Chance Rides

Chance Rides is a ride manufacturer that has existed since 1961. Currently owned by Permanent Equity, the company had been owned by the Chance family for over sixty years. Chance is best known for their C.P. Huntington train, giant Ferris wheels, and the Trabant. The company has been reformed several times through the years as they acquired other ride manufacturers through the years.

Chance logos from the 1990s and 2020s.

Ottaway Amusement Company

Lester A. Ottaway, a Kansas native, formed the L.A. Ottaway Sand Company in 1929. This company was created to operate an amusement park and a ride manufacturing company in Wichita, Kansas: Joyland Park and Ottaway Amusement Company.

Ottaway produced small steam locomotives and trains which were made for amusement parks in the Midwestern United States, as well as Orleans, France.

Meanwhile, R. Harold Chance grew up in a family which also was involved in the amusement park industry. He began working in the amusement manufacturing business when he took a job with Ottaway Amusement Company. In 1944, he became the company’s factory manager.

Lester Ottaway passed away on November 12, 1953 at the age of 79. Within a few years, Chance purchased the Ottaway Amusement Company.

Chance Manufacturing Company

In 1961, Chance reorganized the Ottaway company into a new company called Chance Manufacturing Company.

In 1963, Chance Manufacturing was approached with an offer to purchase the American rights to produce a new kind of amusement ride. It was invented by a man in Germany and brought to America by Carl Sedlmayr, founder of Royal American Shows, a traveling carnival company that existed from 1923 to 1997. This ride was called Trabant – a German word for satellite – and named so because the ride resembled a satellite dish.

In 1964, Chance sold a Trabant to the National Orange Show Royal West ran by William McMurtruy of California. Over a thirty-five year span, Chance would sell 254 Trabants. This is the earliest known sale of a Trabant, with the first more well known debut of one coming a year later in 1965.

Over the following years they would purchase rights to produce other rides including the English amusement ride, Rotor.

In 1968, Chance introduced the Zipper, a portable amusement ride. The invention of the ride was credited to Joseph M. Brown an employee of Chance at the time. The Zipper was patented on August 3, 1971, after having been filed for patenting on May 2, 1969. The ride was called “Plural Horizontal Axis Roundabout Having Sheave Driven Carriage.”

In 1970, Chance bought Allan Herschell Company, the first of several companies they would purchase in their history.

In 1985, Richard “Dick” Chance created Chance Industries, Inc., a holding company for Chance Manufacturing, and related companies Chance Coach and Chance Operations. Chance Manufacturing would become Chance Rides Inc. around that time.

Bradley & Kaye

In December 1986, Chance acquired the assets of Bradley & Kaye Amusement Company from Dave Bradley. Chance was primarily interested in the carousel animals Bradley & Kaye produced. They also continued to manufacture some of their rides including Red Baron – Air / Sea Rescue, Antique Touring Cars, Balloon Flite, and more.

Chance in the early days of the internet

Around 1996, Chance purchased the website rides.com. Chance stopped owning the domain in 2011.

The Park Models Chance sold in 1996 were (note that Chance spelled carousel like Hersheypark does):

• Chaos
• Alpine Bobs / Rock and Roll
• 20 Foot Fantasy Carrousel
• 28 Foot Americana Carrousel
• 36 Foot Classic Carrousel
• 50 Foot Grand Carrousel
• C.P. Huntington Train
• Century Wheel
• Giant Wheel
• Pharaoh’s Fury
• Rotor
• Wipeout
• Yo-Yo
• Red Baron-Air / Sea Rescue
• Tramstar LFT Low-Floor Tram

Chance Rides in the 21st Century

On May 4, 2001, Chance Industries announced that they had created a new company called Chance-Morgan Coasters, Inc., and that they had signed a letter of intent to purchase D.H. Morgan Manufacturing, Inc., of La Selva Beach, California. Mike Chance, the third generation of Chance family ownership, became president of the new Chance-Morgan company.

In 2011, the Chance Rides branding was revived and the company was called Chance Rides Manufacturing, Inc.

In 2016, Michael Chance passed away. He had been President of Chance Rides at the time. He was succeeded by Aaron Landrum, who became President and Chief Operating Officer of the company.

In 2017 KAKE News made a profile of Chance Rides for their 10pm news show. It features several interviews.

Permanent Equity ownership

On June 30, 2023, Chance Rides announced that they had formed a financial partnership with Permanent Equity, a private equity firm from Columbia, Missouri. Permanent Equity assumed ownership of the company allowing Dick Chance to transition to a minority interest and his retirement. In a press release, Dick Chance said:

“This company has meant everything to me, it’s been my life and my family for so many years. It was my main goal to continue the legacy of Chance Rides long after I’m gone, and for the company to be successful in the future. I’ve had the honor of leading the company for close to 40 years and I know Permanent Equity will help the Chance legacy continue far beyond the next 40 years.”

Permanent Equity formed Chance Rides, LLC., and maintained the Chance Rides Branding and also kept the company based in Wichita.

As of 2025, Chance is manufacturing rides for amusement parks, and most recently, Chance resumed selling portable rides, including their famous Zipper. George Tobias IV represents Chance in this market.

Below is an interview with Dr. Jay Luis Aguilar, Chance Rides Global Vice President of Business Development and Marketing, from IAAPA Expo 2025 discussing re-entering the portable market, as well as producing new EV trams.

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