Car soars over downtown L.A.
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June 23, 1910: As an advertising stunt for the Lord Motor Co., balloonist Ed Unger tied a Flanders automobile to a large hot-air balloon and ascended 1,000 feet from a vacant lot at 8th Street and Broadway.
Unger and Lord salesman Ed Adams were in the balloon’s basket.
“Though the car swayed dangerously, Unger pluckily kept his seat,” The Times said. “Near him was the trapeze rope, which he could have grasped if the voyage had become too tempestuous.”
A crowd gathered at the lot, waiting for hours before the ascent and staying to watch as the car hovered overhead for an hour while Unger threw down cards and pamphlets.
The “stylish little car” took its trip skyward without its engine, which had been removed.
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