We're not quite sure if this is the real thing or someone's achingly period-correct replica, but frankly, it doesn't matter. Drop tank, we want to have your babies. Tiny little drop tanks. All over the Smith house. (We'll name them things like "Tankerbell" and "Tanky Junior," teach them to play Little League, have reunions at Bonneville every summer. It'll be great.)

Tech specs and more pictures can be found here. Email this guy if you want to buy it but need someone to wear the goggles and run around making flathead noises with his mouth. (Hat tip to Kelly!)

[Ebay]

Using no jets and no special fuels, the company is attempting this feat in the Spectre SpeedLiner, a sleek missile-shaped speeder with an 8.8-liter Cadillac engine with a pair of intercooled 88 mm turbos good for close to 2000 HP. So while this isn't exactly, or even remotely, a street car, it is attempting to show just how far a gas-powered car can be pushed. We'll let you know when, or if, the record is made.

Godspeed.

Fossett actually purchased the car, formerly known as "Spirit of America" from Craig Breedlove, but rebuilt it almost entirely with a considerably lengthened wheelbase and wider track. Breedlove's attempt to set a record in the vehicle in 1996 was derailed by a 675 MPH crash. The vehicle is powered by a General Electric J79 jet engine putting out 22,000 Lbs of thrust.

Now, the jet car is for sale through Project 100, an action sports marketing firm based in England. It's probably the closest thing to a turnkey outright speed record vehicle that'll ever be offered for sale. [via Speedhunters]

Ads for endurance extenders are all over the TV these days, and while those salves and pills may be of dubious value, another form of endurance extender was tested and found effective during the second world war. Droppable belly tanks extended the range of the escort P51 Mustangs, allowing them to accompany their protectorate B17s and 24s deeper onto the continent, and keeping the ME109s off their backs. As the tanks were expendable, they needed to be replaced after each sortie, and the allies cranked them out to meet the demand.

War's end saw a considerable volume of military surplus material - including a whole lot of these belly tanks - hit the civilian market. Hot rodders, realizing the aerodynamic cat-turd shape of the tanks, grabbed them up as cheap and slippery bodies for their cars in which they plied the outer edges of the performance envelope on the hard, unforgiving salt flats of the Utah desert.

One of those cars, which is a multi-record holder, is the subject of today's heated debate- the Johnson and Shipley #48-B land speed belly tank racer. One of a series of three, this hemi-powered lakester holds the 1963 B and '64 A speed records at, respectively, 259.92 and 263.350 mph. Don Johnson was the driver for these runs, and Jeff Shipley kept everything bolted together. The center of Shipley's attention was, no doubt, the 331 c.i.d. Chrysler V8 which is topped with a 6-71 GMC blower and two-port Hilborn fuel injection. A Gilmore in-and-out box transfers power to the quick change Halibrand rear end.

If you are interested in seeing one of 48-B's sisters, #28 may be found at the Peterson Automotive Museum. The other may be more difficult to catch as it sold to a private collector in 2007 for $440,000.

This Moon-disc equipped salt rocket is set at a price a bit more dear than its sister- $500,000. At that price, you're really getting three pieces of historical significance- the WWII angle; the Bonneville speed trials bit; and the individual history of this particular car. For that price, it has been fully restored, but needs mechanical work should you want to hit the salt with your investment.

So, is half a million a Nice Price for a storied Bonneville bomber? Or does that price seem more like Crack Pipe than Salt Lake?

You Decide!

Raced & Rallied, or go here if the ad sets a new record for shortest appearance.

Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip.

For almost two decades, the fastest Jaguar ever was the XJ220, that troubled turbocharged cruise missile riding on the tails of Jaguar’s very successful late 80s endurance racing program. After racing driver Martin Brundle took one for a ride around Nardò at 217 MPH, it became not only the fastest Jag, but the fastest production car ever, eclipsed only by the McLaren F1.

That was 17 years ago. These days, Jaguar no longer makes slippery supercars but has become quite a player in sports coupés and sports sedans for people who wouldn’t want to be seen in a Bimmer. And while the top speed for production cars has since crept up by 40 MPH or so, it’s still quite a surprise that succeeding the XJ220 in the fastest Jag department is a souped-up family sedan.

