There's a million different stories that I can dream up in my minds eye about that photo. And I can just hear Paul Harvey waxing eloquently about that image and signing off "and now you know the rest of the story."
Yes. Once in my own ride and several other times as passenger. Thrilling but I don't have any desire to do it again. Buddy of mine launched his Gremlin X over some tracks when we were in high school. He was FLYING when he did it and I swear I saw the top of the roof on the building next to the tracks. Severely damaged his front end. We went a little sideways just as we were about to land. Could have been a disaster. Drunk driver hit him head on shortly after he fixed it. He and his GF survived with minor injuries and the Gremlin was totalled. Good thing because I swore off driving with him after the flying car episode. Andy
In high school, I once jumped my VW Bug off of a dirt berm on a side road. Once I landed, it ripped out both heater boxes off of the exhaust system. This effectively gives you open exhaust. I limped home as trying not to wake my dad. The next morning before I woke, he already had the car jacked up and was pulling out all of the turf that was wedged up there. When I went down to the garage and saw all the dirt piled up I thought I was sunk. He asked me what had happened and, like a wimp, I said I don't know. He never asked me again, but he obviously knew the answer.
Twice, but I'll share the more interesting story My friend and I were driving home from night school at college. Our engine rebuilding teacher was real cool & we'd hang out after class quite often. So coming home at 11, 11:30pm wasn't uncommon. My friend was driving a lifted 92 cherokee. I was driving a 77 chevy c30 crewcab dually with a 454. There was this sweet set of train tracks on the way home. He raced ahead of me and went airborne. He looked in the review mirror as I was closing in, he said the front tires of the dually were almost 3 feet off the ground! Those big tall truck tires, combined with the coil front suspension and real springy bench seat made for a surprisingly cushy landing
I have two young and crazy episodes that always come to mind. First one car didn't fly , but part of it did. When I was about 17 , I had just stuck a flea market 500 cfm comp series Carter on the 301 in the '32 and was out about a mile from home pulling hole shots. Mid way thru 2nd gear in a cloud of tire smoke, a state cop was coming toward me... ohoh! Hauled ass back to the house with the staty giving chase. Peeled around the corner near our garage , and promptly had the wheel adapter holding my 15"x 4" Crager part company... oh shit ! Wheel goes flying into the garage ; coupe slides into our yard . Cop was not to happy. Can't believe he didn't bust me, but sure got my ass chewed out! Have never run another wheel adapter since . 2nd story later...
Same story for me, as a passenger in a beater 57 Chevy 283 / auto convertible with the top down. We weren't going all that fast, but the ramp up to the RR tracks was pretty steep. So, just for fun... both of us left our seats completely (no seat belts) but the driver at least had the steering wheel to hang on to. I was head and shoulders above the top of the windshield frame which I think I grabbed in self defense. We were lucky not to get injured of course and the car was no worse for wear. It's another reason I swear by seat belts, because you never know when you'll be needing them. Gary
Boy does that bring back some memories! Long straight open road in a sparsley populated part of the burbs outside of Memphis, two dumbass teenagers in a 67 chevy truck with a really sweet small block, and an elevated train track about 3 feet above grade. We must have jumped it 15 times over the years, but the very last time it busted the front end, went through the fence on the right side of the road, and we ended up in the farmers pond! He was one HOT 'ol man, but that wasn't shit after Mr. Smith showed up...............................ahhhhhh, the good 'ol days!
IMG_0142 by bowie posted May 22, 2017 at 9:00 PM 2nd young and dumb story : This one is actually about lofting all four wheels. Had just put a brand spanking new deep sump Moroso pan on my OT '69 GTX and was out "testing " doing about 45-50 ; forgot about a real short 10' drop on the back road I was on... thought I was the General Lee for a couple seconds... smashed that brand new sump flat as a pancake! Lucky I didn't waste the crank. Never have run a deep pan on anything since. Edit: Still have that pan around here somewhere... just as a reminder... live and learn!
My one recollection of all four tires being off the ground was back in the 70's. I was 16 and running around with a bunch of the older guys and we all piled into a hopped up Dodge van, owned by one of the local stoners. Heading to a summer party, I sat on a large ice chest behind the engine cover with one of those clear sun scoops over my head. We had a lot of open country roads and a lot of beer, so we decided to hit that one hill on Strang Road as fast as we could. The speedo was starting to peg when we crested and the next thing I remember was looking out the sun scoop as I floated off the ice chest. Then came the landing. It was harsh. the van protested and I thought that we were going to lose it and roll through the ditches at 100+. My ass protested next when I came back down and smacked the ice chest. But the van and all of us were intact, so we continued onto the huge party down by the lake. I remember drinking a lot after we got there, because it scared the shit out of me. I actually copped a ride home with a buddy who wasn't as crazy as van dude. Those were different times and we were all invincible. I'm sliding toward 60 and I'm trying to keep them all on the ground as much as possible. However, that pic looks like fun by the ton.
