Britt Miller was challenged to demonstrate her strength a week or two back, and would up deadlifting one side of what appears to be a 1982 or 1983 Buick LeSabre or Regal. While I wasn't able to find the shipping weight of either car of that vintage online, I did find the shipping weight of the 1982 Chevrolet Caprice Classis, which my freakish memory spit out as having been built on the same GM chassis with the same engine, drive train, etc as the LeSabre - the most commonly produced version of the Caprice weighed about 3500 pounds. I imagine the Regal would have had a similar weight.
I don't have the math to determine the amount of force Britt would need to apply to heft the car - less than half the total weight, I'm sure, but probably more than a quarter. In a second picture at her blog, the owners of the car are actually sitting on the hood. In the first picture the wheels have been lifted completely free of the ground, perhaps a foot or more above the pavement.
Oddly enough, the same day Britt performed this astonishing feat, Cecil Adams addressed the topic in his The Straight Dope column - SuperMom: Could a mother actually lift a car to save her child? Cecil has trouble giving a conclusive answer, but in light of this I think he'd have to admit the answer is a pretty firm "you bet your ass!"
Also oddly, this past week I had engine problems and pushed my truck about a quarter of a mile, mostly on a declining grade but with inclines as well. The inclines were back-breaking - I wished I still had my Mazda. When I told a friend what I had done she informed me that I am a "wild person" who has no common sense and that I should have simply called for a tow. Imagine what she'd say about Britt lifting a pimped-out decrepit dinosaur for the benefit of a bunch of suburban ricers?
OK, the truth is it's a prank. The car has hydraulic lifters and was raised all the way up, and then Britt hefted it just a bit off the ground. Looks real, though, doesn't it?
Unfortunately, the fact that even Britt (who is almost assuredly in the top one percent of women strengthwise) could not lift the vehicle pretty much puts to rest the idea that an untrained woman could do so even under extraordinary circumstances. But it's a nice fantasy.
When I saw this, my immediate thougt was wondering how she managed to squat down low enough to get a grip under the car.... Great trick photo anyways, and I will be showing it to a couple of female friends here in Singapore to see what kind of reaction I get. Thanks for posting! -Ray
Delmo
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Sure looks real
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206.15.108.xxx
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2006-01-29 19:14:55
So, what was the prank for? TV show?
BlackKusanagi
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LOL.
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152.163.101.xxx
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2006-01-30 12:29:36
:p Thats a good one. I really thought it was true.
strange_unusual
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fake
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71.36.163.xxx
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2006-02-06 06:34:09
even though thats cool, its still fake, thats way to low to pick up, and anyways those regals were put on the monte carlo frames, and the buick regals had a v6, if it was the regal gnx then it would have had a turbo charged v6.
