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I
Thegetaway driver of yore, connokseur of finem,isno moreBy
#78904
Wbf r Note: ThevJd-time getaway)hwr,&sArmoon-xhi*a-*fnlr.W a
certain.$are@tim. Coollydvd#ln# cops and* cdrrtriwr.86 "wYrc.lman"
is' p r i d forkloremg at cenmmmarew. mhqs t isnot too much of
a'wmC4long* m ha clifvn * a specla1*n 7 f d l p . a .prefessfpaally
in -pacrtsdbrrhenlarivrmerits of varioush a c k c r p m p kr o h i
8 d l r r d r .r w s p*.b*cmal*bnm* t k n ~ ( ~ ~ E n d cd *nbIin8
or thec-ter wha mind-
~ l u n h e d r rmr . kw . a ~ ; d ~ i e d u p t i t l l
criapof8Mbw.glaymdMAY 9. 1988
"git"arsallhialife.Hcbegasikisis c l r r o r o i o f d l o d e r
a t o k bd u x ' b a c k i n l ~ b y d r s v -y c ~ m d d r i H o f
f a i t b ~ a r t a d.ing getaway on a Minneapolis saloon m the
runningboard$.ThisWlgy hptkbho ldnp .Thev e$ i c l ~ . ~h c r ru l
l e d i t .w~ o l i c e h o m d o i q s n y ~ ~ . I
t.o18%StinwaSh.y.hsllcaediagycm, b l i m i t e d y o n r l p &
d d ~ 8 l a i -hs g d u a d to a Prkrd. a Brush ad, n ws cornuing
problem. No one worried1916, ma LaambkgoabDUmdnsr. much rbout
&at, mougb, rina it wasn'tBy the time Prohibition blew its add
nearly saditX& tooummcolmnmlcrtionrbmththmughtk laod,Areb*hdbui
l ta intll0Sed.y~.solidrcptatioaasadrivcr.BefaelaDghe
Areb*bhdPaoagflingsrboutwh a d a j o b w i m t h c ~ ~ m
dnulictmnmwmm. . H . ~ c b c a a a acustody of a 1924 Lowmabile
taginB car pgaolul dfhmt & adwmdy rsfuvd
lotha~bastcdwclloverLSOhp. H c i e g d g d t h e w l d o f m y a ~
& ( B I d l d a ' tWiUlLoeomobileslmtilhehdmeRdisla h r v e a f
l m s M l t . ' m ~ ~shoroutofoocinl%henhepvdcldfy d n ' t n &
n d , " & m s d * ~ W l p e . ~ A e m .switchedto an
air-cooledFkdlin. should b v e a #tick .hi& Ute dBbd IO. 1
.-Even in his dotage. Archie had few k d d . " Imvw qdbbldwith
bimowrhequals when it came to driving. But he pdm. kn E m adlmr
(iid I ghrc h b&iInntxdmmeqnaintmt ionaabwtun.Fa ~ m * I a y ~
r 1 9 3 6 Tinatana, he never c d o lament the din- k'd lrept
mayfw30p n . I1pppcaraocc of the mnning b o d , o n a a Like any
o(ha itpto-dme w W m m fvcry useful .ppurtcnme. An early tsb-
drmp
. - 5 . 35
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Radar detectors: IWho's tellingthe truth?(andwh8s not)These days
every m a k e r s he~radardetector is bestWho's telling the truth?I
r a Ilk.mamk.You've seen how movie ads use ashort pnrase from a
review to "prore" memoue s "THE YEAR'S BESTI"Well.
someradardetectormakersday the same game"
But WB don't olav names. Below are,". ~ . . . ~~the ranklngs,
first to last, fromthe most recent Independent tests. (Ifyou'd lhke
c o m p l e t e , ~ c o p i e s o fhetests.just call toll
free.)
