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The Bonneville Salt Flats might be all about going fast in a straight line, but nothing is going to stop this '51 Ford F1 pickup from wringing out its V8 with some salty burnouts. More »
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It's hard to comprehend, but George Poteet and Ron Main's Speed Demon streamliner ran at this year's Bonneville Speed Week with an amazing exit speed of 462.345 MPH. More »
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In 1971, NASCAR banned Chrysler's winged cars, forcing teams like Bobby Isaac's K&K to park their fastest rides. K&K owner Nord Krauskopf decided to take the team's Charger Daytona to Bonneville for one last romp. They'd end up setting 28 world records. More »
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Tonya Harding was the first American woman to nail the triple axel in a figure skating competition, but did you know she's also the first person to establish a land speed record in the Vintage Gas Coup Class? You know Tonya Harding the figure skater-turned-women's boxer. Now meet Tonya Harding the successful vintage race driver. More »
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Yesterday signaled the end of the 2011 Bonneville Speed Week. Once again speed freaks from all over the world made the pilgrimage to the Salt to race vehicles of almost every imaginable variety. More »
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Few cars can pull off portholes. This chopped Bonneville Buick is one of those few cars. It's the visual salt on the rim of this potent margarita. [Keith Kin Yan via coolisacolor] More »
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Danny Thompson set out last month to best his Bonneville speed record of 256 mph in an ethanol-powered Mustang. He hit 265 mph and then flipped his 'Stang end over end. Here's the astonishing view from the passenger seat. More »
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A Washington Ferrari collector set a world speed record for a Ferrari last week, with an average 275.4 mph in a 288 GTO. The secret to its speed? A 540-ci Chevy big block, boosted by twin turbos. Enzo, meet Louis. More »
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The Twin-Turbo Ferrari Enzo overcame early problems to set a class record speed of 238 mph at Bonneville this weekend. It's now both the fastest and most driven (31,366 miles) Enzo ever. More »
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The Dodge Viper ACR is a last hurrah before a more luxurious, possibly Alfa-based future. Here it gets the full Bonneville. [Kurt Niebuhr for InsideLine via iamrodnunez] More »
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The Venturi Buckeye Bullet, an all-electric landspeed racer built by students at Ohio State University, set a new record of 307.66 MPH in the mile this afternoon at the Bonneville Salt Flats — and they're trying again. [Buckeye Bullet Blog] More »
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Richard Losee's crashed-then-reborn twin-turbocharged Ferrari Enzo made its first Bonneville Speed Week showing and spun at 188 mph while attempting class-A certification. Nobody was injured, but Losee has to settle for the class-B license — for now. Updated More »
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The twin-turbo Ferrari Enzo took to the salt today and it sounds as great as it looks. We'll find out soon what 1,000-hp and a funky aero nose will do with miles of open space. (Hat tip to sixt9coug!) More »
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Troy Trepanier's 1969 Plymouth Barracuda "Blowfish" sets off for another pass at Speed Week. Photo:Linhbergh, KINOD Collective [SPEEDHUTNERS] More »
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Rather than let his wrecked Enzo go to waste, one owner has converted his rarer-than-filet-at-Peter-Luger Italian stallion into a 1,000 hp salt flat beast. When we said "Save The Enzos," this twin-turbo Ferrari Enzo was exactly what we meant. More »
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If you've ever stood on a sun-drenched, crack-filled piece of lakebed, you'll understand. Even if you haven't, you probably will. Speed. Potential. Horizon. It's all there. I have dreams. God bless California for giving them to me. [via CoolisaColor] More »
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When Pontiac decided to name one of their models after Bonneville, the home of many a land speed attempt, you'd think they'd have kept the car true to its name. Still, Nice Price or Crack Pipe likes big-ass boats too. More »
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Once upon a time, men were real men. Women were real women. And speed came from strapping yourself into an aircraft drop tank and hauling across a lakebed like a bat out of hell. Plus, there's in-tank video. Hallelujah. More »
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There are countless classes attempting records at Bonneville but Spectre Performance is attempting one of the most important: going over 400 MPH in a gas-powered, wheel-driven car. Audio of the engine and pictures below. More »
