THRILL DRIVER'S CHOICE

Year Published: 1956

Creator: Jam Handy Organization

Format: 16mm

Description: One of the series of films produced by Jam Handy for Chevrolet, THRILL DRIVER'S CHOICE features thrill driver Joie Chitwood and his team putting 1956 Chevys through their paces as part of a "thrill show". The film also shows Chevy's in the showroom at the 1:20 mark, and indicates that Chitwood drives a "stock" Chevy (whether this is true or not we don't know!) George Rice Chitwood (April 14, 1912 – January 3, 1988), nicknamed "Joie", was an American racecar driver and businessman. He is best known as a daredevil in the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show. Born in Denison, Texas of Cherokee Indian ancestry, he was dubbed "Joie" by a track promoter and the name stuck.[citation needed] Chitwood started his racecar driving career in 1934 at a dirt track in Winfield, Kansas. From there, he began racing sprint cars. In 1939 and 1940 he won the AAA East Coast Sprint car championship. He switched to the CSRA and won its title in 1942. Between 1940 and 1950 he competed at the Indianapolis 500 seven times, finishing fifth on three different occasions. He was the first man ever to wear a safety belt at the Indy 500. Chitwood also operated the "Joie Chitwood Thrill Show", an exhibition of auto stunt driving that became so successful he gave up racing. Often called "Hell Drivers," he had five units that for more than forty years toured across North America thrilling audiences in large and small towns alike with their death-defying automobile stunts. His show was so popular, that in January 1967, the performance at the Islip Speedway, New York was broadcast on ABC television's Wide World of Sports. On May 13, 1978, Joie Chitwood Jr.(b. Aug. 31, 1943) set a world record when he drove a Chevrolet Chevette for 5.6 miles (9.0 km) on just 2 wheels. His sons, Joie Jr. and Tim both joined the auto thrill show and continued to run the "Joie Chitwood Chevy Thunder Show" after their father's retirement. His grandson, Joie Chitwood III, is the President of Daytona International Speedway and a former president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The show was featured during season 3 of CHiPs in an episode entitled "Thrill Show". Joie Jr. did stunts for "Miami Vice" on several occasions. Chitwood's show was credited by Evel Knievel as being his inspiration to become a daredevil when his show appeared in his home town of Butte, Montana. Chitwood was frequently hired by Hollywood film studios to either do stunt driving for films or to act as auto-stunt coordinator. On a few occasions he appeared in a minor role, notably with Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck in the 1950 film about auto racing, To Please a Lady. In 1973, Joie Chitwood Jr. was credited as a Stunt Coordinator for the hugely successful James Bond film Live and Let Die (film), where he was also the stunt driver and acted in a minor part. Joie Chitwood Jr. also acted as a car safety consultant, intentionally crashing vehicles for subsequent investigation. He had intentionally crashed more than 3000 vehicles by the time he appeared on the game show I've Got A Secret in 1965. Joie Jr. and Joie Sr. test-crashed guardrails and breakaway Interstate signs for US Steel and aluminum light poles for ALCOA. The highways are safer today because of these tests.

Complete Record:

