So, this blog from Bonneville is dedicated to the little details found on the Salt. Devil's in the details right? Here's proof. First is this License plate on a beautiful yellow hot rod pickup. "Bean Bandit" car club from San Diego. Here you see the CRX from Hondata sporting a thermal wrapped exhaust and the bracing for undercar sheeting to smooth airflow and provide suction to the road as this CRX with K20A naturally aspirated power runs 190's. Here the same CRX sports roof vanes for stability at 200mph in a car that probably had a top speed of 115mph. I saw this painted on "For Sale" sign and chuckled out loud. It says "4 Sale, low mileage! one careful owner!". Ya right! This was on the removable skin of a racecar. "Bonneville or Bust"! That is one of the motto's for both racers and spectators alike. It should read Bonneville AND Bust. The veterans say you go to Bonneville to break something. It's either a Record or your racecar. ...
Catching Salt Fever at Bonneville Speedweek!
posted by GreaseGirl
Bonneville Salt Flats - Our First Trip For over 61 years the Bonneville Salt Flats have been giving people "salt fever" during its annual Speed Week each August. This year Pikesan, Hetchspeed, and GreaseGirl met up at the flats to bring everyone at MyRideisMe.com a little taste of the salty stuff! And are you guys in for a treat!!! Not only is Speedweek home to land speed racings biggest event but its also one of the most amazing mix of cool people and cars you'll ever experience. So check back into MyRideisMe.com soon to catch a glimpse of some of the nearly 1000 pictures we took, coverage of build stories, records broken, life on the salt, and the people that make it all happen. We had the time of our lives out on the white stuff and we can't wait to share it with...
Speedweek 2009-Bonnie’s Homecoming
posted by Hechtspeed
Bonneville Salt Flats: Welcome Home Bonnie! I think its only fitting that the first pic from Speedweek 2009 that we post is of our fearless leader, pikesan. I'll let pikesan post most of the pics of his car "Bonnie" and her homecoming to the Salt Flats but, I took this cool rolling shot Saturday morning and wanted to share it with you all. This was taken about 30 seconds after Bonnie and pikesan (suffering from a sever case of Salt Fever) made it onto the Salt for the first time. What a cool moment! I switched to shutter priority mode on the D90 and started snapping pics while trying to drive (luckily the entry road is super wide). This shot inspires me to build my own roadster. Well, that's it for now. The MyRideisMe.com crew that made it out to the Salt (we missed you Swanee) for Speedweek 2009 will be sharing stories and a sizeable photo gallery. It was also the first time pikesan, GreaseGirl and Hechtspeed met in person. We had a great time and can't wait to share our experiences! Ok, this pic is just too good (imho)...
Bonneville Bound – My Traveling Buddy’s go 250mph!
posted by pikesan
Bonneville Salt Flats Race Car: Traveling alone sucks. That's why I'm glad to have a traveling buddy for the long drive from Phoenix to Wendover, Utah for Speedweek on the Bonneville Salt Flats. I'm towing my 1927 roadster, so I can't drive that fast so I fit right in with my 250mph partners on the road, "Bonnieville Bob" and his son Rocky. Their B/GMR modified roadster is a stretched 1927 roadster that's been as fast as 251 mph at Bonneville and that's just 4 mph off the record. Much more to come on these guys since I'll be shooting lots of pictures of all the race cars and picking Bob and Rocky's speed-brain for all they're worth! Look for us on the salt! And if you know Bob, say hi right here by leaving a comment. ...
Speedweek Push Vehicle: Blown Cherry Red Caddy
posted by Hechtspeed
Bonneville Salt Flats Perfect Pusher: As part of the crew at MyRideisMe.com leaves for the Salt today and I leave tomorrow, we can almost taste it, the Salt that is. Here's a quick picture of one of the many push vehicles you'll see at Bonneville. But, granted, this is not your typical pusher. Most of the time you'll see trucks and big sedans giving their racecars a push start. This blown Caddy Coupe takes the Push Vehicle to a whole new level and is definitely showing off, and everyone loved it! This hot rod gets its pushing duties done in style. 1 more day and a wake up until we get out on the white stuff. Can't wait. Did I say I was...
Speedweek 2009: 1 Day 22 Hours 30 Minutes 19 Seconds
posted by Hechtspeed
The crew at MyRideisMe.com is getting very anxious to get to the Salt. The Salt Fever has infected us and the only cure is to get our Salt fix. Speedweek officially begins Thursday August 6th. Racers can set up in the pit area and begin tech inspections. We'll be bringing you readers great stories and photos from the event. I thought I'd post this pic from last year at Speedweek. A gorgeous belly tank lakester waiting in line to make a top speed blast down the salt. Can't...