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Steve Fossett disappeared on September 3, 2008, leaving behind an unproven land speed record contender. It was expected that the car would shatter Thrust SSC's supersonic 763 MPH record, possibly reaching four-figure speeds. More »
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In 1827 Jedediah Smith became the first white man to cross the Bonneville Salt Flats. In honor of that, and Speed Week, Nice Price or Crack Pipe is putting you inside the belly tank of the beast. More »
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Among many incredible Jaguars at Goodwood was their fastest production car ever, the 2010 Jaguar XFR. With stock tires and a wing on the back, it did 225 MPH before being paraded in the South of England on Sunday. More »
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Pontiac made some pretty good television ads, but we mustn't overlook the print ads. Franzouse has found a treasure trove — here are 50 Pontiac classics. More »
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Oldsmobile, Plymouth, and now Pontiac; this century is rough on the old Detroit marques. With the the demise of Pontiac in mind, let's check out the classic Pontiacs I've photographed down on the Alameda street. More »
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Today we're going to show that old GM cars don't always dissolve into reddish stains on the pavement, even in a damp climate like the Pacific Northwest. Zeet has photographed this pair of very solid-looking examples of The General's products for us; note that all eight hubcaps are still present! More »
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The Land Speed Record for the Grand Touring Sports Car Under 750cc had stood at 80.143 MPH since 1991, and what better car to make a run at the record than a Deutsch Bonnet HBR-5? That's what Mark Brinker of Texas thought, and he knew where to find one: Junkman! You can get the details after the jump, but we can tell you right now that they annihilated the old record! More »
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Tomsk sends in these photos of a very, very nice '61 Pontiac Bonneville, which he shot in- you guessed it!- Orange County. Yes, we're back in Costa Mesa, where just $4,200 will buy you this seriously original sedan (well, it would have bought it a couple months ago, when Tomsk shot these photos). More »
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I first met JT Nesbitt in August 2005, when he was the most famous motorcycle designer in the world. I was in New Orleans to profile him, which I did in an article titled "Mafia, Guns, Sex Toys and Hurricanes." It's that hurricane that changed things. A few months later I finally got JT on the phone. He was at work, at his new job in a gay bar, cleaning used condoms out of the toilet with his bare hands. But even Katrina couldn't keep JT down for long. Last September he headed to the Bonneville salt flats to attempt to set a speed record in a Lincoln Mark VIII he salvaged from New Orleans' flood waters. The documentary Salt Dreams tells that story. More »
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When reader Thunder sent in the tip about this car, we all went "Damn!" But then we noticed the asking price and there was just this... silence. It's a reproduction of a 50s/60s Bonneville F-100 wink tank racer, with blown small-block and even license plates. Is it worth the price? Make the jump, take the poll, and let us know! [CarsOnline-Ads.com] More »
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Although we'd imagine breaking the land speed record among diesel-powered motorcycles was a matter of showing up, an oil-burning BMW was recently crowned with that honor nonetheless. This past week, A custom-built R 1150 RT, powered by a two-liter diesel mill from the company's European 3-Series, set the record at the BUB International Motorcycle Speed Trials at Bonneville Salt Flats, hitting 130.614 miles per hour on biodiesel. The bike, dubbed "Die Moto," was designed and built by Oakland-based industrial arts collective The Crucible. Stormy weather and a faulty engine-management computer reportedly stymied the bike, which the group says will be able to hit 160 next time out. [Motorcycle.com] More »
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As the last chunks of salt are chipped off the race cars there is a post speed week battle forming. The SPAL Ford Powerstroke Rocket Ranger team is claiming the title of World's Fastest Diesel Pickup Truck. Gale Banks says this simply isn't true, stating that the Banks Engineering Cummins-powered Dodge Dakota Sidewinder still holds the official FIA World Record - set in 2002. More »