Apparently the hoodlums at Hot Rod and Motor Trend magazines weren't too old for such shenanigans when they tested the new 300hp 352 '58 Ford Fairlane 500s. MT ran the color shot on the cover without an accompanying shot of the aftermath inside, but we can probably surmise it was similar to HR's test, if not worse! All in the interest of inquiring automotive journalism of course!
Early 80's, there was a road in suburbia (Coburg I think) which was a steep downhill slope, a set of train tracks at the bottom, and a 90 degree bend a short distance after. I had a Holden which would launch off the tracks, the trick was to lock the brakes while airborn, and hit the deck with all wheels locked, because you had to turn that bend real quick. There was a permanent hole in the fence straight ahead, and tyre tracks into the dirt, for those who did'nt quite make it. The council later closed the road as they built the Tullamarine Freeway where the "run off" area was.
I love Hot Rods, but if I had the finances, I'd be into vintage aircraft. That's the only way I want to leave the ground.
We don't have train tracks around here, but we have skinny old two lane roads. One on my way to school had a small quick rise that you could get air over if you went fast enough. There was a hard right after it on my way to school. Every car I owned in High School got tested on the bump and the turn...Mark
While leaving a certain run a couple years ago all the cars were doing a little smoke show as they were leaving. This was at a slight rise right before a set of rail road tracks. Being a traditional type event most cars had moderate horse power flatheads and such and were doing little one wheel chirps and burn outs. I thought what the heck, I could do that. got in the '27 rpu and headed for the exit, the little '50 Olds 303 with the four 97 topped 4-71 was running good that day, I aproached the spot, brought the rpm up and popped the clutch. The car launched pretty good, lifted the front and just flew over the tracks, and came crashing down hard but straight on the other side. I went around the corner to the gas station, gassed up for the ride home and surveyed the damage. one of the Hurst motor mounts had split on landing but looked like it wasn't going to fall apart, no other visual damage so I went back to say goodbye to some friends at the show, by then it was getting dark, so I got back in the car and hauled ass on the freeway for the hour and a half ride home. I was able to straighten out and re-weld the torn mount but that was the only time that car saw air while I had it.
I "took flight" once, and all 4 wheels left the ground, NINE TIMES!! This was the short term result. Still dealing with the long term, 55 years later. Flying an automobile ain't all it's cracked up to be!
This is a crazy, but true story. My brother is a hot air balloonist. He put his balloon up for a charity event. It was too windy to fly. So we tethered it to the rear axle of my 29 coupe the { lo UFO }. A large guest of wind came up, and lifted the rear wheels off the ground. Also drug the coupe 20 to 30 feet. He was just new to the hobby back then, the { 1980 s} . We live and learn. lol
Had a hopped up 460 Bron--"cough-cough"--co. We were doing what you're supposed to do with a Bronco, bombing through fire trails in northern MI. Through the power lines there was a steep sand hill, likely some 80' high from valley to summit. Seemed a lot higher since it was so steep. My bro-in-laws, both avid 4WD freaks, wanted me to scale it on a side trail, turn hard left and and run the last 2/3rd of it straight up. I argued saying it'll stop dead when the hubs bind, AND it was all sand. After 3 tries and it doing exactly as I said we were punch drunk and laughing wildly. The last roll back I couldn't feel what was straight and what was turned. "You're gonna roll this bitch!" and out the pass door they went. They bailed out laughing like 1st graders. Once I gained my composure I said "Am I straight or turned?" "Turn left and back this bitch up!" So I got straight and then "Low, Low and punch it!" "You sure? It'll dig in won't it?" "Hell no, GO FOR IT!" It did what I said, wound out and dug a hole, no wheel speed. I backed down 1 more time, "I'm doin this MY WAY!!" "You'll be sorry!" I put it in drive, still in low range and punched it. By the time I reached them it was in high gear and gaining big speed. I hit the top at about 40 MPH and got some serious air. Stock gears, 36" tires, a 460, that big ol girl would do 70 MPH in low range! I had a wide open flat field to land in so it was all good, and damn good fun! I backed up to the edge and shut it off, hopped out, "Hey, bad news guys! She's a little hot so you gotta walk up, sorry!" I had a direct gauge and knew it would hot soak and show over 200 when they finally huffed and puffed their way up. "Wow, good thing you didn't burn it up." "Yeah, ya think...?" as I did my best to hide my grin. Ya see, I coulda backed down and did it with them but they bailed on me. They got the show from the cheap seats, and I didn't tell em for over 2 years. We were back there on snowmobiles and that's when I let the cat outta the bag. "WTF? You dog!" "I bet you don't bail out again..." We still laugh about it and that was in the mid 90s. In a car? Not me, repairs cost $$$$. There was an epidemic of kids jumping tracks out here in the sticks. High tracks n deep ditches don't mix well.
