Photos by the great Peter Vincent Amazing Bonneville Salt Flats Streamliner Set to Run 550 mph   Five-hundred-fifty miles per hour. Yes, you read that right! This air-slippin' hot rod's set to demolish the "fastest wheel driven, piston powered" car record by 100 mph.   Here's a few details to wet the appetite: Does it look long? It should. It's 43 feet long. (13.1m) and only 3 feet high (0.91m) Frontal area is an anemic 8.61 square feet (0.8 square meters) with an included angle of 1.5 degrees Power comes from two Dodge V8 Hemi's boosted by Whipple Superchargers Fueled by alcohol, there's 2500 horsepower on tap... EACH. Power is applied by two B & J 4-speed transmissions - shifted simultaneously- by steering wheel controls   This is the Marlo Treit and Les Davenport "Target 550" streamliner. A Few of the Crew   Marlo Triet the project coordinator and from what I can see, the "ring master". On the salt at Bonneville Speed Week 2012, Marlo was tough to corner as he answered questions from curious racers, spectators and media. As I took pictures, Marlo was being filmed. From the "Crew"...

Nissan Z-powered Land Speed Racing Falcon Ranchero   So I'm riding by on the XR70 bike my buddy Erock loaned to me (a sight to see with my long lanky frame) and I see this wicked looking Ford Falcon Ranchero.   Anyone following this site knows I'm partial to the round bodied Falcons... so much so I'm building a 1963 Falcon Wagon myself. It's your typical summer remake that's taken 4 years so far. Anyways, that's another story.   As I walked up on this bad little pickup, I saw only one valve cover poking up... I thought, SWEET! He's running a Ford six just like me. To my surprise, Alan Morris out of Montrose, CO chose a 1980 Nissan 280Z motor to chase the F/CFALT record of 165.224 held by the Cohn Jucewic Monza.     I was surprised because in addition to being the owner/editor/janitor of MyRideisMe.com, I'm also a test engineer for Nissan. One of my favorite Fords combined with different and unexpected powerplant that's also from the folks who pay my mortgage... win, win, WIN!   The sixer runs a healthy 14:1 compression and triple...

Land Speed Racing Cars Shake the Salt You wait all year for this... then on the first day, you're in impound.  Here's how that looks: Willie Boelcke looks happy because he is! Not only has the rain dried up from yesterday, his "Low Sodium" racer ran 239.158 mph against the B/FRMR roadster record of  235.436 mph set at Speed Week in 2009. You'd be smiling too! Willie's roadster already holds the C class record so now he's doing what alot of racers do and adding cubic inches to go for another record.  The A-engine class might be next since that record's only 207! (someone build an A engined FRMR and get a red hat!! Here's a look at what used to be a 1927 Ford Roadster. See the painted part? Tomorrow, at 7AM, Willie and the other folks who beat the existing record speed will head to the front of the line to try and back up their record and officially break it.   Need to know more about setting records at Bonneville? Check out, How to Set a Record at Bonneville   Also smiling big was this guy:...

Failed Bonneville Hot Rod Take-over at the Nugget   What do I mean failed? Well, compared to shows at the Nugget years ago, this one was a bust.   First off, it's been raining on and off since we rolled into Wendover. It'd be easy to say that the show was small because of the weather, but my buddy Keith kept saying, "Well, the cars have to be parked somewhere!" For me, I kept snapping photos. If you see a blurry spot on a pic, it was mother nature's fault.       Looking closer, we noticed most of the parking along the casino was blocked off. The normal parking spots along the road were filled with the first-come-first-served hot rods, but as new roadsters and heavily chopped coupes rolled in, they found nowhere to park. I bugged the casino manager, "What gives?" He explained that after the show last year where there were too many cars and too many people, the fire marshall shut them down. Sorry, I call BS. I think it's more likely that the casino's management blocked off more hot rods from filling their parking...

Land Speed Racing: Quest for 1000 mph MyRideisMe.com doesn't typically post news releases. But... not that many news releases are talking about a 1000 mph race car either. There are some pretty amazing technical challenges here that intrigue me. I'm guessing you'll trip out too... One mile (1.6 km) in 3.6 seconds 10 million square meter race track (107 million square feet or 3.86 Square miles) cleared by hand Driven by Andy Green, the Fastest Man on Earth and record holder at 1228 kph (763 mph) in the Thrust SSC in 1997. The first car to officially break the sound barrier 22,000 lbs of thrust to 350 mph using EJ200 Eurofighter jet engine Add 47,000 lbs of thrust to the target of 1050 mph using the Falcon hybrid rocket engine burning solid rocket fuel 750hp F1 engine powers the fuel pump (sort of) - 963 liters in 20 second 42.6 liters/second or 11.2 gallons/second of rocket fuel oxidizer Stay tuned. Download this image as wallpaper here Bloodhound SSC News release FASTEST MAN ON EARTH VISITS DESERT RACETRACK On 24 July 2012, Land Speed Record (LSR) holder Andy Green visited...

Straight 8 Buick Bonneville Salt Flats Racer There are some cars that are near-universally popular. Here's one.   Jeff Brock, the owner, co-builder and driver of this wicked 1952 Buick Super Riviera showed up at the 2008 Bonneville Speed Week with his Buick and floored spectators and racers alike. Since then, the "Bombshell Buick" has seen some serious metal work to make and re-make it into the, "the sculptural form he favored for creating a fast, furious work of art." Done.   To help you catch up on where the Buick started, after finding it in an abandoned lumber mill near Phoenix, here's a few build pictures, then we'll catch up with Brock's plans for this year. Here's how she looked when purchased. Jeff says, "Our "first date" ... bofore shot. Her ass was fat ...I played hard to get." Here's a great shot of the Buick nose before modification. Most of the GREAT shots featured here were taken by Gunther Maier. (If I'm using someone else's shot, please tell me)   From here, we better fill you in on Brock's plans for 2012 Bonneville Speed Week:   "Yes,...