The XFR Prototype taken to 225 MPH at Bonneville by 24 Hours of Daytona-winning Paul Gentilozzi is not a limited-edition techie supercar but is almost American in its wonderfully brute method of going about its business. Said business is nothing but speed, achieved with a 500 HP, 5-liter V8, located behind an expanse of chicken wire. The car Gentilozzi assaulted the lakebed with differs only slightly from this production version: all it had in extra was a chin spoiler, a rear wing, a roll cage and a reprogrammed ECU nudging an extra hundred HP out of that supercharged V8.

The XFR Prototype was one of many Jags at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and it wasn’t even the most remarkable when it comes to producing noise in copious quantities. Consider that a warning. Footage of 1950s Le Mans racers will soon follow.

In this series of Pontiac print ads, which covers the postwar period through the Malaise Era, we see how the marketers repositioned Pontiac's image (or whatever the marketing term is) several times over the decades. Prior to the late 1950s, Pontiac was all about car-per-dollar value. Then came the "impress the sophisticates at the country club" era, and you can tell the exact moment at which John Z. De Lorean finally established full control of the division by the focus on engine power and youthful hijinks. Then, of course, Malaise Pontiacs were all about the tape stripes and miles per gallon. The gallery below holds just a fraction of the ads at the original site, so be sure to make the jump and see them all!
[John's Old Car And Truck Ads]

Each of these photos is a link to the car's original DOTS page, where you'll find its complete gallery for your enjoyment. Maybe bringing back the illuminated Indian-head hood ornament might have saved Pontiac? We'll never know now.

