After a little research, I am 100% that it was Gordon. If you look at the schematic on the EM game, they always list the initials of the main people on the project. It has G.H., D.C., B.O., A.V. for GORDON HORLICK, DON CURNEW, BARRY OURSLER, AL VOIGHT. Designer, schematic creator, game tech, and draftsman. The designer will always be first. The others should follow in order.

I worked on a lot of games, between '72 and '78, with all the designers. I would build the whitewoods, wire them up and draw the cables for production. I would also be on the assembly line during production to make sure they were being built properly. Later in '78, I started designing my own games.

The prototype SS version of Grand Prix should be May, 1977 which is when we put out the very first of these. As for how many, as far as I remember, we only built 5 of these back then. Each member of the original design team received one after we brought these back from test.

Ken Fedesna later confirmed the quantity of 5 units was accurate, not approximate.

Compare the playfield with Williams' 1976 'Liberty Bell'.

The MPU used in these prototypes is sometimes referred to as "System 1". It was only used for this game.

What is sometimes called "System 2" is only used in a few prototypes as Williams' 1976 'Aztec'.

"System 3" was the first system used for regular production.

The first two of the five prototypes are pictured in this listing. For easy identification, we have labeled each image with the prototype number found on the bottom of each cabinet, either 01 or 02.

In our Files section is a Zip file of pictures of a Grand Prix SS conversion that was not made by Williams. Included is some background information from the owner as well as comments by Ken Fedesna explaining why it is not one of the five prototypes. We don't know who made this conversion or when. We include it in this listing to hopefully solicit more information about it.