Bonneville Race Cars of Friends Oh, I might have mentioned it before... maybe every time I write about the Bonneville Salt Flats... the people are great. Hot rodders and racers in general are an easy-to-get-along-with group, but something about the salt turns competitors into co-conspirators to see who can go faster. On some levels, it doesn't make sense. These racers are after the same record, both are dying to wear the coveted red hat of the "2-club" or 200 mph club, and they both have been trying for years, but still they'll share everything from cold sodas to spare parts to advice to help a fellow racer. It's special. Speaking of special... each year I make my 15 hour trip from Phoenix, AZ to Bonneville, I meet and become friends with more racers. You almost can't help it! I want to kick off 2012 Bonneville Speed Week with pictures and updates of a few friends I'm looking forward to seeing. 400 mph Streamliner owned by Bobby and Peggy First up is this beautiful machine called the, "Maro Special". Bobby, Peggy and their entire crew treat me like family when I...

Bonneville Salt Flat Racing For Charity (and Fun!) Bonneville's an amazing place for so many reasons. I just learned of one more. I read and reviewed a book about Baldwin Motion, you know the "Phase III", Motion Performance, "Dragon Snake" guys?? Well that was written by Martyn Schorr who's now my Facebook buddy. He told me about the Bonneville Racing Team 608 he's a part of and forwarded this story. I had to publish it. Greatest thing is, as good as the people are on the salt, this doesn't surprise me. TEAM 608 RETURNS TO BONNEVILLE WITH TWO CARS, AND A MISSION: GO FAST – DO GOOD! Grassroots racers run a Lakester and Roadster on the Salt Flats to raise money for, and awareness of, health-related charities. Team 608, a 100% volunteer, grassroots land speed racing team, is comprised of lifetime hot rodders and drag racers who have been competing at Bonneville for more than a decade. Since 2006, Team 608 has raised and donated in excess of $95,000 for charities: Susan G. Komen For The Cure (Breast Cancer), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Autism Speaks. Next month, they...

Land Speed Racer-Recreation at the LA Roadster Show You'll never know what you might see! Wandering the huge-anic swap meet at the LA Roadster Show, I found this: (Click to see full size) Feast your eyes on the not-quite-finished replica of Frank Lockhart's Stutz Blackhawk Special. Handmade and very accurate from what Ned told me to the original. It'll even run a special, rare-like-you-wouldn't-believe Miller 4 cylinder engines. (that's one reason it's not done yet) Why? I don't know... cause the owner can I guess! I wanted more info, but the guys were already loading the car into the trailer (you gotta see it in the pics below) when I showed up and with the sun beating down, it was all business for them. If you know more about the car, please get in touch. [nggallery id=66] To learn more about the original car and the crash that took the life of Frank Lockhart, here's a few links. You should know, at the time, Frank was the youngest Indy 500 winner and the record holder for most laps led from the start (81 Laps). Not to mention, the guy...

Speed Week 2011 - Bonneville Salt Flats Summary Being out on the Bonneville Salt Flats for Speedweek is an amazing experience like none other. I always return with way too many pictures then I can post to the web and way too many thoughts than I can convey in my stories. So here it finally is - Grease Girl’s Speedweek Summary and Salt Flat Favorites for 2011! Record Breaking Summary This 63rd Speedweek saw 160 records broken - 93 for cars and 67 for bikes. 21 new members gained entry into the 200 MPH Club, 6 of those being the 300 MPH Chapter. Any of you less familiar with land speed racing may be surprised to find out the entire point of the sport is breaking a record! You aren’t racing against another opponent on the course or anything like that – you’re going in a straight line trying to go as fast as possible and break the record in the particular class racing in (The class takes into account engine size, fuel used, and the cars body design.) Favorite Experience Walking around the pits for someone who is...

Speed Week 2011 Results - Bonneville Salt Flats As Sunday was ending out on the Bonneville Salt Flats, lurking black clouds were rolling in and lightening was breaking all around. People were packing up their pit areas very well and getting off the salt. Was there going to be a storm? Would it halt Speedweek 2011?!? There was a storm! The rain poured down not long after the racing area closed up at 7pm. Luckily though, it didn't continue for long. Early the next morning as we drove out at the crack of dawn to see what Monday held in store - this is what we found. Out at the starting line however, the salt appeared like it might be all right. Cars and crews were lined up for record-confirming runs. (Not sure what it takes to set a record at Speedweek? Read more about it by clicking here!) Everyone waited around while officials made sure everything was in order for the fast times of land speed racing. After awhile a number of the crews were lead for a drive down the track to check out conditions for themselves....

Speed Week 2011 Results - Bonneville Salt Flats Out at Bonneville Salt Flats there's been racing all weekend as Speed Week 2011 is well underway. The days are flying by during Speed Week 2011 as land speed racers race all types of vehicles down the Bonneville Salt Flats. Streamliners make up some of the wildest (but fastest) record breakers of the bunch. Cars that have more of a stock body (or modified like this one) are common as well. This 1953 Studebaker is one of my favorites - but then again I'm a little partial since I drive a Studebaker myself. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SYV3jB6j-0[/youtube] Seeing these cars is one thing - hearing them is another. In case you've never experienced Bonneville Speedweek for yourself, check out this video. It gives you a sample of starting line take-offs - the Studebaker, a streamliner, and a motorcycle. One of my favorite kind of racers are belly tankers, like this one. This belly tanker is especially unique in that the driver is fully enclosed. The driver nearly lays down inside and looks down past their feet and out the clear part you see at...