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Motion Pictures Killed Myself When I Was Young

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ryan, Feb 22, 2011.

  1. fastrnu
    Joined: Feb 26, 2009
    Posts: 739

    fastrnu
    Member
    from shelton,wa

    boy after watching that i'm thinking 'for sale 1926 T modified " Wow!
     
  2. Interesting video to say the least. I liked the A.A.Bondy background sounds - very appropriate.

    Age and risk tolerance are sort of inverse I think.
     
  3. Has the video been pulled? I can't see any link to view it. I've clicked on about everything in the blog and photo and get nothing.
    HG :cool:
     
  4. Never mind...it just started working.
    HG :cool:
     
  5. bobskwatch
    Joined: Dec 16, 2010
    Posts: 8

    bobskwatch
    Member

    Tough to watch, but it certainly makes you appreciate the result of all that pain and suffering. Another stark illustration of the advancement in auto safety can be seen here in this crash test between a 59 Bel Air and an 09 Malibu. We've come a long way in 50 years.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrXViFfMGk
     
  6. wow, amazing footage.... its crazy how squirrelly those early cars got... i noticed how rough all the tracks were.... pretty bad ass to be a pioneer racer back in the day... much respect to all that have gone before.....
     
  7. toml24
    Joined: Sep 23, 2009
    Posts: 1,620

    toml24
    Member

    On March 6, 1960 Art Atkinson was tossed out the top of his '32 Ford on the front straight at Western Speedway Gardena, Ca, during a jalopy race. His car was barrel-rolling half the length of the front straight and the force sucked Atkinson out of his restraint belts as well as his shoes. What is amazing is by luck he was tossed back towards turn 4 so his own car did not run him over. This is the most reproduced photo in the history of So-Cal jalopy racing. Atkinson received a few bumps and bruises but was otherwise OK. I have a color home movie of this as well. When I get it converted to digital format I'll post. It really makes a person gasps.:eek:
     

    Attached Files:

  8. billsill45
    Joined: Jul 15, 2009
    Posts: 784

    billsill45
    Member
    from SoCal

    The video brought back a dark memory for me. Back in the early 60's, I loved to go to the sprint car races during the Minnesota State Fair (1 mile dirt oval). During a race in '62 or '63, I saw a car cartwheel over the 1st turn wall and the driver was killed. After that incident, it was a lot harder to enjoy oval track racing.

    Some have commented that the drivers died doing what they loved, which I guess is a positive for them. For their families and friends, not so much.....
     
  9. sodbuster
    Joined: Oct 15, 2001
    Posts: 5,040

    sodbuster
    Member
    from Kansas

    When they are "racing" thru the pillars @ the 2:12 mark, Is that the Rose Bowl Stadium in California?
     
  10. The footage is difficult to watch. Sadly there is lots more out there. Being thrown clear of your car wasn't an alternative that produce positive results often. Rex Mays' photo sequence from Life proving this.

    I've seen a local midget club from the 1940s that specifically stated anyone taking photos of wrecks would have their equipment confiscated and destroyed.

    The subject of banning auto racing has come up over the years: 1911 and Barney Oldfield's look at racing.

    And later in 1959 at Senator proposed its banning.

    And over the years the Hearst newspapers had a pretty dim view of the human cost of auto racing.
     
  11. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
    Member

    A line from that article:
    "And yet how many bull fights are as bloody as the race not long ago in San Diego, Calif., where a woman driver died hideously and newspaper photographers took pictures of her hand protruding agonizingly from beneath her over-turned racing car"

    That was the 1955 crash that killed Margaret Pritchard in Dick Morgensen's Buick powered special, at Torrey Pines.

    After the crash it went to Max Balchowsky and it became known as Old Yeller, after he repainted it in Ina Balchowsky's favorite color.
     
  12. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
    Member

    I knew Senator Neuberger used that tragedy for his propaganda, but I had not found the acctual article yet.

    Thanks for the link...
     
  13. flamingokid
    Joined: Jan 5, 2005
    Posts: 2,200

    flamingokid
    Member

    It's a good thing that safety has gotten better since then....
     
  14. KaddyKimber
    Joined: Sep 24, 2010
    Posts: 268

    KaddyKimber
    Member
    from Denver, CO

    Watching that video makes you wonder how anyone survived racing early on. It's insane. Hard to watch all of the roadster crashes. I definitely agree, they had to have a brass pair. Wow...
     
  15. themachine
    Joined: Nov 27, 2009
    Posts: 152

    themachine
    Member

    thats hard to watch
     
  16. Cut55
    Joined: Dec 1, 2007
    Posts: 1,979

    Cut55
    Member
    from WA

    I remember as a kid seeing photos in an early '50s Life Magazine of a Grand Prix driver completely engulfed in flames after crashing his car during a race. No fire crew around, no water, no way to save him. Just the photographer clicking away as the guy died. That may have sold more magazines but I would have rather not seen those photos.
     
  17. chriseakin
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 391

    chriseakin
    Member

    I remember seeing similar footage in driving class when I was in high school, along with the slide show of people killed in crashes when they were "thrown clear>" It convinced me to put on my seatbelt every time I got into a car but for some reason it didn't convince all of my friends. Now as a volunteer firefighter I've seen one guy killed because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. Fortunately I've also seen a lot of people survive crashes because they were wearing them.
    Watching the footage turns my stomach now as much as it did then.
    Thanks.
    Chris
     
  18. RIP and Godspeed to those who lost their lives in the pursuit of their dreams.-Weeks
     
  19. Guys (and gals) Tom knows of where of he speaks. He wrote a book on the California Jalopy Association, a great publication and "must read" for all who are fans of the jalopies that ran the "bullrings" in SoCal "back in the day".

    The said Mr. Atkinson, a Pasadena used car dealer, had the courtesy to lend his trailer to us (me and my fellow high school buddy) one night at Gardena Stadium. Having lied about our ages, my friend and I took a '33 Ford 2 door, in which we thought we had a hot 21 stud engine, to show the older boys "the short way around the track". Our youthful exuberance was dashed
    when a weld of mine on the left front frame horn broke, sending the car spinning wheels up into the wall, then into the infield. When the promoter, Harry Schooler, told us to get the wreck out that night (we only had a tow bar); Mr. Atkinson stepped up. I call him "Mister", as, to this day, I have undying respect for him (and his memory).:)

    Tom's book is "Memories of the California Jalopy Association"

    Go to http://californiajalopy.homestead.com
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2011
  20. styleline
    Joined: Feb 14, 2009
    Posts: 868

    styleline
    Member
    from so-hol

    crazy footage guy,s whit steel balls and a hart as big as a freight carrier
     
  21. tunram2quad
    Joined: Mar 16, 2007
    Posts: 168

    tunram2quad
    Member

    Real cool video.Hats off to all them racers,especially the ones in the open cars had to have some BIG STONES.Thanks for sharing.
     
  22. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,345

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    Very similar... Lorenzo Bandini was killed in Monaco in 1967. I remember seeing it on ABCs wide world of sports. I can't find any archival ABC footage, but there are a few of these kinds of links on utube. As I recall, the car burned out of control with no safety support and when the car was flipped over, to extricate him, it burst in flames a second time. One thumb up for for seat belts, seveal thumbs down for the Fred Flintstone era of track safety. Gary

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUyIAQ7wI_Y&feature=related
     
  23. Steel A Rod
    Joined: Jun 28, 2010
    Posts: 265

    Steel A Rod
    Member

    The video was hard to watch. Really made my heart pound.
    Thanks Ryan for sharing it and reminding me how fleeting life can be.
     
  24. i still get chills every time I watch that....
     

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