For a few seconds, Raymond Kohn was airborne.
"It's a cool feeling being in the air like that," the stuntmanfrom Ohio saidtoday, about an hour after he drove his 1969 Dodge Charger at 55 m.p.h. off a 5-foot ramp just behind the Cobo Center and landed, grill first, with a crash into the pavement. "It's like a roller coaster ride.But in the end, it's like the roller coaster derails."
He landed with a metal-twisting crash.
Afew seconds later, one of his crew waved a green flag, and the crowd cheered.
The green flag meanthe was safe. A red flag, which he and everyone in his crew dreads, isthe signal to send in the medics.
To start Autorama, Detroit's annual weekend hot rod show, hundreds of people gathered early to watch the spectacular stunt, a nod to“The Dukes of Hazzard” TV show from the early '80s. They crowded along Atwater, and inside Cobo, to see the General Lee jump in real lifejust like it had so many times on theseriesthey grew up with.
"It was great." said Dawn Keezer, 57, of Flat Rock, who had come for the show and to watch the stunt. "I got a good video!"
Show organizers said they chose to feature the stunt because the orange car — with the number 01 on its doors and a Confederate flag on its roof— has long been associated with Autorama, now in its 65th year. Moreover, two stars from the TV show —Catherine Bach, who played Daisy, and Tom Wopat, who played Luke— aresetto appear from 1-5 p.m. at the event on Saturday.
For the 39-year-old Kohn —who launched his replica of the famouscar 25feet or so into the air and came down134 feet later—the stunt was terrifying. The distance was measured with a laser.
"I'm scared to death," he said, adding that he still felt the adrenaline coursing through him. "A lot of people say, 'You must be pretty brave to do that. How do you do that?' But, I tell people, I'm not brave. I do it because I'm scared. The fear is overwhelming.I can't even feel my face because of the numbness."
The car, Kohnsaid, is specially made to absorb the shock of the landing, and to keep him from breaking his back. He wears a flame-retardant suit and special safety harness. Butthe car, which tends to bounce when it hits the ground, usually doesn't survive more than one or two jumps.
The owner ofR/T Auto Repair in northeast Ohio, Kohn said he's long been a fan of the TV show. He was born just a couple of years before the show started airingand was drawn, he said, to the show'sorange car. There was just something about it that appealed to him. The main characters, he said, were good-hearted, down-to-earth people.
At 17, he married his high school sweetheart, Tina. She was 16. They had a kid on the way, a boy they named Raymond Jr.They ended up having two more children, Ryan, 16, and Tiffany, 12.
Kohn dropped out of school,went to work as a mechanicand started building replicas of his favorite car, the General Lee.
When Hollywood decided to make a movie from the series in 2005, Kohn saidhis replica cars were used in some promotional stunt jumps in Georgia. He went down with the cars, watching and learningwhat the stuntmen did there. After that, he said, he started to realize maybe he could try doing the same stunt.
A couple of years later, Kohn said hewas hired to make a jump in his car.
Since then, he said, he and a crew of "Dukes of Hazzard" enthusiasts have made jumps throughout the country.They also, he said, put on a show based on the characters.He playsBo Duke, who usually drove the car. His wife plays Daisy Duke. He added, as if to give her a sly compliment, that she kind oflooks like Daisy.
Kohnsaid thiswas his 20th jump, but the first time he landed on asphalt.
"It was a hard landing, don't get me wrong!" he said. "But the car flew just the way we intended. When it comes down on the nose, that's what we're looking for. The car tips up like a beer can. Ittakes up the energy when it hits.If itlands on all four wheels, that's when you feel the most pain."
He was still euphoric about his jump.But tomorrow, he added, he'llfeel sore.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
If you go
The 65thannual Meguiar's DetroitAutoramais a show for custom cars from across the country. It bills itselfas America’s Greatest Hot Rod Show
When:Noon-10 p.m. Friday;9 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday;10 a.m.-7p.m. Sunday
Where:Cobo Center, 1 Washington Blvd., Detroit
Cost:Tickets are $20 for adults, $7for children ages 6-12, free for kids 5 and younger. Discount tickets available at O'Reilly Auto Parts
Phone:248-373-1700
Number of exhibits:800
Stars to appear:Catherine Bach and Tom Wopatfrom "Dukes of Hazzard" TVshow;AJ Styles from WWE;Danny Koker from "Counting Cars" TV show;Rick Harrison from "Pawn Stars" on the History Chanel,and Skai Jackson from "Bunk'd and Jessie"
Expected attendance:About 180,000
History:The first show was held at the University of Detroit's Calihan Hall. An estimated 1,500 people attended. As the show grew, it moved to the Michigan State Fairgrounds, then the Detroit Artillery Armory, back to the fairgrounds and finally, in 1961, what's now Cobo Center.
