Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I Heart Radio and

Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history is an open book, all of these

amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet had never been higher. The course was treacherous, a winding single-lane dirt road through swamps and forests, then

across a winding mountain path. And to make matters worse, the drivers would attempt this route

entirely at night and without headlights.

A wrong turn in the dark could be deadly, but the payoff was worth the risk.

The winner would walk away with a massive purse and the loser could leave in

handcuffs.

Because this wasn't the Indy 500 and the loser could leave in handcuffs. Because this wasn't the Indy 500,

and the racers weren't professional drivers.

They were bootlegers.

During America's prohibition era,

illegal whiskey and moonshine runners

became some of the best getaway drivers in the country.

There was a lot of money to be made by transporting liquor from rural distilleries to speak-eases in the city,

provided they didn't get caught. The roads were heavily patrolled by the feds, so runners did everything they could to give themselves an edge.

They bought the best cars on the market, like Ford's powerful V8, then modified them to the perfect getaway vehicles.

They souped up the engines and ripped out the back seats.

They added suspension springs so the car's frames wouldn't sag under the weight of contraband and alert the cops.

Some bootlegers even rigged their vehicles with gadgets straight out of a bond film.

Cars were capable of emitting smoke screens and oil slicks or dumping nails into the path of their pursuers.

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