A vehicle acceleration apparatus (10) for accelerating a vehicle (36) having a preselected mass to a preselected velocity. The apparatus (10) comprises a support structure, including a sheave (14) rotatably mounted on a frame (16), which supports a mass member or weight (12) having a preselected mass, such that the weight (12) is positioned for reciprocal vertical movement. More specifically, the weight (12) is supported such that it can be selectively allowed to fall in response to gravity and selectively returned to a pre-fall position. The apparatus (10) further comprises elements for connecting the weight (12) to the vehicle (36) to be accelerated such that the downward acceleration of the weight (12) as it falls causes selected acceleration of the vehicle (36). In operation, the relative mass of the vehicle (36) and weight (12) is selected such that the vehicle will be accelerated by the downward acceleration of the weight (12) to have a preselected velocity at a preselected location.
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