The moment when Memphis Raines starts ripping gears towards the rollback wrecker, the Dixie horn as yet another Charger is offered up to the altar, the next stunt for a Fast and Furious movie…the flying car has a mythos to it. Car stays on ground, plane flies through the air…that’s the way this is supposed to work, not the other way around! But seeing how far a car can be jumped has always been a part of the program. In the 1920s and 30s, it was a way to prove how tough and durable a vehicle could be…if it could survive a ramp at speed and the landing, what were you really going to do to that Ford?

I’ve been in many vehicles that have been fully airborne for more than the blink of an eye, but I myself haven’t flown a car but maybe twice and I’m not spilling details on the events. I will say that I wouldn’t have chosen either vehicle used as my primary option…both were seriously nose-heavy and one was worse for the wear afterwards. Not counting a custom-built car, my first choice for attempting flight would have to be some sort of 1977-90 GM B-body. If you haven’t seen the old footage of the Buick LeSabre sailing like a Cessna off of a deep hill jump at what sounds like triple-digit territory, go watch it now. You’ll have the power to get air, a chance at surviving the landing and probably enough car to be ok if you screw up. Maybe. Stunt drivers, cops, and teenagers with camcorders can’t be wrong.

Let’s make it simple: say you’ve been entered in this car jump event. Forget the Ford Kas and Rovers that get sailed, what would you bring to send into low Earth orbit before crashing into a nice, soft, cozy bed of derelict vehicles?