheel is one of those games that just never plays right at home

[@airsmith1]

Hello, Was curious if you modified the Pole P gas pedal? Adding a switch with resistors in place of the pot. Used to do this to help the reliability of the machine. Certainly agree, Sit Down Pole position was one of the best.

[@neilbob7706]

i got one and did the conversion to pole position 2 ,,, all worked great for the 1st year now no sound :( who do u know who fixes these boards???

[@Software_Issue]

I wish I play pole position on a upright arcade cabinet

[@LyonsArcade]

They're kind of hard to find anymore!

[@Software_Issue]

@@LyonsArcade LOL I WAS GOOD AT NFS PROSTREET!

[@Sonyman34]

Not sure if anyone asked this but where or how can you replace the plexiglass on the back? I just got one today and it was missing

[@jumpingeneral]

One of these working , good condition cockpit. What can I expect to pay ? Base price ?

[@LyonsArcade]

Prices have skyrocketed, I'll bet you can't find one for less than $2500 now, maybe even more.

[@jumpingeneral]

@@LyonsArcade they are hard to keep running I hear

[@tonykennedy4463]

What was the car racing game where the track had ice and it went dark also

[@LyonsArcade]

That is Turbo! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pojLlHWvmc2YiKc

[@naytch2003]

I had this game on my Atari 2600 as a kid..had no idea til a few years ago it was first an arcade hit..might be funny to some of you but it's true

[@LyonsArcade]

It was pretty good on the 2600 😀

[@naytch2003]

@@LyonsArcade That one, Berserk and Missle Command which I think was inspired by Reagans Star Wars program thing I think 🤔

[@squaretops1]

I prefered pole position 2 but this is still cool

[@khmam]

I thought there was 2 speakers

[@LyonsArcade]

I believe the upright has two speakers, the sitdown has four.

[@khmam]

@@LyonsArcade The upright does have a speaker near the screen, and there's another speaker next to the coin box.

[@smt8461]

i played it already...

[@czr5014]

Put a heat sink on the chip

[@theostides]

That’s not the original. The original was released in 1978, and had the shifter next to the driver’s right thigh.

[@bobgomez9481]

4 volume pots? Nope. Blue tee molding is ok, but wrong.

[@demofilm]

Indeed in the action! I noticed louder game volume makes the games more energetic

[@LyonsArcade]

Definitely! We usually crank it up :)