Grand Prix was my first pinball. I bought it from Art's Amusements in Clovis New Mexico in 1983. That game survived many military moves! It even spent a couple years in South Korea with me!

The only title I specifically remember playing when I was a kid. My dad had one in his motorcycle dealership and I put many of his quarters in it. It seemed so hard back then...

I'm in! I picked mine up a few weeks ago, and got it most of the way to playing. I still need to dig in and figure out why it won't advance the ball counter without advancing the player, but I'm guessing that's a single switch.

Love this game. Simple but never easy. Sold my Space Odyssey to pick this one up, and I love me sum Space Mission/Odyssey... but this deck is better!

I love my Grand Prix!

It's definitely one of my favorite EMs so far in terms of how satisfying it is to shoot. Ripping the spinners for 1k points per spin never gets old!

Huge "just one more game" pull.

I got mine couple of months ago, haven´t started restoration. It is really in bad shape but i will fix it.. Also trying hard to find a backglass for it... will post pics when restorations starts

I agree, it will be worth it.

Thank you, Black_Knight

We just sold one of our 2 Grand Prix.

The one we have now:
Sent the Playfield to be completely restored
The Cab has been pulled apart, reglued, repair, sanded and prepped for painting.
Twisted Pins has a copy of our GPs Stencil we provided.

Our goal is complete restoration by Christmas

Collin
Ask one of the repair guys.
We have had a tech fixed similar issues.
It's 1 switch for sure

My dad and I are bringing back a Grand Prix from the dead...we played our first game on it this evening! Crossing our fingers that we don't come across many more issues.

I first played Grand Prix at a buddy's house and had a blast. As others have said, those spinners are very addicting. It makes me appreciate modern spinners such as my WCS94 that much more. As a guy in my 20's I haven't played many EM's in my days, but I really appreciate the action of this game. Those "open" inlanes really demand good ball control, and the game rewards accurate shots to raise/collect bonuses.

The only real issues I have with mine are: the top center 5k hole scores 15k only on the left side. Any thoughts, the lights on the right side spinner don't all light up? Love the game.

Grand Prix is being restored. Next week we get the play field back from HSA.
Pumped!

http://www.hsapinball.com/HSA_PINBALL/hsa121714gprix.html#grid

Our Grand Prix playfield restored by HSA.

Props to Brian and HSA

mine is in that "really bad shape" condition as well... someday, it will be in "playable" condition...

hey when did you get a grand prix??? i guess i missed that during my hiatus...

i'm REALLY considering re-theming mine...

How much was the playfield restoration? My Grand Prix is in pretty good shape but the colors are a little faded.
Jason

650

I got one recently in nice shape that cleaned up even nicer. It is my favorite EM and I'm super happy to have one now.

Salvaging a delaminated Grand Prix Cab for our restoration!

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Do you have before pics?

Had my first outlane drain return through the gap in the inlane today.

You need to play more

That happens to me at least 5 x /night when I am playing more than a few games!

The real wizard of this game sets in when you figure out you can SAVE a ball from the outlane by a well (very) timed shift of the game- the ball will come back through that nice little hole and- whalla- its back on you flipper!

I used to think it was ONLY about hitting the spinner, now I know thats NOT true. You MUST drop at least one set of drop targets every ball or its simply not worth it. If you can get two down and light the extra ball, then I shoot ONLY for the spinner or the outhole to award the accumulated bonus. But with this game, you do need to focus on drop first... else your ball will inevitably hit the pay bonus hole and you loose 50K because you forgot to hit the dang drops... and those center "easy" drop targets love to drain...

My only complaint on this game, and to me its sorta big... is the special- I hate it. Why anyone ever designed a game where the special is rewarded by a random drain of the ball through the lit side outlane... is beyond me. REWARD skill and make it a tough in-game shot or combo. Oh well, I love the game. My friends LOVE the game, it gets played and played and played.

And finally--- curious what other people think.

Spinners- MAX rotations on a ripping shot.

my game-

~70 rotations for a good hard hit both sides (right maybe a few turns less).

Current high score on game is over 1.8 Million and less than 1.9

70 rotations!? What kind of coils do you have in there? I feel like mine maxes out around 22 or 23.

