The American Bantam and the death-defying daredevils of the Pudding River

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No, this is not a circus act. It’s not a record attempt either, and Evel Knievel was nowhere near the scene. This is just one of many fun rides over the Pudding River in Oregon as made by anyone wanting to pay 10 cents for it in 1932. Apparently, there were many folk wanting to do just that. These rides were performed that summer by local man C. W. West, who suspended his car on cables there to make a little money in that very original way.

One report mentioned the following: “The cables are 120 feet long and are anchored firmly to the ground on each side of the river, which is a popular spot
for swimmers. It is the swimmers who take most of the rides across the ‘bridge’, but C. W. West, the operator of the car, finds plenty of patrons who want to cross the river either for business reasons, or to enjoy the thrill of riding in an automobile traveling on a precarious highway... The expense of operating the car is slight, because there are no tires to wear out and 1500 crossings can be made on a gallon of gasoline.”

We found that the car, called a ‘baby automobile’ in the report, was an American Bantam sedan, which Mr. West managed to steer over two cables to get across. It was reported: "rubber rings have taken the place of the tires to give the necessary traction on the smooth steel ropes." Note that the third cable is there to steady the car on the top, with a clamp attached to the car’s roof. With a wheelbase of only 75 inches and a track of 40 inches, the Bantam was indeed a small car. Does anyone know exactly what it weighed? We doubt if the top cable would hold the car if the wheels ever decided to leave the bottom cables for whatever reason. Or is that just us speaking as 21st-century chickens? Speaking of which, swimming underneath it can’t have been for the faint-hearted either!

Words: Jeroen Booij

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