What is a dam jump? Well, we’re not 100% sure but if we’re going on a pretty literal basis, a dam jump is a near vertical wall a truck speeds up and is then launched into a retaining pond of water, muck, and goo that would swallow a normal man and his truck. Luckily, Mundy and his truck are nothing close to normal, so after a hella impressive jump and ultra hard landing in the goop, Mundy is right back on the loud pedal and the truck claws its way out to shore. The fact that the truck survived the jump is one thing but the fact that he was able to hammer on the throttle and actually drive out the pit is freakin’ awesome.

Mundy built this truck himself, including the frame and suspension. They both hold up perfectly though all this madness!

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE AIR MUNDY LIVE UP TO HIS NICKNAME!

Jason Brady, driving the meanest sounding 1970 Chevy C-10 you’ve ever heard thundered his way to the quickest lap in Pickup truck, Roger Burman won the Pro class in the wild Crusher Camaro, and the 48 Hour Camaro was tops in the Street Machine category. All of the cars in the competitive Saturday classes were flat out great and these three were better than the rest.

CONGRATS TO THE DRIVERS AND THE CREW AT RIDETECH, IT WAS AN IMPRESSIVE SHOWING!

Here’s what they had to say about the tuning session: The Mustang Shop’s 358ci NASCAR Cup engine powered 2008 Mustang on the dyno. This is a 3rd gear tuning pull but still need to lean out the jetting a little more. I ran the car to 8400 RPMs and it made a corrected 653whp . The timing is set at 32 degrees and will try a little more advance to see how it responds. This trans typically has a 20% loss in 4th and 22% loss in 3rd gear. Once the tuning is finished and the pulls are done in 4th gear, I expect to see over 675 hp at the tires. This works out to roughly 840 hp at the crank.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO HEAR A NASCAR POWERED PONY SCREAM ITS GUTS OUT ON THE ROLLERS!

From there he tells the shopper that the car will sell for $50,000-$70,000 at a major auction and will sell for way more after Big Daddy passes away. Proof that he believes this claim, he listed the price of the car at $50,000 or a trade for a motor home of equal value. He did not specify whether or not the home next to the car is part of the sale because if it is, we get the price. If not, we think that this guy is shooting pretty high. It sure would add some value if Big did build this car, but there’s no way it is worth that type of dough. Unique cars are worth lots of money IF a lot of people want them. Other than a small and dedicated cadre of M-Body enthusiasts, who else would want this car?

Back to the car itself, the engine is a 440 with a pair of 650CFM Holley carbs on top and a NOS nitrous system. The seller suggests that the buyer hit the nitrous button at 110mph during a drag race and then cross the traps at 180mph! Again, if he were hitting the nitrous and ignition a JATO rocket in the trunk we’re feeling 180mph. If not….c’amon man.

But hey…at least it has “unlimited” top end because of the 3.23 gears. Seriously, this guy actually the car has “unlimited” top end.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND A LINK TO THE CL AD! READ THE AD FOR THE FULL FLAVOR OF THIS STORY –

When Don Garlits gets back to us, we’ll let you know what he says!

CL AD: A DON GARLITS BUILT 1983 CHRYSLER NEW YORKER WITH 440 POWER!

Once the guy gets up and going, the operator of the excavator begins to extend the bucket, so that the skier gets going faster and faster. The guy has a pretty amazing head of steam when he finally decided to let go. His momentum propels him all the way to the shore! He makes it to the beach with room to spare. The amount of speed generated at the end of that boom is incredible and it certainly reinforces the fact that heavy equipment is 100% totally awesome.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO WATCH A DUDE GO WATER SKIING WITH AN EXCAVATOR POWERING HIM!

This year the cars ran the gamut from a 4 door Falcon powered by a very healthy 347, a Mercury X-100, a Boss 429 Mustang, to a 1957 International Harvester pickup/welding truck complete with vintage welding equipment. Brian would have been drooling over the perfectly restored B-68 Mack. We could have spent all night yakking with the car owners, from 20-somethings to well seasoned citizens.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO SEE BOB AND GREG’S GALLERY FROM ONE OF AMERCIA’S GREAT SMALL TOWN CRUISES!

EVENT GALLERY: THE 2013 EARLVILLE CRUISE – EARLVILLE, ILLINOIS

I left Arizona at 10:30 at night, simply because I could not sleep.  With the satellite radio on, I cut through the darkness to a rest stop just short of the Arizona-New Mexico border, where after four hours, my body had finally decided it was nap time. I pulled a blanket over myself and knocked out for two hours. One point for the 300C: I can sleep in it just fine.

When I woke up the first tinges of green in the sky were beginning to show. I sped off, figuring that I would make it into Colorado Springs by 2pm. I settled into 80 mph and ate up the miles, and I made my schedule. I checked into the hotel and gave  my brother a call.

My visit went well, and I slept like a rock. The next morning I topped off the tank, and after an irritating 30-minute search for breakfast that culminated in a McDonald’s visit (ugh), I drove out Highway 24 for Limon. I know this particular route pretty well, so I decided to stop at some of the places along the way and grab some pictures.

The first thing I saw was that there was still snow on the ground in May. This isn’t normal unless you’re at the mountains. In this case, this is just past Peyton, Colorado, about 40 miles from Colorado Springs.

This abandoned garage is in Callahan, Colorado. I can personally attest that these forlorn vehicles have been in the same spot since 2000, when I first drove by them. There were many scenes like this, finding old iron everywhere…I didn’t have the time to stop and shoot pictures of them all.

By mid-day I was in Kansas. I-70 in Kansas is a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that the highways are good, the speed limits are good, and you can make great time across that state. The downside is that there isn’t a damn thing to look at for hundreds of miles at a time. Besides grass, anyways.

