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Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, action movies and TV shows were full of cars flying through the air. It was glorious, and part of the fun was the audience’s complicity with the filmmakers: we knew the cars folded up and fell to bits when they landed, and got replaced before they drove off. We just didn’t care. There’s something about a jumping car and the forbidden thrills and freedom it represents. With the advent of CGI, these crazy stunts are now kind of a lost art. You’ll still occasionally see some retro-style jumping, often in a classic car, but it’s rare to feel that frisson of excitement in knowing that some lunatic has actually been in the driving seat for the stunt. Here then, is a tribute to those mad men who risked life and spine for disposable redneck car-chase comedies. It’s also a partial chronology of what we’re loosely calling “the genre”, from Bullitt to the Fast & Furious franchise: 25 of our favourite ridiculous vehicular moments from the last five decades. Where these guys were going, they didn’t need roads…