Remember when you were a kid and the only obstacle between your appallingly bad ideas and bringing them to life was your lack of funds, rockets, or ambition? Daredevil Kenny Powers has no such obstacles.
In 1981, Canadian stunt man Ken Carter was set to fulfill a long-time aspiration: to jump over a mile-wide stretch of the St. Lawrence River in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental. Last minute nerves (or health issues as some assert) called for a switcheroo, and American stunt driver Kenny Powers (who carried an 8×10 of Carter everywhere he went) (for reals) was inserted in the absurd death-mobile in Carter’s place.
According to Wikipedia, the rocket-propelled car travelled “only 506 feet in the air and broke apart in flight before crash-landing in the water. Powers broke eight vertebrae, three ribs and fractured his wrist”.
For the record, a mile is 5280 feet, meaning the attempted jump covered less than 10% of its targeted length, a hopelessly poor miscalculation and possibly the dumbest stunt attempt in human history. Which also means the Eastbound and Down Kenny Powers couldn’t have had a much more perfect namesake.
Also for the record, we WILL see a Top 40 band named “Rocket Lincoln Jump” before I die. Mark my words.
You can watch the entire abomination here. Skip to the 2:10 mark to just see the attempted jump.
Wow. That was the worst attempted stunt ever. Almost too dumb to believe really. Also, it’s nice to know that the video had the same background music guy as old NFL highlight films.