Yesterday we asked what the coolest car related stunt you’ve ever seen was. One reader tipped us off to a rather legendary jump made back in 1972. Using the appropriate AMC Javelin, American Thrill Shows came up with the idea to perform a corkscrew style ramp to ramp jump they called the Astro Sprial Jump.
So big was the hype around this traveling show and the Spiral jump specifically, they sold out the Houston Astro Dome! This video goes through the process of coming up with the ramps, practicing the jump and ultimately pulling it off in front of a massive crowd in Texas. Even cooler, the profile in courage is part of the old Bud Lindemann Car and Track TV show, so not only do you get the sweet, sweet jump action, you also get his dulcet tones performing the narration.
We’re jaded in the world we currently live in. This was pretty big stuff back in ’72. We wouldn’t have the stones to strap into that Javelin today so all of our respect goes out to the guy who “tried it out” first!
Press play below for the Astro glide Spiral Jump!
Great footage!
Wasn’t this the same stunt that was done in “The Man with the Golden Gun” James Bond movie in a Matador.
I guess AMC’s are built for this kind of duty.
Bud Lindeman and Car and Track show was the best thing on TV when I was little.
In the James bond movie they used a Hornet.
The bad guy had a Matador..
When you watch the spiral video notice the wheel
attached to the rear axle. It was to ensure the “push of” from the ramp.
Nick
Go AMC!!
Slashdot is almost already dead. Now it’s all clique voting for karma. I read /. every day, but rarely comment, so have few friend/followers there. As a result, I can not get a comment modded up for the life of me. The idiot replying to me gets 2 points, my reply to him none, the next reply from him 2 points, my reply none, with my original post also with no points. It’s sickening. My comment is relevant, the reply is troll, but I am the one with bad karma.
But the worst part is that the stories are no longer ahead of everybody else. Geek.com beats them by two days most of the time now. Without bleeding edge content, /. is doomed to the dust bin you know.
Great ! Is there anything like this out there anymore ?