Internet “Barn Find” #6: British Steam Car Challenge
posted by Hechtspeed
Speedweek begins this week (7 days and counting). For this Internet Barn Find, we go across the pond to scope out a Steam Powered Streamliner. Check out British Steam Car Challenge website. Take a few minutes and read up on this beauty of a racecar. The record for a steam powered land vehicle stands at 127.659 MPH according to this site. The crazy part is this record was set in 1906. It's about time this record gets beaten, don't you think? Another tid bit of information from the steam car's website is the unofficial (not recognized by FIA) steam powered record is 145.607 MPH set in 1985, and that is the record the British Team is shooting for. Check out this youtube video linked from their site too. Sounds crazy!!! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkpdSeb2ya4&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]...
Vintage Racers Smoke’m at Goodwood Festival of Speed
posted by pikesan
Words and Pics by Keith Harman (I only posted it for him!) In just over ten short years, the Goodwood Festival of Speed has become a worldwide ‘must-see’ for car enthusiasts from every genre and hobby, there is quite simply, nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Held at the sprawling Goodwood Estate in Southern England the show is a mass celebration of speed in all its wheeled forms where famous racing drivers past and present rub shoulders with fans and celebrities alike and glorious racing machines from collections all over the world are fired up and run in anger up the long winding hill from outside the stately home. No matter what your tastes in cars, there will always be something to marvel at. Held over three days, we managed to blag a couple of free tickets for this year's event and went along on the Friday to have a look, I'd heard that this year's American theme was NASCAR (it was Top Fuel dragsters last year and Bonneville before that) and so with British fans having never seen these cars in action, I was interested to...
Hot Rod Honda Looking For Crazy 8’s
posted by Hechtspeed
If I were to tell you about a drag car that made about 1100 horsepower, weighed 2,550 lbs with driver and has run a best of 9.0 seconds at 170.97 mph in the quarter, would you think of a Honda Civic? That's exactly what we have here. This Civic hatchback is owned and built by Chris Miller from NRG Tech out of New York. It started its automotive life as a commuter car getting high 30's mpg as all Civic's do. When you get right down to it, the Honda Civic can be compared to cars in the hot rod world like the Ford Falcon, Chevy Nova II or even 30's Ford Coupe. What, "am I crazy" you ask?! Yes I am, Car Crazy, but just follow me on this path for a minute. Consider 30's Fords came with 4 cylinders and were the average Joe's vehicle (as average as a 1930's car owner was since they likely had more money than average...). 30's Fords are now seen with every V8 imaginable, go 200+ on Salt Flats, sub 10 seconds on the 1320 and now even the race track/autocross...
Dragoon’s own “Nite of the Hot Rods”
posted by pikesan
NorCal Hot Rod Car Show Story Contributed by MyRideisMe.com member: Nick Koljian "Hellcity316" There's something about a car show that's 15 minutes from the house that gives me the warm fuzzies. That my rod enthusiasts was Nite of the Hot Rods in Antioch,Ca. A quick trip over the hill and *BAM* there I was pulling up to the pier at the Riverview Lodge. The Riverview Lodge is a classic place to have a show. The breeze off the bay kept the crowd cool as cars lined the lodge's pier. And if the breeze wasn't enough, drinks at the lodge bar also helped! The lodge is like a old Elks club lodge turned restaurant but still keeping with the old beat up look. This would be the 3rd annual show hosted by Antioch's own Dragoons CC. Being in Antioch I knew it would be a diverse show and boy was I right. Everything from your classic and custom bombs brought in by Bay Bombs CC and the Dukes CC of the East Bay. Then there were the rat draggers provided by Vallejo's Swanx CC. Not only did they roll in...
Scopin’ Out Ken Scobies 1934 Ford
posted by GreaseGirl
It was an early morning wandering around the quaint streets of Stevensville, Montana. The last thing I expected to see was a slammin' 1934 Ford Hot Rod Pickup. If it wasn't for my own pre-morning-coffee-haze I would've gone into the Full Moon Saloon and inquired who the owner was. Lucky for me (and you) that I ran into this pretty truck along with its owner Ken Scobie, once more that evening at the Stevensville Summer Picnic & Car Show. With 2 trophies under its belt in a mere 4 weeks since being completed, this truck is worth giving a peek. Its been built from the frame up by Ken Scobie, a San Diego native that migrated on up to Montana 35 years ago while still working as mechanic. He's since retired, and at the age of 69 says "For a poor kid growing up in the days of cool rods it has always been a dream of mine to build a rod in the old school style." Build a rod he did! "Finding this beauty was the real treat. She was in Helena, Montana behind a house out in...
Internet Barn Find #5: Mooneyes Japan
posted by Hechtspeed
If you're not aware of hotrodding in Japan, its actually pretty big. Check out one of Japan's own, the early Toyota Crown that Mooneyes Japan has done up in a cool hot rod style. Browse around their website, there's some cool stuff to see. Got an in on foreign countries doin' the hot rod thing up right? Drop us a line in the comments section below so we can check it out! ...