Transcription

[Music] this is the elf it's a rolling caravan that tourists the highways and byways of America bringing a thrill pack show to hundreds of thousands of spectators all over the country throughout the year day after day night after night the equipment is unloaded for the grueling series of breathtaking routines that a talented troupe of daring drivers perform with the same fleet of regular production model cards yes this is the outfits and this is the slogan they swear and live by I drove all three comparison proves its Chevrolet for me and here's a man who should know I'm Joie Chitwood I'm the boss of this outfit so be my guest join the crowd that's come to take in the exciting thrill of minutes show that my boys and I put on popcorn peanuts and red hots for the customer and a real hot car for the drivers Chevrolet is the only one we use not a souped-up reinforced model but the same Chevrolet you'll find on any showroom floor the hundreds of thousands of people who catch our show in a season see with their own eyes that the cars they can buy are the same ones we drive and I've given it to you straight my boys and I give hundreds of performances day and night with this same fleet of Chevrolet's when you see the pounding we give them and these highlights from various shows you get an idea of why the car we use has to be able to take it and now here's our announcer getting the show underway good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome on behalf of Joie Chitwood and his world champion the Auto thrill show and now moving along with the individual introduction of each of the daredevil stars driving brand new 56 Chevrolet cars that's how we take our vows just the drivers mind you not the Chevrolet we can spin on a dime and give you a nickel change believe me it takes more than hard braking and an expert at the wheel to do that it takes a combination of balanced weight distribution plus the way Chevrolet's front-end suspension is built into the chassis there's the combination that makes for sure-footed and I dive braking control safer easier all around handling with the car that will stop it heads up yes safer by a long shot even in a full reverse spin which we wouldn't wish on anybody driving on highways but if it happens in an extreme emergency Chevrolet's combination of Outrigger rear springs and body balance our protection against a rollover I don't expect you'll ever run into any road hazards like these but here's another example of Chevrolet's ability to meet and beat and emergency it's like balancing an egg on a toothpick it takes more than driver juggling to do it balance frame construction is what lets us write this to real tightrope [Music] they will make it well take a look at the rugged steel backbone in that chassis a rigid box girder frame with no excess weight and with the road-holding low center of gravity makes it a cinch for us to come off these runs right side up [Music] just in case you're wondering what would happen if my boy didn't make it I rigged this little stunt over and these especially braced old jalopies we use in our shows really take a pounding but it wouldn't prove a thing unless we put one of our regular cars in our fleet through this exact same routine and this will really give you an idea of how rugged Chevrolet is because we run them brand new in this rollover demonstration and this 1956 Chevrolet has no special reinforcement whatsoever here we go hold it this is too good to miss so let's start at the beginning again and run it real slow so you can see for yourself the full wallop this car takes on the rollover as tough as any proving ground test a car can be put through durability brother that solid sturdy double wall steel construction really gives durability to Chevrolet because here we are heads up and running a car that can do that means the world to you in your everyday driving and talking about everyday driving I'm sure you won't get tied up in many situations like this but to be free feeling in tight spots where every inch counts is something we just don't take for granted we've got to be sure split-second response with every turn of the steering wheel and no matter how or where you drive when threading through traffic cornering taking the wide turns or the sharp turns on the highways steering control is the key to easy fatigue pre handling you want that split-second response and you'll get it from the same place we get it from Chevrolet's ball race steering gear it cuts friction and drag down to practically nothing besides these outrigger rear springs mounted outside the frame members reduce sway and body roll on the sharpest of turns producing surefire control every foot of the way through teams like this could be a tough nerve-wracking grind but behind the wheel of a Chevrolet they're just the smooth easy handling pleasure that's tops in our book and can be the same for any driver who chooses Chevrolet now no matter how good roads are these days your car still takes plenty of bumps and jolts but they're nothing compared to this ramp jump I'm going to show you for demonstration purposes no slave no swerve perfect balance and a perfect landing it's a jarring test of the sprays chassis and frame and the pounding we give these same cars day after day proves beyond all doubt that they're built to take it under the roughest driving conditions of course no one drives on such roads all the time but the times that you do it's good to know that the Chevrolet you drive can take this kind of punishment I'm sure you won't be doing this kind of high-flying no man would even in this business if he wasn't absolutely sold on the car he used it takes power the solid dependable v8 power you've got at the tip of your toe when you press down on a Chevrolet accelerator in case you missed some of that we'll try it again this is something we can do only on film but it'll show you how steady Chevrolet is even flying high like this and in this demonstration you'll see 1956 Chevrolet durability put to the acid test a car has to have everything to do this to survive especially durability and considering that this same power was used for the rollover stunt it's really rugged here's another chance to see what I mean [Music] with Chevrolet I know I can drive away under my own power every time and I've got to know if I'm going to put on another show tomorrow you can take my word we live to drive and drive to live and Chevrolet is the car we trust our lives to day in day out night after night we show off our driving skills with this package of driving thrills but more than that we prove everyday that the extra margin of safety every family wants in a family car is built into a Chevrolet yes this is the outfits and here is the slogan they swear and live by I drove all three comparison proves its Chevrolet for me it's a cinch this fellow knows and you'll know too once you get behind the wheel of a Chevrolet [Music]


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