Imagine police telling you to burn rubber to get out of a ticket?
Imagine for an instant that you’re hurtling towards the beach when you see blue lights in your mirror. So you pull over for the police then realize you’ve forgotten you don’t have any of your paperwork. We’re talking no proof of insurance, no registration, and no license. Tripple whammy. But the nice officers say they’ll give you a pass..if you do a burnout for them. Probably not an experience you’ve had. But you also probably don’t drive a 1971 Boss 351 Mustang.
When Car and Driver asked vehicle owners for their wildest stories, Jonathan C. Bergman had a real doozie. See, Johnathon was driving a 1971 Boss 351 Mustang. His already rare Mustang was hot-rodded to turn out 500 horsepower. To accentuate the rumble of the legendary V8, Jonathan had even installed an aftermarket stereo. He said that the work took all day. So when he was done, “A late-night listening session was in order.” Where? The local beach of course.
Halfway there, Jonathan got pulled over. That’s when he realized that in his hurry to leave, he’d forgotten every piece of paperwork. While the police were questioning him, they spotted some more modification. And in this case, it was a good thing. “Luckily, the cop was a motorhead and, noticing the line-lock switch on my shift handle.” That’s hot-rod speak for a switch to lock your front brakes, allowing your rear wheels to burn out while the car sits still. You can imagine that with 500 horsepower the Boss Mustang would put on quite a show. Apparently the officer wanted to see the show.
Jonathan said the police officer, “offered me a deal.” The offer was: “Do a good enough smoke show, and I’ll let you go.” He even called his friends to watch. “By that time, two of his fellow police-officer buddies were there, also checking out the Boss.”
We can assume Jonathan had done his fair share of burnouts. But this time, he was burning rub for his liberty. “I pulled out into the middle of the road with three cops behind me blocking all the lanes, with their lights flashing, and I smoked out the street.”
That’s right, Jonathan and his Boss Mustang covered all three lanes in a cloud of tire smoke. What did they do then? “When the smoke cleared, I headed to the beach with Judas Priest blaring into the night.”
That