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Gazing at images of Speed Week at Bonneville one might think the surface an impenetrable layer of white salt. In fact the salt is a relatively thin crust floating on a lake of mud. Boyd Coddington and accompanying American Hot Rod television crew found this out the hard way when their white whale of an RV broke through the salt on the return road. The first two wreckers called in were mired attempting to extract the RV. The legendary Big Blue was summoned to sort out the mess, but it too ended up askew in the landscape. Three tow trucks and a crew minivan driven into a taut steel cable later, a fourth tow truck packing three rear axles finally managed to unearth the RV, and the fallen tow trucks. One of the drivers was overheard lamenting, "From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee!" [National T-Bucket Alliance](Images: Ron Christensen) More »
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The man known as Coop has installed a bang up gallery of Speed Week at Bonneville photos on the Flickr. Bathe your eyeballs with the 1327 pics that Coop took while he was out there. More »
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Ford's surpassed the double-century mark, and joined the Bonneville 200-mph club, in its Hydrogen 999 fuel-cell-powered Ford Fusion. It's an industry first, considering other automakers' hydrogen fuel-cell projects have eschewed speed accrual for the message of environmental correctness. Why not do both, Ford says with the 999 project, which we're just fine with us old salts. The car was worked up with The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research, Ballard Power Systems and Roush Racing, and was piloted by Bonneville vet Rick Byrnes, who's also a retired powertrain engineer with the blue oval bunch. More »
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Without beat-ta-hell 60s cars still dragging their rusty mufflers down our streets, we'd get our impression of such cars entirely from the gleaming, coddled examples at car shows... and that would be a tragedy! This especially menacing Bonneville parks right by Alameda High, on the next block over from the equally menacing '69 Continental. More »
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The Southern California Timing Association reports that Speed Week at Bonneville is underway. Some rain earlier in the week had caused problems, but favorable weather helped the crews scrape out some courses. As of yesterday 230 entries were passed through tech inspection. Next year we'll enter the Jalopnik 1971 Fiat 500 in Classic Unblown Gas Coupe. Until then we hope the Burkland Streamliner can wick up the twin blown hemis and break its own 417 mph record. Stay on top of records as they happen over at the SCTA. [Bonneville records and photos via the SCTA] More »
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Somewhere between Nebraska and California these guys scored an auxiliary fuel tank previously attached to a 1944 American Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The tank was shipped back to Germany, where it met up with an early hemi, a roots blower, some Merc running gear, and giant tiki head with a 13 on its forehead. The entire project is supported by the Konfederate Klassics crew, who also seem to be building a Kadett V8. [A German Tank in Bonneville via rennabteilung.de] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=286402&view=rss&microfeed=true With the '80 Bonneville's allegedly good fuel economy the main selling point here (rather than its stellar performance or matchless build quality), we can't help but wonder how many viewers asked themselves what the starting point for the one-tank-of-gas journey to California was. If it was Salt Lake City to San Diego, sure... but maybe it was Medford to Yreka. In any case, the Bonneville gave you More Pontiac Excitement to the Gallon! More »
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A group of Ohio State University students are hoping to break the 300 mile per hour mark at Speed Week this August - using hydrogen. The Buckeye Bullet 2 will make history as first hydrogen fuel cell land speed streamliner to hit the long black line. The Buckeye Bullet 1 was the first electric vehicle to break the 300 mph mark, and currently holds a record of 315 mph. The team plans on success using a 700 horsepower electric motor and lessons learned from the first time around. No word on whether or not this type of fuel cell vehicle will be allowed on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's hydrogen highway. – Mike Bumbeck More »
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From a tiny karting carcass to a huge slick designed to go from a standing start to 300 plus miles per hour in under five seconds, tires are a crucial part of any racing machine. Tires are of particular concern on LSR monsters - especially those of the wheel-driven variety. Streamliners moving into and beyond the 300 mile per hour zone for miles at a time require tires built specifically for the task. As the original Goodyear and Firestone 550-15 LSR tires were getting onwards of fifty years long in the tooth, Cooper Tire and Mickey Thompson teamed up to make LSR tires once more. The new tires come with speed ratings from 375 to over 590 miles per hour. The deadline on orders for this latest batch of speedy skins is the end of April. – Mike Bumbeck More »
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