 |
| Photo courtesy of Leslie Hellrung |
Aficionados of county fairs are familiar with the demolition derby, where contestants crash into each other with automobiles until only one car still running (called "the winner") is left. Because the sport is dangerous, the event usually takes place on a muddy field or arena in order to reduce speed, and participants can be disqualified if they hit the driver's door of their opponents. The specific rules for the event vary from venue to venue.
The traditional equipment for this endeavor was a 1960s or 1970s full-sized American sedan or station wagon which could withstand more abuse than its smaller, less beefy brethren. Due to the limited availability of such behemoths in modern times, many derbies now are devoted to the more plentiful and newer smaller vehicles.
One contestant, however, has been traditionally banned from almost all variations of the demolition derby. We are talking, of course, about the Chrysler Imperial--especially the 1964-1966 version. Its size, ruggedness, and crashworthiness were deemed to make it an unfair competitor. Chrysler executives were probably not all that displeased about their product being disqualified because it was "too tough."
 |
| By Crwpitman (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
No comments:
Post a Comment