Auto Polo: The Madcap Motor Sport That Crashed Into Obscurity
- Daniel Holland
- Jul 21
- 4 min read
If you've ever wondered why women live longer than men, it's reason's like this sport. Once hailed as “the most dangerous sport on wheels”, auto polo combined the speed of early motorcars with the chaos of polo mallets swinging at a ball. Picture this: dust clouds swirling, spectators gasping, and stripped-down Model T Fords smashing into one another on a dirt field, all in the name of entertainment. It was a short-lived phenomenon, reckless, raucous, but to be fair, it looked quite fun.
Welcome to the wild world of auto polo.
What Was Auto Polo?
Auto polo (sometimes spelled autopolo) was exactly what it sounds like: traditional polo, but with cars. Two teams, each consisting of a driver and a mallet-wielding “poloist,” would face off to hit a regulation-sized ball into a goal. But unlike the elegance of horseback polo, this version traded horses for modified cars, usually early Fords, with their doors and roofs removed for agility.
The sport began in the United States in the early 20th century and briefly gained popularity in both the US and Europe. Matches were staged in stadiums and at fairs, often under floodlights, thrilling crowds with near-certain collisions.
According to early reports, the game was first played on July 20, 1912, in Wichita, Kansas, though some credit a demonstration at Madison Square Garden as the sport’s “official” debut.
Who Came Up With Auto Polo?
The game is often credited to a man named Ralph “Pappy” Hankinson, a Ford automobile dealer based in Wichita. He supposedly dreamt up the sport as a clever way to boost sales of Model Ts. Hankinson promoted it relentlessly — and it worked. Audiences turned up in droves to witness the mayhem.
Local Ford dealers, always keen for publicity, sometimes sponsored teams. The sport attracted daredevil types from across the country, from travelling stunt drivers to former horse polo players willing to trade saddles for steering wheels.
How Did It Work?
Matches typically featured two teams of two cars each. One person would drive, while the other balanced precariously on the vehicle — often on the running board or rear — swinging a mallet to whack the ball. The ball itself was made of wood or rubber and measured about the size of a football.
There were few rules. Contact was not only expected but often encouraged. Cars crashed frequently. Drivers were thrown from vehicles. Mallets flew out of hands. Spectators, if seated too close, could get caught in the chaos. A full game would usually be split into periods (or “chukkers,” like in horse polo), with the winning team scoring the most goals.
Safety equipment? Forget it. Helmets were rare. Seatbelts were unheard of. First aid stations were a must.
Dangers and Public Reception
While undeniably entertaining, auto polo was incredibly dangerous. Broken bones, concussions, and serious collisions were common. Some accounts even mention deaths, although reports vary.
Despite the risks, the sport gained popularity throughout the 1910s and early 1920s. It was featured in newspapers and newsreels, particularly during events like county fairs and military exhibitions. There were even women’s matches and international tournaments. But as cars became more expensive and insurance policies stricter, enthusiasm waned.
Why Did Auto Polo Disappear?
By the late 1920s, auto polo was fading fast. The sport’s inherent dangers, rising vehicle costs, and changing tastes in entertainment all contributed to its decline. As motor racing became more professional and regulated, auto polo started to look more like a liability than a sport.
What was once a thrilling novelty had become a relic of another age — a world that had one foot in the horse-and-buggy past and the other in the age of the machine.
Legacy and Odd Comebacks
Although it never truly made a comeback, auto polo lives on in occasional re-enactments and car shows. Clips from early games have appeared in documentaries about motoring history, and photos of battered Model Ts battling it out on dirt tracks remain a curio of Americana.
Modern stunt shows sometimes nod to auto polo’s spirit — chaotic, loud, and slightly unhinged. But nothing today quite compares to the full-contact absurdity of what once was called “motoring mayhem on a stick.”
Final Thoughts
Auto polo was a strange collision of invention and insanity, a sport born from the novelty of the automobile and the thrill of recklessness. It represents a moment in time when people were so enamoured by machines that they were willing to weaponise them for sport.
It was mad while it lasted, and I kind of want it to make a proper comeback.
Sources:
Wikipedia – Auto Polo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_polo
Kansas Historical Society: https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/auto-polo/18120
Smithsonian Magazine, When Cars Played Polo: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/auto-polo-cars-played-polo-180960071/
Popular Mechanics, July 1912 (archival reprints available through Google Books and libraries)
Library of Congress (historical photographs): https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016677570/
The New York Times archive (match reports 1912–1921): https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/
Written by Holland.
Editor, UtterlyInteresting.com — exploring the strange, sublime, and forgotten corners of history.