For ten years we've been designingand bulldlng the world's best
radar detec-tors and backlngthem with the best swv-Ice. in fact. In
1987Carand DriverealledUS "The leader of the radar detector
in.dustry:' But don't take the11word for it.n y c k . bw t amd
r
YOU can try Escort or Paasport at norisk.Just callUS toll free.
If youcallby 5PMeastern time we'll ship the same day, andUPS
shlpplng is free. Overnight FederalExpressdelivery is onlySM
xtra.If w ' r e notcomdetebwhWwrthtn30dw,mtumywrpurchase.We'll
refund@your money, Includingyour postage.If you trulywant the
bestcall us today.
The experts were unanimous: Escort &&a&-and
Passportare clear wlnners. As for the WPIplYVIM117=5()other
detector makers, you can find the QM-moneswho make the
biggestclaims at the -w4s-bonom of the ranklngsi
Take advantageofAutoWeeKs
specialcollectionadvertisingopportunities.Mao*- bswm- Spddmclmk n 3
July4 rurodVnanb&su8pmmmbll.ctbnJuly 1 AuOudl
[email protected] 29 ~ C o l M o nt . p km k r 2 odobu3
Hobby&Mod.lColbcnonodob.r6 Oc(obn 24 HolW C d c l l
~olkctlon
tn maffic and would get me at least a fewblocks away in a huny
so I ould swttch toone lhal wasn't hot. I've used just h
teverything in that category' Co~a i r a .Fire-b~rds.Musmgs.
Camaros and the rest. I tmight interest autornakcrs, incidentally,
toknow W many pop ie tn my llne show amarked preference for m-eng
tne can: thetheory being that th e motor might kap oufrom beinn
shot in the seat.The id& getaway car would probsbly besomething
l i Porsche-fast, plenty ofpickup and easy lo handle in Wffic. A
cinchlo ouhun anything lhe law has. Unfcatuna-tely. a Pmsche isMI
the idealgetaway car. Iusedone once on a savings and loan ob. andif
you have never tried making i t through th cdoor o f a &he at a
dead IUII wilh a sawed-off shoigun and a sack o f money clu lchd
toyour bomm, you just don't know lhe mun-ing of limited
hcsdroom.Still, the prospect o f making agetaway in a spons car
holds a cer-tain fascination. I new some guysin San Quentin who
figured a Jaguarwas the only git car on thc road. Thefust time they
put i t to a test, h t co f them Died to am through the doorall at
the same time. When thc dudfinally settled. two were sprawled onthe
curb-one in such a high dud-geon that he emptied his gun at
therapidly d i iappa rhg Jag. This canmake for very hard fa l ings
withina gang.In the long run, though, i t a ll boilsdown to the
driver. The good onesaw specialists, capable o f coaxingtotal
performance out o f middlingmachines. Often wh ik being shot eti n
heavy traffic. Some we retiredrace drivers w Hdlywood stuntmen.Many
ore somewhat f l a k y off-beat a collectiono f characters as
YOUcould ever h o p o get arrested with. 80here was a whalman in
Miami 4who twitched. 1 nuan al l th c time.
who developed sympathetic tics.
!Ie had nerve spasms in his fwgcrs and hisleft eyelid fluttered
like the shutter of a16mm Bell & Howell. I t didn't seem tohang
him up on his driving. but he had hadto get out o f the s w t
driving business wheni t began to interfere with othcr shmt
driversOthers are outright paranoid, which canbe an asset. I h e
best wheelman in St. Louisright now is a guy who quit racing when
hebecame convinced that lhe rest o f the driv-ers on the cirruit
were conspiring to mn himlhmugh a fence. On a heist. he i s alwaysd
n hat every stop slgn and wf f i c 1ight.athere just to trap hun He
~maguwsquad carsl&ng in each alley, and h i has h is nuttyidea
that all women drivers are police molls.
Working with this guy is harder on chem e sthan a three-month
stretch in solitary. But.man, is he ever cnrcful.It's a sorry
thing, but thc business todayis becoming overrun wilh amateurs
whoAUTOWEEKMAY 9. 1988
