Auto Polo (opens in new tab)

This photo is incredible

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Auto_pol...

Fun to see this here. I had the good fortune of participating in the first match of motorcycle polo in Rwanda back in 2007. This continued on for a while and eventually got a writeup in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/sports/motorized-polo-gai...

I’m sure many of us are reminded immediately of the old Top Gear auto football matches:

https://youtu.be/SIeu7_-iwdw

"The official inventor of auto polo...devised the sport as a publicity stunt in 1911 to sell Model T cars."

Amazing to see how little has changed in 100 years when it comes to competing for attention

Australian Motorcycle Chariot Race

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1avID4bJ3pw

Unsurprisingly, it died out "mostly due to the high cost of replacing vehicles". Was it the inspiration for demolition derbies?

Bike Polo is still alive https://youtu.be/CBZgC7u6ji8 and for example https://youtu.be/PxMms5Yh_gI

I guess the modern day equivalent (technology that’s relatively new, unsafe and unregulated) would be electric scooter polo? I found no sign of a sport like this though.

I think kick scooter polo exists. And bike polo[1] is well known.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcourt_Bike_Polo

Rocket League is basically the video game version of this.

What an incredibly bad idea!

To hear it was "popular"...

Was? Not with this attitude!

> though deaths due to auto polo were rare.

Oh well, then...