The Ramchargers

Racing events, drivers, cars or anything else from the past.
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Red Baron
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The Ramchargers

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Post by Red Baron »

The final test was scheduled for Ubly Dragway, in the thumb of Michigan, because of some issue with Detroit Dragway.

Jim Thornton was not available, so Herman Mozer drove that test.

The brakes were still totally inadequate, and we were pouring water over the drums between runs to cool the brakes.

Midway through the test, Herman crossed the finish line at about 123 mph and touched the brakes. The right front locked and the car went off the side of the track and tripped on the edge of the pavement. The car did an endo landing on its roof in a corn field. Herman was badly shaken but unhurt.

A photo of the car is in the book We Were the Ramchargers. At its lowest point the roof came in only six inches, but the aluminum front end looked like crumpled tin foil. This was before roll bars and exotic seat belt systems. The car did have a lovely safety feature in that the single strap holding the fuel tank failed, allowing the tank and gasoline to slide down the track well away from the crashing car. The Federal Government subsequently required greater fuel-tank retention, another step backward.
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