Taken for a ride by Russ Swift

I am not a thrill seeker. My fondness for thrilling amusement park rides aside, no one could call me an adrenaline junkie. But just this weekend, at the Manila International Auto Show (MIAS), my adrenal glands had their work cut out for them. One of the event’s main attractions was the series of stunt shows by Great Britain’s Russ Swift. And I was asked to be a participant.

The 60-year-old Swift has always loved stunt driving and his experience in rally driving and motorsport served as the foundation for his true passion. In 1987, Swift contributed his driving skills to the now famous “Montego” car park ad in the UK. Although the commercial had a short run, it received widespread acclaim and had Swift’s phone ringing off the hook. Since then he has traveled to over 50 countries to consult on commercial and movie sets, performed in thousands of stunt car displays and acts as an advisor to Police, Military and Diplomatic drivers.

When asked which part of the show I would like to participate in, I asked for “the least scary” stunt and it was suggested that I be the passenger for the “two wheel” trick as the turns and donuts were the most dizzying and uncomfortable. What was I thinking?! I can totally handle the Mad Tea Party ride in Disneyland, so why was I signing up for a trick that would have the car balancing on its two left wheels at a precarious angle? (It was obviously one of those I-realized-it-too-late instances).

Russ drove the entire range of Subaru Imprezas for the show. He started with his J-turn stunts, getting his vehicle to do such a turn in between two other Imprezas parked side by side. And as the event host got the crowd pumped up, they demanded the two stationary Imprezas be moved closer together. This was done several times – each attempt successful and not a bumper was scratched, though not the same can be sai

Yes! Our girl made it alive in time to grab an autograph and get a photo taken with Russ Swift himself.

d for the Starfire tires. Burning rubber was the scent of the day.

The next trick Russ performed was the parallel parking maneuver, again between two Subaru Imprezas. At first there was a sizeable space between the two parked cars but the crowd made it known they wanted Russ’ parking space made smaller and smaller. He managed that with ease and even upped the ante by having a participant sit in the open trunk of the first parked car. The participant and all the cars lived through the experience unscathed.

Then, it was my turn. The two-wheeling maneuver. Russ and I had a brief (and now hazy!) conversation in front of the crowd about motorcycles and shifting your weight to the side opposite of where the vehicle was leaning and before I knew it, I had hopped into the Impreza. Russ asked me to fasten my seatbelt and backed up. With his left hand manning the wheel, and his right arm across my body holding onto a knot along my seatbelt, we headed towards the ramp. The car’s right wheels went up the ramp and once off the ramp we were at an angle that felt like the car was 90 degrees from the ground. But in a matter of seconds, we “landed” and it really wasn’t so bad. Letting it all out through a scream certainly helped. Great! I thought. All done. Wrong!

We were to do the stunt again but this time all the way to the end of the road. This time it felt like we were two wheeling for an eternity. Worse, it felt like the car would never get back on the ground on four wheels and turn turtle instead. But we landed and again, I thought I was done. Wrong again! We did the trick three more times, each time adding a passenger to the back seat. On the last run, when there were five of us in the car, I stupidly just had to ask our driver extraordinaire (who has held the Guiness World Records for making a J-turn in the tightest space, parallel parking in the tightest space and fastest time doing ten donuts), “You… know what you’re doing right?” And he humorously shot back with, “Well, I’m not the regular guy. I’m just standing in today.”

All in all it was a truly, thrilling experience. I had that adrenalin-induced skip to my hop for the rest of the day. I’m glad to have met a thoroughly likeable bloke like Russ. And I’m glad I can tell my grandkids that I went stunt driving once. And... I will never do that again.