http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/g****juice1998/Joie Chitwood/ I was completely taken back a couple days ago, when my Mom gave me this souvenir program from a Joie Chitwood stunt show, which she personally attended back in 1949. She went there on a date. I asked what she remembered about it, she said "they were trying to kill themselves!!" She never has liked fast cars, or dangerous driving, which made the discovery all the more interesting to me. All this time (I'm 45) and this is the first mention of it. Hmmmm, she must have liked the guy a lot to keep the program this long, and obviously, it wasn't my Dad who took her there. She lived 1,000 miles from here in 1949, lol!
Chitwood had a long career driving racecars (even drove in the Indy 500 once). Somewhere in a stack of posters I have one advertising his appearance at 81 Speedway here in Doodah.
I keep looking at all of the different cars and motorcycles in there. It's just about the coolest damn thing my Mom has ever given me.
Chitwoods are my Mothers side of the family. I must be a great nephew or somthin to Joie??.........OLDBEET
She saw this show in south western PA, or right over the WV border somewhere. She's from Masontown and said they went "over the hill", which is the road to WV.
Back in the late '70's and early '80's AMT had Chitwood models of the '49 Fords and a set of ramps were included with the kit. As there was no 4-door sedan model of the '49, the models were coupes.
He means AMT did not have a 49 FORD 4 door sedan in there line of polystyrene model kits and therefore had to use their 2 door coupes. This all happened in 1/24th scale.
Hey Guys Greetings from Long Branch,NJ,Americas First Seashore Resort and 7 time U.S. Summer Capital....I was too young to remember the Joie Chitwood show coming to to my city's oceanfront stadium but as a track announcer at Wall Stadium Speedway I had the opportunity to work with show announcer Herk when the show toured the area....Hap and Dave the show clowns were not just clowns but daredevils in there own right....later got to work with Tim Chitwood when he was featured in the show I Still have some pictures and show posters around somewhere. Lee Greenwood Wall Speedway track announcer-W.R.A.T.-95.-F.M.
Joie Sr had a used car lot in Tampa in the 50's and early 60's and was part of the local racing scene as well as the national. He was involved in the early developement and testing of break-away light poles found on our highways. Joie Jr or maybe III is president of the Indianopolis Motor Speedway currently.
Hemmings Motor News recently reprinted this great article about the Chitwood Thrill Show from Special Interest Autos on their blog. Check it out: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...ack-anatomy-of-a-thrill-show-and-a-rare-find/
The 1950 film "To Please A Lady" starring Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck, has some great Joie Chitwood Daredevil scenes in it as well as early racing footage. A great movie if you can find it. Mick
That's a cool picture Vespa, thanks for posting it. Looks like I have a new hobby to collect for now. Edit: I see it's part of the collage in pic 1896 too.
I second what OFFY said. My brother went to high school with Joie Jr. They also used to do the state fair every year.
When I saw the show in Minnesota they drove Fords, but i saw a picture of them in Plymouths. Did he move around between the big three to broaden his appeal?
I have an old video of old car commercials and stuff like that and there is one part where Joie is showing how the new suspension on the new 1958 Chevys work. He jumps them over ramps and that kind of stuff. The cars look like big tubs of jello as they hit the ground in slow motion, cool stuff!
My dad took me to see the show in 1949 at the Dayton, OH. fairgrounds. Was really a dirt track for horses and 2 wheelers. Really a thrill for a 12 year old at that time. Prolly affected my driving forever. My wife says I still drive that way! God i miss Joie.
Great pics, thanks for sharing. I found a 56 chevy promo film where Chitwood was giving the "stock" 56 Chevy's a good workout. It was on archive.org well worth seeking out. So two questions.. 1, When did he switch from Fords to Chevy's?? (or was it just for the Promo/) 2, How do you pronounce "Joie" Is it like "Joey"? Thanks, Mart.
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">What a great post, I was lucky enough to see the show in Lincoln, Ne. in the 50's, it was the most exciting and thrilling event a budding car enthusiast could witness. My Dad and I were allowed to enter the pit type area after the show and meet the performers. Probably on behalf of our local Ford dealer if I recall. The driving on two wheels was probably the most memorable event for me. These men were the most daredevil heros to me. I remember my Dad rooting for Joie in his 500 endevors and bragging that he shook his hand and met him. Real cool!!!--Sololobo/Roadburners of Omaha </TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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