The stunt jump at the Carlisle Chevrolet Nationals on June 22 lasted only a few seconds, but it was an open question about whether the vehicle would be drivable again – or if the driver would walk away unharmed.
For Raymond Kohn, the stunt driver with Northeast Ohio Dukes, walking away at all after such a jump wasn’t always an option.
“This is my 12th year[of stunt driving], and I’ve jumped [a recreation of the “Dukes of Hazzard” car] the General Lee 22 times,” Kohn said. “I’ve had about nine concussions, about eight broken ankles. I’ve broken my wrist in Detroit, I’ve broken my collarbone and had severe whiplash.”
Instead of doing a stunt jump with 1969 Dodge Charger that the Duke boys were famed for driving on the aforementioned TV series, Kohn was behind the wheel of a 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am – the vehicle used by Burt Reynold’s character in the film “Smokey and the Bandit.”
Kohn’s jump at the Carlisle Fairgrounds recreated the bridge jump made in the film, as a tribute to Reynolds following his death in September of 2018.
And just like in the film, there was no landing ramp.
“There was never a landing ramp in Hazzard County, or in ‘Smokey and the Bandit’,” he said. “And that’s what we’re doing now. We’re going to stay true to Hollywood, stay true to the movies, and the TV shows, and we’re going to do it old school, the right way.”
Watch the live video of the jump below:
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