Auto Thrill Show
Thirty "Hell Drivers" risk life, limb and vehicles, crashing cars and performing other stunts in a daring high-speed show. Among the features of the program are: four-car bumper tag, wing ski jumps (drivers careen off a low ramp on two wheels at 50 miles an hour), a crash rollover contest, and the "dive bomber crash" (off the ramp with an old car onto the top of a parked car). In the show's climax, a driver pilots a truck on a dangerous ramp-to-ramp "flight", hurtling more than 70 feet through the air. The 6,000-seat Auto Thrill Stadium has a banked figure-8 track, the first such track to be created exclusively for stunt driving.
The Hell Drivers stunt show was located in the far southwestern corner of the Fair grounds, tucked back behind the General Motors pavilion. The facility basically consisted of a small racetrack, an open-air grandstand, and shops to repair the vehicles damaged in the shows. (CD #16 Set 79 #8)
One of the stunt drivers is seen demonstrating how to drive a car on only two wheels. The ramp behind the car was used to help launch a variety of vehicles into the air and over obstacles, including several stuntmen lying side-by-side as cars and trucks passed over them. (CD #21 Set 109 #26)
Guests could also examine some of the cars used in the show, or watch the maintenance crew in action. (CD #65 Set 264 #10)