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Epic Photo: A 1957 Ford Truck In Flight Over an Elephant


Epic Photo: A 1957 Ford Truck In Flight Over an Elephant

This is one of the single greatest photos we have ever seen. It was posted up by Jesse, the man who operates the awesome “Just a Car Guy” blog. Jesse always digs up killer stuff, and this may be his single greatest find ever. Once we saw it we knew we had to share it with the BangShift readership!

So what the hell are we looking at? For starters it is a 1957 Ford truck jumping an elephant, with a handler next to the pachyderm! This was the featured act of the Swenson Thrillcade, a traveling automotive thrill show on the idea of the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show or the Pure Oil Hell-drivers. The show was operated by a man named Aut Swenson and typically featured Kaiser-Frazier cars as their rides of choice. Wisely (or not!) they pressed the Ford truck into airplane duty for the “big finish” of their show. The elephant isn’t the healthiest looking fellow we’ve ever seen. We suspect that Aut got a bitchin’ deal on him after his useful life at the circus ran out. The trainer is either the bravest or dumbest person in the history of mankind.

According to some research this shot was taken in 1960 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. That’s the place where the Car Craft Summer Nationals were held.

Want the BangShift connection to this photo?

Both Chad and I have worked as the emcee of that car show and part of our duties was to announce the burnout contest which happened in front of the main grandstand on just about the spot where the truck is jumping the elephant.

Pretty cool eh?

 

Aut Swenson Elephant jump


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5 thoughts on “Epic Photo: A 1957 Ford Truck In Flight Over an Elephant

    1. Brian Lohnes Post author

      It was ramp to ramp and they did it for years, the landing was likely pretty mundane. They drove the truck from show to show.

  1. Gary D

    I am probably the only reader to feel this way, but I am not in favor of terrorizing poor animals. Better choice, let’s have the promoter and his family lay out there for the truck to (hopefully) fly over.

  2. Ford police dept.

    There was no animal rights in 1960. None. Human rights were scarce. We’ve come a long way, but have a ways to go. Didn’t Chitwood have a crew member lay between the ramps? We would get some neighborhood girl to lay between our bike ramps and must have got the idea somewhere.

  3. 69rrboy

    The Chitwood show came to our tiny town fair back in like 73 or 74. They were using Dusters and Valiants and it was awesome seeing cars just like my dad’s 74 Swinger up on two wheels and jumping off ramps. Of course 8 or 9 year old me fully expected our car to do the same thing on the way home. It did not.

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