During one of my phone conversations with Haley, I kept bitching about the lack of views and how it looked like I was driving through the Windows 98 picture. At one point I remarked something about “how I’d like to see one entertaining thing within the next ten minutes”. I was rewarded about five minutes later, after cresting a small hill, with two cows getting it on in the field next to the Interstate. Be careful what you wish for.

About an hour later I came into the windmill farms that cover great sections of central Kansas. I have never gotten used to seeing these things. The scale is incredible. I have to wonder what future generations will think when they see these things…

I got into Junction City, just outside of Fort Reily, about 3pm, and checked into a tiny hotel room that looked like CSI had just finished cleaning. I’m almost certain I saw where the body lay. My brother Zack showed up about an hour later and we headed to Topeka, where we met up with BS’ers Don (KSJ2) and Ron Ward. That particular story is documented elsewhere, but suffice to say good times, good laughs and bad food were had by all. Zack and I returned to Junction City and after he left to go back to base, I crashed.

The next morning I topped the Chrysler off and found an IHOP. After the worst service I’ve ever seen by a young Army wife who could’ve cared less about her job, I made the run for Illinois. Along the way, I was determined to stop into a place in Missouri I’ve seen every trip. I forgot to get the location, but it’s east of St. Louis Metro and it’s off on the south side of I-70. This time I stopped in and grabbed a few pictures:

I left after this picture, when a guy covered in grease and dirt came around the corner screaming at me. Apparently they were closed. What I could see were several AMX’s and Javelins, several second-gen Camaros, a Mopar E-body of some type, and numerous others.

The remainder of the trip was rather uneventful. St. Louis was under major rework, with some of the older brick factories in the east end being torn down. Illinois is corn, corn and more corn, and my visit with my stepmother and sister had to be cut short due to an urgent need to get to Kentucky that night to attend a family funeral the next day. Kentucky itself is currently the land of road construction.

I will give the Chrysler credit: It is by far the best roadtrip car I’ve owned, and after the 2006 Monte Carlo SS I had put over 25,000 miles of vacation time on, I didn’t think it’d make it to that list. The 5.7 pulls that sled like a freight train, it gets impressive highway mileage (I was averaging 24, but that includes city driving and every onramp I saw), has great range (nearly 400mi), and is the smoothest-riding car I’ve ever owned.

The first half of today’s death match was involved in one of the coolest car chases in movie history. This 1973 Pontiac Ventra Sprint was piloted by Roy Schneider and abused in grand fashion while chasing another Pontiac through the city streets, onto the highway, and ultimately into the back of an eighteen wheeler at full tilt. Whoopsie doodle. While the Ventura was clearly an automatic, the sounds of a stick shift car were dubbed in for the movie. Bill Hickman drove the car and did his normal level of awesome stuff by jumping  it, sliding it, and tossing it around at high enough speeds to cause some pucker factor on screen. Most likely this car had a 350ci Pontiac engine with a 2bbl on it from the factory. Something tells us that Hickman and the boys hot rodded it at least a little because the car does appear to have some sack in the film. We’ve got video of the chase below and you need to watch it because it truly is one of the best in movie history.

The second car in today’s police car death match is the 1984 Dodge Diplomat cop car from the movie Short Time which, like the Ventura was used and abused in a car case. Like the Poncho, there wasn’t a whole lot left of the thing when it was all said and done. Diplomat police cars are kind of a forgotten cousin to the 9C1 Chevy and Panther platform Ford cruisers people remember from the 1980s. Equipped with 360ci engines, sporting a shorter wheel base and lighter weight, they were certainly capable cars and have as devoted a following as the other two previously mentioned cop cars. The chase in Short Time, like the chase in The Seven Ups is considered the best in movie history by many. Amazing that the starring cars in these two awesome sequences are unlikely heroes in a Ventura and a Diplomat!

WE NEED YOUR VOTES TO DECIDE WHO MOVES ON! WATCH THE VIDEOS BELOW AND THEN COMMENT IN THE COMMENTING SECTION TO GIVE US YOUR PICK! WATCH THE VIDEOS…THEY RULE!

I remember a couple cool automotive surprises as a kid like a trip to the drag strip with my dad that was billed as something else and then revealed when we were on the way as a good memory. I think I also remember being shocked at seeing a new truck my dad bought that I didn’t know was coming when I was little. All of this planning got me to think about a good question of the day because I think Tom and Jack’s automotive surprise meter will be pegged off the damned charts today. I also know that there’s no freaking way to top having a full sized and fully functional Hot Wheels car in my driveway. The poor guys are peaking early!

We’re looking for your best automotive surprise. Not just when you were a kid. Hell, it could have happened last week!

BangShift Question Of The Day: What’s Been Your Best Automotive Surprise?

Marino could be the hardest core rock and roll car guy ever. The dude owned and drove a freaking Pro Stock car back in the early 1980s. In fact, the car in question was featured on the cover of their 1980 album What’s Next which is a lead image of this blog item (click on it to enlarge). According to Hunkins, Marino was once asked by a music journalist if he would try to stop his Hemi from falling off an engine stand if it meant risking his hands that were so amazingly talented on the guitar. His response was along the line of, “Yeah, I have done that twice.”

This is a drag racing song that rules. Marino’s great guitar work and lyrics written by a dude who clearly drag races and understands what it is like to be lined up in a thumping car on the starting line. This is one the best and most honest drag tunes ever and we wouldn’t have known about it without Hunkins bringing it up!

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO HEAR FRANK MARINO AND MAHOGANY RUSH PLAY FINISH LINE!