Oh now I have to try out lane thru the hole to
The flipper!

I recall my spinner being around 30.
High score 12 million

Thought you guys would appreciate this. Fun With Bonus captured the moment from our Twitch stream of Grand Prix when this happened to my son:

http://funwithbonus.com/pic-of-the-day-narrow-escape/

bPZeeKT.gif

Sweet

Ok high score of 12 Million is ridiculous!! Skills......clearlyI lack.

As for rotation of spinners- I counted and it's absolutely 70 plus on my left and 60 ish right. I have stock game- not even clear coated. But I am anal- my friends tell me- and obsessed over the entire machine on a complete mechanicl rebuild. Every thing that moves was removed and fully disassembled and polished and repaired if needed. I spent a long time (months, but in reality just a few hours) working on the spinners. The trick is you MUST carefully carefully (I digress, but seriously, the piano wire they use is brittle- bend a bit to often and it breaks) adjust the gate holding the spinner and the spinner itself so that it is perfectly stationary as it spins-

This sounds stupid- but carefully watch the ends of the wire that stick out of the gate- they should not move up down or left or right as its spinning- they should appear dead still. Ensure the spinner is not wobbling whatsoever wishing the gate. Ensure that under the play field the switch is aligned such that the point of the wire connecting from the spinner arm to the switch is pointing away from the contacts and that the blade BARELY contacts as the spinner goes over the top. These absolutely RIP when you do this very carefully and lubricate with a single tiny drop of triflo bike lube. It's super fun- it may also be wise to ensure the stepper unit that advances the lights and the score (left and right small steppers) are also emaculate- as this is controlling the score count and light show.

Love the reaction on the random? Through the gap save!

I keep high scores for my kids- my 7yr old boy is at 500K. He loves the "race track" =spinners- and will not play the other games! Good taste I guess!

OH- post your 12 million score on the Grand Prix page! I am going to put mine up NOW!! So it looks good for a few hours

I'm hoping with our complete restoration that we get so serious action on those spinners!

Grand Prix playfield restored and mechanics and plastics reinstalled.
Cabinet reglued, scrapes filled, sanded and prepped for paint.

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My first project pin. Bought it from a guy who used it as a beer coaster. Stunk for weeks. Still has stains inside the cab. Coin mechs were rusted. Coin return filled with cigarette butts. Burst bottom. PF is ok. BG is very nice. Cab needs a repaint. Can't wait to put it in the line up.

image.jpgJust picked this one up yesterday. Really great shape. Just a bit of red fade on the Backglass.
Question. What makes the large red bonus arrows switch sides? Sometimes a ball drain will cause it to happen and sometimes not.
Also the same question for the two lights on either side of the top kick out. Ours just has the left circle insert lit and never the right side.
What a great game ths is.

The red bonus arrow should switch sides for every ball played, unless you get an extra ball and Same Player Shoots Again is lit. Think it should be LRLRL for 5 ball games. The two lights at the top kickout hole should switch from left to right every time the ball hits the rubber up there hard enough. Perhaps a blown bulb or bad socket?
You're right, Grand Prix is a GREAT game! Got mine in the beginning of March and absolutely love it.

Man I want to play this game. If anyone in NorCal gets bored of it, shoot me a PM!

Thanks. Must be the extra balls I am not accounting for on the red arrows.
I think I have a switch problem on the top lights because my left circle light never goes out. It is always lit. Both slings by them chime and score but the left light just stays on.

Where did you get it from, was it local?

Yes. A local pickup. Friend of mine got it from another local guy who took it as payment for a job he did.

I've been looking for Grand Prix. Unortunately, the only good one I can find is clear out in Sacramento.

Anyone know what relay controls the two circle inserts up by the top outhole?
I know my sling switches are good so the problem has to be on an alternating relay somewhere.

Yes.

Funny.

Switch on match unit controls alternating relay a.k.a. Change Relay. Check match unit.

That is a start.
Thanks a bunch.

What he said. I fixed mine a couple of weeks ago. It was the switch on the match unit out of adj.

Can't get to the machine until tomorrow. But this info makes me feel good it will get fixed quickly.