(Continued from Part 2…)
The Hell Drivers performed their 1,800 shows in brand new Dodge cars and trucks as did the Jimmy Lynch Death Dodgers at the ’39-’40 New York World’s Fair. Most of these stock passenger Dodges; two door coupes, sedans and, of course, those beautiful convertibles; were powered by the bullet proof 383 cubic inch V-8 engines, amazingly the only modifications to these vehicles was a heavy duty suspension and raised torsion bars that would help with the severe punishment during the run of the Fair. All of the vehicles were equipped with 1964 state-of-the-art seat belts called Auto-Crat by Jim Robbins Co. The Hell Drivers used these since ’42 and were strong advocates of their use in a time when they were an optional item. During those 22 some odd years, the Kochman Teams only used Dodge vehicles averaging 37 cars a year for all their performances. The ‘64 Dodges where put through extensive performance testing before they could launch into the air on a 70 foot ramp to ramp jump, skid along at high speed in reverse gear, and shift into forward motion within seconds by the push of the ultra cool push button transmission (alas, the last year for that feature).
The cars were checked daily for a long list of items that included front end alignments, amount of gasoline in the tank, tire pressure, radiator system leaks, and, of course, the special seat belts. The only other special safety equipment was the aptly named ‘crash helmet’. All the vehicles used a brand of tire called Allstate, with ‘safety rims’, that were exclusive to Chrysler cars. All the ’64 Dodges were white, a favorite with the corporate heads, with a special World’s Fair emblem hand painted on the sides.
So when it comes to the first famous Dodge that was doing long jumps and driving away in good shape, the ’64 Dodge leads the pack. It was the grand dad of the jumping Dukes of Hazzard ’69 Dodge Charger, The General Lee. I’m sure you Dodge boys (or girls!) are enjoying this story and you’ll see more in future posts, along with super rare photos and my original images. This is just the tip of the iceberg in the large amount of facts and events that Dodge was leading the way in the birth of the modern American muscle car era, that we are still enjoying today. Dukes of Hazzards General Lee ’69 Charger eat your heart out!
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Images of the 1964 – 1965 NY World’s Fair from the OFFICIAL World’s Fair Souvenir Book
Copyright 1965 New York World’s Fair 1964-1965 Corporation
Published by arrangement with Time Inc.