Posted by david on Friday, April 27, 2001 at 3:17PM :
In Reply to: Re: 80 mph in a W300 posted by David Sherman on Friday, April 27, 2001 at 1:43PM :
from a news article several years ago, this is long, i'll quote it. Some of you may have read it.
"He had a need for speed.He might have been trying to prove to NASA that he was ready for the astronaut program. Or maybe he was just stupid. Or both. Either way he ought to make the Guineness Book of records for top speed ever attained in a mid size American sedan.
Our driver-pilot, whose identy remains unknown at press time, somehow got hold of a military JATO unit.For the unanoited, JATO is the acronym for Jet Assisted Take Off, the units being solid-fuel rocket pods which are attached to heavy military transport aircraft to help them get airborne on very short fields. Works great on 50 ton planes. Works even better, it seems, on cars. There just this teensy problem of control.
Anyway, our rocket scientist found himself a straight and lonely stretch of Arizona highway out in the desert, attached the JATO unit to his 1967 Chevrolet Impala, strapped himself in, goosed his Chevy up to cruising speed, then fired her off. Several days of forensic examination indicate that he hit the JATO ignition about three miles away from the final impact point. This was established by the melted and burned asphalt at that point. Five seconds later our pal was at maximum thrust, clocking over 350 miles per hour, starting a 20 to 25 second "full burn," and pulling G-forces that put most fighter pilots into shock.
He must have had a strong constitution, though, because he was still conscious enough at the two-mile mark to stand on his brakes, completely melting and blowing all his tires, leaving thick slicks of rubber on the road. Investigators calculate the Road Warrior was airborne the last 1.4 miles of his trip, reaching an altitude of about 125 feet before slamming into a cliff face and blasting a crater three feet deep in the solid rock.
Fragments of teeth and hair were recovered from the crater, and fingernail and bone bits were picked from a piece of debris belived to be a chunk of steering wheel.
We don't think Chevy will be useing this one in any add campaigns. Just remember, don't try this at home. Its for professionals only"
I do not recall the newspaper or the date of incidence. No matter. This could be the answer to more gears and bigger engines.
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