Urban Myth, Legend or Truth? 
Jato-assisted Chevvy Misses Curve

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! 

Aerojet's jet assisted take-off rocket was the first merging of rocket and manned flight. Shown here, a WWII fighter uses the technique to cut aircraft carrier liftoff distance in half.
 

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. 

Jet-powered cars do exist.  You will find them on drag racing tracks. 
 
 

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.

(OMED: This was sent to us by Mike O'Brien, who works the sports desk on the Tillamook Headlight Herald.  His email said it was the top winner of the latest Darwin Awards.  However, since he is Irish, we thought it best to check for a prank.  Request for confirmation sent to the Darwin Awards homepage elicited gales of laughter.  A call to the Arizona Highway Patrol will also, we are told, elicit gales of laughter.  This is myth.  Frankly, we don't care. It's funny as hell.  Pure Chuck Jones.)

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