Dillinger’s 1933 Essex Trerraplane. Photo from www.pinterest.com

Depression era criminal John Dillinger grew up in an area of the country where they knew about cars. Being in a line of work where you needed to depart quickly, a good car was worth its weight in gold. You could never trust a stolen vehicle with your life.

Dillinger’s get away car of choice was the 1933 Essex Trerraplane, an inexpensive yet powerful vehicle. The 1933 Essex-Terraplane 8-cylinder cars were believed to have the highest horsepower-to-weight ratio of any production automobiles in the world. Because of this they were favored by several gangsters of the day, particularly Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson for their lightness, acceleration, handling, and common appearance.

Over the course of a year during 1933 and 1934, Dillinger went on a quarter million dollar crime spree by robbing 24 banks and four police stations, as well as some other criminal activities. He managed to stay ahead of the law by using a lucky Essex Terraplane eight until it was lost in a crash.

He bought the car in March of 1934 from Potthoff and Brothers Motor Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. He managed to evade police in four states before getting into a shootout with police on March 31 with his girlfriend Evelyn Frechette in St. Paul, Minnesota. Shot in the leg, and his car took two shots in the front fender, he sped away on his way to recover at his father’s home. The following month, he and his brother crashed the car in an Indiana field on April 7, where the Dillinger boys abandoned the car. This signaled the end of his reign of terror.

Photo from www.thomasironworks.com

Dillinger was gunned down in a Chicago alleyway on July 2nd when he drew a weapon and attempted to flee from federal agents. He was shot four times and killed in the escape attempt.

The Essex-Terraplane Eight was distinguished by having vent doors on the hood as opposed to all six-cylinder versions that had stamped hood louvers. Essex-Terraplanes participated in innumerable record events around the United States, and some others around the world setting dozens of records at many venues. Their particular strength was in hillclimbs. Period road tests showed 0-60mph in 14.4 seconds, and 10-60mph in top gear in 18 seconds, a remarkable time for the era.