Spirit of 76

Two other versions of this pinball machine were released in 1976: Pioneer - a two-player version and New York - a special 2-player Add-a-ball version in celebration of the 1976 lifting of the ban of pinball in New York City.

• Title — Spirit of 76 • Manufacturer — Gottlieb • Designer — Ed Krynski, Wayne Neyens • Artwork — Gordon Morison • Release — December, 1975 • Production — * 10,300 (Spirit of 76) • 3625 (Pioneer) 300 (New York)

The pinball game Spirit of 76 was made to celebrate the 200th birthday of the United States. Competing manufacturers made similar machines, with Williams releasing Liberty Bell, and Bally releasing Freedom. One of the designers, Wayne Neyens, received the 10,000th machine; due to the serial numbering starting at 3,001, this game had the serial number 13,000. This was later donated to the Pacific Pinball Museum. The artwork uses predominantly red, white and blue, with stars throughout the game. The backbox includes an astronaut (representing John Glenn), Gemini and Apollo spacecraft, Spirit of St. Louis, a frontierman (bearing a strong resemblance to Daniel Boone), two drummers and a fifer. Minutemen and covered wagons are included on the playfield plastics. Stars and stripes, representing the flag of the United States, are on the cabinet of the table.

The game uses a symmetrical layout, with a bank of four drop targets on either side of the machine spelling 1-7-7-6 and 1-9-7-6. a series of A-B-C-D-E rollovers are in various locations on the playfield. In the center of the machine is a kick-out hole. Completing the drop targets and/or rollovers lights this hole for double-bonus, extra ball, or a special. The inspiration for using a trio of awards is the three branches of Government: executive, legislative, and judicial.

This is one of seven Gottlieb tables recreated and released in Microsoft Pinball Arcade in 1998.