This is one guy who went all the way and obviously pushed his mods just a little too far. I bet the first quarter mile was quite impressive...

. . . The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of
> smoldering metal embedded into the side of a cliff
> rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The
> wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but
> it was a car. The type of car was unidentifiable at
> the scene. The lab finally figured out what it was and
> what had happened. It seems that a guy had somehow
> gotten hold of a JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off
> -actually a
> > solid fuel rocket) that is used to give heavy
> military transport planes an extra "push" for taking
> off from short airfields. He had driven his Chevy
> Impala out into the desert and found a long and
> straight stretch of road. Then he attached the JATO
> unit to his car, jumped in, got up some speed and
> fired off the JATO!
>
> The facts as best as could be determined are that the
> operator of the> 1967 Impala hit the JATO ignition at
> a distance of approximately 3.0 miles from the crash
> site. This was established by the prominent scorched
> and melted asphalt at that location. The JATO, if
> operating properly, would have reached maximum thrust
> within 5 seconds, causing the Chevy to reach speeds
> well in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power
> for an additional 20-25 seconds.
>
> The driver, and soon to be pilot, most likely would
> have experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog
> fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners, causing
> him to become insignificant for the remainder of the
> event. However, the automobile remained on the
> straight highway for about 2.5 miles (15-20 seconds)
> before the driver applied and completely melted the
> brakes, blowing the tires and leaving thick rubber
> marks
> on the road surface, then becoming airborne for an
> additional 1.4 miles and impacting the cliff face at a
> height of 125 feet leaving a blackened crater 3 feet
> deep in the rock.
>
> Most of the driver's remains were not recoverable;
> however, small fragments of bone, teeth and hair were
> extracted from the crater and fingernail and bone
> shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to
> be a portion of the steering wheel. Epilogue: It has
> been calculated that this moron nearly reached Mach I,
> attaining a ground speed of approximately 420 mph.

 

I saw that on the darwin page, it's just an urban legend from what I hear. I'm not so sure that big 'ol car could get much lift.

 

Yes in fact, this was the winner of the Darwin awards. With enough power anything can fly whether it be a brick, a Lightning or an old Impala

 

bet it was one helluva ride

 

now that is a bad way to go...or maybe a good way. i have not decided yet.

 

Does anybody know where I can get one of those? WFC5 is only a few months away and I need an edge!

 

No it didn't. It's an urban legend.

http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html

 

my cousin went the same way.

 

My silver L is almost that fast.

 

I heard that story back in 92 when I was in high school. Back then it was a helicopter engine strapped to a cadilac.

 

Back in the 70's the story went that a young man attached a JATO unit to his soap box derby car. Authority's are still looking for the man

 

In Lightning just a few brake modifications and it can be done!! Hell just attach 2 JATO packs in the bed of the truck!! Make you even faster!!