I have mentioned before that I grew up right close to a big junkyard and pretty well had the run of the place. We used to routinely race through the access roads in whatever we could get to run that day.There was a good sized mud hole back there that the owner had filled in with his old dozer and left quite high so it would pack down over time.Made a nice ramp.Corky Mcneil and I decided to see how fast we could hit that.Both of us got in a 56 Caddy that had had the body torched off and the frame shortened considerably.( We called them "skeeters" in those days) and hit the hump flat out-probably had a 300 yard run at it.It went airborne,came down sideways,spun around violently several times and fetched up against a pine tree.Corky and I were both thrown out,landed in the dirt and got bruised up some.We were so sobered by the realization of what might have happened that we promptly DID IT AGAIN the next day with a 57 ford station wagon. FUN!!
Dave Wallace sent this to me. Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the magazine and the resolution on the screenshot sucks, but if you can squint your eyes and read what's there, it's pretty funny.
Late 90's, a '75 Dodge Monaco spray painted all black including all the chrome trim, over "the jump" which was a railroad track burm, about 90mph, landed on all 4 wheels and broke the frame under the car upon landing. It's not your ass that gets hurt hitting the seat, it's the seat's recoil a second later that smashes the top of your head into the roof of the car.
O.K., like some of these posts, this didn't involve a real hot rod, but I did get off the ground. For about a year and a half, while I was in college, I delivered pizzas. Luckily, the pizza joint had a few Vega panel wagons for deliveries, so I didn't have to abuse my '59 Ford wagon schlepping pies around campus. This was in the mountains of North Carolina, so the roads could be entertaining at times. there was a Y intersection at the top of a long uphill run known as Dick's Gap, where the road onto campus started with a quick left and drop off of the main road. The Vega wagons only had a driver's seat, and a warming oven. Heading back after a delivery, I picked up a hitch hiker, who had to perch on the bare floor where a seat weren't. We hit the top of the rise doing everything that four banger would do, and a quick left jerk of the wheel put that car, and my passenger, airborne. Funny at the time, just glad we landed somewhat under control at this point. K6
I grew up about 6 houses away from where this car lived. Rob drove like a nut, and I developed a passion for automobiles of all sorts. This photo was taken in the mid eighties. The car was later totaled, rolling several times after leaving a cloverleaf exit ramp.
PHOTO: KIWI KEV Thanks for a great example of a wheelie in a Chevy sedan. Hello, When my friend’s 57 Chevy Bel Air, 2 door hardtop needed front shocks, he found out that if he floored the gas pedal and popped the clutch, he could lift the front end higher than before. He let up on the gas, the Chevy dropped down and he floored it again. This caused the car to lift, drop, lift again and on the third try, his front wheels came off of the ground about 8 inches. Now, this was a 57 Chevy Bel Air two door hardtop. It had a 283 with a cam, 2x4 carbs, 4:11 gears, and a newly installed 4 speed. This car weighed about 3200 lbs. He actually did a wheelie in front of a bunch of people and they were all impressed. (1st year freshmen, college kids, why aren't you in class or studying? LBCC on Faculty Ave, in front of the Library) Did he bottom out when he came down? Yes, definitely. After he did that stunt, he realized that it was a dumba%$# thing to do. So, we never saw it happen again. Once he installed his new shocks, the car rode quite well. My friend was happy he gave his old shocks a good send off… and that he would not be a freshman for long...So, no more costly stunts. Jnaki He raced that 57 Bel Air several times and liked the thrill. But, he told all of us that he was a “Lover, not a racer.” (He did have a lot of girl friends) So, we started hearing about the problems with the custom, 4 speed shifter on the floor, etc.
The Jalopy Journal
