Rondo Auto Flipper

The Rondo Auto Flipper, made by Werbeplan GmbH of Hamburg, Germany, is not actually a pinball machine — it is a car-racing novelty game converted from used pinball machines. According to a period flyer, the company advertised that operators could send in any working 2-player or 4-player "American" pinball machine, and after about three weeks Werbeplan would return it as a fully converted Rondo Auto Flipper.

In its converted form, players controlled a car using two buttons — one to brake and one to accelerate. If the car passed a red light, the player received a "tilt." No exact date is known for this specific game, but a flyer for a similar Werbeplan product, the 'Rondo Auto Rallye' (built with its own dedicated backbox and cabinet rather than a pinball conversion), is copyrighted 1971, suggesting the Rondo Auto Flipper dates to around the same era.

Because it repurposed existing pinball cabinets rather than being an original pinball design, the Rondo Auto Flipper is chiefly of interest today as a curious footnote illustrating how used pinball hardware was sometimes recycled into entirely different amusement games.