Rare 1968 Saab Sonett II makes up the base of this land speed record holder   The temperature is about 100 degrees, there’s no wind and what shade there is comes from an overhead tarp stretched from the side of a trailer. But Tom and Patti Donney are busy moving around their race car, methodically checking it over and getting ready for another trip to the starting line last August during Speed Week 2013.   Getting the couple to break away and actually sit down to talk about their passion for speed seems, well…awkward. You learn right away that Tom and Patti aren’t just talk. They DO. With no reservation.   The little ’68 Saab Sonett II sits at center stage of this passion that began just three short years ago and has culminated each of those three years during fabled Speed Week which happens each August on the Bonneville Salt Flats, a desolate, but perfectly flat expanse of salt outside Wendover, Utah.   A full cage and chassis was built to fit the Saab plastic body. (Phone camera photo)   The head is off the Sonett’s three cylinder...

How about a 120 mph Custom RV? You won't be complaining about being caught behind this rig! Words and Pictures by Jim Vogarino Sitting on the huge expanse of pure white salt, the evil looking all black motorhome looks even bigger than it is. Everything is black…windows, trim, head and tail light covers. It couldn't be more sinister.   Britt Palmer pulls himself out of the custom racing cockpit, ducking under a complex structure of roll cage. He’s a good sized guy, 6-2, maybe 6-3 and he gives a solid hand shake. You’d never know he is suffering from a debilitating disease that eventually will rob him of all movement. Right now he’s too excited.   "We’re headed home,” he says, slipping off his race togs and giving high fives to people who have gathered around the vehicle in his pit area during Speed Week 2013. “We came to just run for speed and I think we did pretty well." Bonneville Speed Week is pretty well known for odd vehicles and the 1977 GMC Kingsley motorhome easily fits that category if only because of its size. Sitting at the...

Chip Barbee's Hot Rod and Custom Car Pics from Bonneville Words and Pics by Chip "Teach" Barbee See the full hot rod gallery here.   Chip's another friend from Bonneville Speed Week. I've seen him, shared the starting line, "media only" spot and had a great time getting to know him. This is his first time being published at MyRideisMe.com, so please make him feel welcome!   "It's in the record books. The 65th annual (SCTA) Southern California Timing Association's Speed Week is History !!! Some records fell. The crowd was lively and the Hot Rods and Custom roamed the salt and local casino curse night with ease. Come along and take a look at my favorites from the salt and the Nugget car show." - Teach   1) So what do you do with that rusty 4-door Edsel your uncle Fred leaves you in his will ??? Break out ye old trusty Plasma Cutter, remove all the ugly and end up with this sweeet Edsel Roadster the we ran into everywhere during Speed week.   2) Who says imports can't be cool. NOT US this little custom is...

Mark Jacobs' Salt-shots from Bonneville my man... Mark's come through with a great set of pictures from 2013 Bonneville Speed Week. With his wife Teresa, they flew down from Washington to attend their 2nd Speed Week. Instead of an over-priced hotel room, they stop by a sporting goods store, or Target or the like and get all the camping gear - and cooler full-a-cold-ones - to hang at the local KOA campgrounds with friends. Between or busy photo sessions (consisting of mostly shooting every cool thing we see!) we hung out and caught up on what's been happening since last year's Speed Week...   So enjoy Mark's photos and tell'm hey over at his Photography Fan Page.   Rob Ida's Tucker recreation. It was awesome to meet Rob and see the Gyronaut X-1 recreation Rob worked on as well. I've seen some amazing picture of the Tucker floating around Instagram.  Rob's a Tucker fan because his grandfather owned a Tucker dealership!   Tell me Mark shouldn't make posters of these fine hot rods!!   Do you prefer the color, or black and white?   Click here for all of...

Somebody get me a longer camera lens! I'm not a professional photographer.... I don't have a super long lens... like this guy:   I could sit around and whine about what's fair, but instead, I decided to experiment!! I've been going to Bonneville since 2009, so I've seen alot of the great white expanse. I haven't, however, spent too much time near the end of the track. The Bonneville race cars speed by at 200 to sometimes 400 mph, so you don't have much chance for photos! I tried my Nikon 18-200 anyway and here's what happened... Chute pops!   This #507 owned by Dan Aleshire running in the  B/GR  (roadster) class.   We were standing near the 5 mile marker (as you can see in the photo below). The "long course" at Bonneville was 5 full miles of race track. You can set a record in any mile, or you can slow down and exit the track anywhere as well. Only cars running 175 mph or higher are allowed on the long course and the faster cars will use every bit of the 9 mile run-off to slow down....

Brock's Buick Upgraded & Faster at Bonneville Kicking off Bonneville 2013 Coverage, here's a quick look at the upgrades on Jeff Brock's too-cool 1952 Buick Super Riviera. We profiled the birth of "Bombshell Betty" in another story about this Bonneville Record Setting Race car here.   In the the picture above, you can see the windows added to the side of the car. Also, you get a first look at the custom made intake scoop! Jeff's an artist and no slouch when it comes to metal work!     If anyone wants the above picture for a screen saver, shoot me an email, I'll be happy to send it over!   Success! Jeff broke his own record. Rocket Heads Studio running in the XO/GCC class ran 165.735 on a 165.380 mph record. Yes, by 0.355 mph!   Make sure to check out more pictures of "Bombshell Betty" with the rest of the build history here:  Birth of Bombshell Betty for Bonneville   Click here for all of MyRideisMe.com's Bonneville Salt Flat...