Desperate times call for desperate measures.

It's a phrase we've all heard at different times of our lives in different circumstances.

It speaks to the fact that when people's backs are against the wall,

sometimes they have to take extreme actions in order to succeed, or even survive.

This was the case in the late 1920s and 30s for the entire country, because the U.S.

definitely faced desperate times.

The Great Depression had hit, jobs were scarce, and millions of people struggled to put food

on the table.

In order to get by, many turned to a life of crime.

This was the era of prohibition,

bootleggers, and famous mobsters like Al Capone. But there was another criminal element at work in the country, too. A small group of people in the South who didn't get the same kind of

headlines as Capone, and the desperate law-breaking measures they took

and the technological innovations they came up with

in order to survive and succeed

can still be seen almost a hundred years later

in the form of one of America's favorite pastimes.

On today's episode, fast cars and bootleggers.

This is a twist of history.

It's almost 10.30 a.m. on February 14th, 1929, Valentine's Day in Chicago, Illinois.

41-year-old Albert Cichelich, alias Jim Clark, sits in a tightly packed black Cadillac with five other men

as it drives through a quiet residential neighborhood on Chicago's north side.

Jim Clark goes by this alias and hides his true

...