American Hell-Drivers in Shanghai – 1937

Perhaps this is where Shanghai’s atrocious driving began? In 1937 Barney Oldfield’s American Hell Drivers brought their show to Shanghai. It was May 27th and the Second Better Homes Exhibition was being held on the Race Club track up on Bubbling Well Road. It didn’t go particularly well – one of the drivers, Dick Acton, hit an incline at 40mph, swerved into the side of the course and killed seven foreigners watching the show including Shanghailanders who worked for the China Motors company and the Heinzering car dealership ironically. Still they were a big show and loads of people turned out to see them, including a young JG Ballard and his father. The Hell Drivers were part of the Chrysler Corporation (or at least Chrysler hired them to show off their cars), who got sued in the U.S. Court for China in Shanghai and compensation was paid to the families of the dead and injured. The Hell Drivers were on a Far East tour and got down as far as Australia in 1937 and performed before 30,000 people in Melbourne. The point of the whole thing was to dramatically demonstrate the strength of Chrysler’s new all-steel bodywork.

The Hell Drivers in action