Dearest D.B. Fans and Fanatics:
It has been done!
I have just returned from the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, where I set the all-time Land Speed Record for a Grand Touring Sports Car under 750cc (this class is known as GT/J). I accomplished this in “BoneEvil,” my 1959 D.B. HBR-5 (#1025) which has a very special, raced prepared 747cc engine. For your interest, attached are two photos of the car (and me) on the salt.
Racing at Bonneville presents many problems and challenges for the little cars we all love. First, the temperature during the day can be as high as 110 degrees which the air-cooled two-banger is not so fond of. Second, the effective altitude is 7700 feet above sea level and setting carburetion can be tricky. Third, racing on salt presents challenges in regards to traction and tire slippage. The course I ran on is called the Short Course and is 3 miles in length. The speed recorded is not the top speed attained but is the average speed sustained between the 2nd and 3rd mile markers. In order to break a record, you must have a successful Qualifying Run which betters the existing record. The car is then placed in Impound with a sealed gas tank. The following morning you must make a successful Record Run (also known as the Backup Run) and again beat the existing record for a second time. The existing record for GT/J has stood at 80.143 MPH since 1991. I believe the previous record holder was a Honda two-seater.
During my Qualifying Run I averaged 93.070 MPH. During my Record Run I averaged 94.918 MPH. The new Land Speed Record is the average of the two and is 93.994 MPH. As you can see, we did not simply beat the old record…we crushed it!
Breaking this record has been a dream of mine for many years and I could not have accomplished this without the help of many people. When I made the decision to move forward in 2006 I had a small problem…I did not own an HBR-5. I called all of my D.B. friends in the U.S. but did not have any luck finding a car. Then I called Junkman who had two HBR-5’s in his collection. Junkman is a huge D.B. fan and was not at all interested in selling either of his cars. That is until Junkman found out what I had in mind! He loved the idea of a D.B. running at Bonneville and immediately sold me the car (at a very, very fair price!). Junkman is a fantastic guy and I am forever grateful for all of his support. Thanks Junkman!
There are many, many others who have helped me along the way. Obtaining parts is always a problem for those of us in The USA and Derek Fritz was with our team every step of the way, offering technical assistance and getting us the parts we needed in a timely fashion. Thanks Derek! Richard Plavetich was restoring his own (now gorgeous) HBR-5 and brought us parts back from his trip to France. Don Racine and JeanPierre Molerus have been wonderful friends and advisors along the way and gave us the info and parts we needed every time we called on them. For years, Bill Barkley has run all over the USA for all of us and has filled my warehouse full of spares. Thanks Bill! Finally, Raymond Milo has been our spiritual advisor and chief critic throughout the project. There is only one Raymond and I am definitely glad to have him on our team.
There are too many others in the D.B. Club who have helped me along the way to mention but to all of you…THANKS!
When I decided to make a record attempt my mechanics first reaction was…”You want to do what?!?!?!” And this was certainly logical.
From a practical standpoint, it really made little sense to go for the record in a 50 year old car. After all, the Grand Touring Sport Class is not a vintage class. It is open to any and all modern two-seaters with an engine under 750cc. But this is precisely why I wanted to break the record in a D.B. As each of you know, Deutsch Bonnet has a legendary race history which includes class wins at Le Mans in ‘53, ‘54, ’55, ‘56, ‘59 and ’60, five consecutive class wins at the Mille Miglia (1953 through 1957), class wins at Sebring in ’53, ’54, ’56 and ’59, at the Tourist Trophy in ’53 and ’55, and class wins at the Nürburgring 1000KMS in ’59 and ’60.
But was it possible to break a land speed record in a Deutsch Bonnet 50 years later? Could it be that the HBR-5 was the fastest under 750cc Grand Touring Sports Car of all time…including modern cars? This was what our team set out to accomplish.
My Chief Mechanic, Greg Lucas, has literally thousands of hours into Panhard engine development. And nearly every internal engine component is special. Our crankshafts are of one-piece billet. The roller bearing is a two-piece design as is the big end of the rods. The valve train and heads have been developed to the extreme. Greg has done an unbelievable job and in my opinion is a world authority on Panhard engines and mechanicals. When I first met Greg 8 years ago, he hardly knew what a Panhard was. But he’s a brilliant guy, a quick study, and with the help of Don Racine and my great friend Alva Rodriguez, who is sadly not here to see this, Greg is now a Panhard Jedi Warrior. His 747cc engines make 48HP at the front wheels (probably 65 HP at the flywheel) and will rev to an honest 10,000 RPM’s.
Greg also assembled a winning team to help us along the way. Mark Evans has been with us every step of the way. Mark not only “massaged” the 50 year old fiberglass body and painted the car; he did much of the fabrication and prep work. He was also with us at Bonneville, getting things ready, driving the push-truck, etc. We could not have done this without Mark. Jeff Gee has also been an important part of the team. Jeff is not only a wonderful fabricator, he is also the shops psychologist…keeping things calm whenever engines scattered parts. Dan Barton is an engine guy extraordinaire and helped our team time and time again. He was also responsible for critical machine and head work on the engines. Walt Bobo, Mike Hart, Tom Thrash and many, many others have wandered in and out of Greg’s shop offering advice and support along the way. Mike Miller did the wonderful airbrush work on the car.
Our team will be continue to make trips to Bonneville to try and go faster and faster to push the 750cc record over 100 MPH. We also have plans to make an attempt for the under 1000cc record in the car. So stay tuned for more records from BoneEvil. It will be up to historians looking back to determine the relative importance of this Land Speed Record in the context of D.B.’s past victories. It is interesting to note that D.B.’s victories in the 1950s were against contemporary cars of similar technological development. What we now have in this 50 year old car is an all-time Land Speed Record holder.
Have fun and drive fast! Mark Brinker
Houston, Texas

I joined JT and his rag tag team of Big Easy misfits on that trip, resulting in a feature that appeared in 0-60 magazine's second issue. He never did set that record, but by pushing himself and his team beyond their breaking points, by focusing himself on a new project, and by inspiring people throughout his hometown, I think JT found himself again.

Salt Dreams premieres April 2, at One Eyed Jacks in the French Quarter.
[Via Hell For Leather]

Gallery Photos: Grant Ray

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

They have the national record, finally, at 215.091 but, the SCTA-BNI International and FIA (the acknowledged World record sanctioning body for motorsports, the Federation International d'Automobile) World's record are still held by our 'Banks Sidewinder Dakota' at 217.301. And know this, setting a World's record is more than one-way speed. To claim such a record, you must make runs in two directions over the surveyed mile within 60 minutes and do so under close FIA supervision and scrutiny.

The Spal guys have made it interesting, sounds like I might need to dust off the Sidewinder and get salty. The bragging rights over 'fastest' might sometimes be a blur at 200+ miles per hour, but the truth is not. That's why FIA World Records are so important, and that's why they're so important to keep straight.

Press Release:

DEARBORN, Aug. 15, 2007 — The Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 raced to a record 207.297 miles per hour Wednesday at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, which makes the world's first and only production vehicle-based fuel cell race car the fastest as well.

After more than one year of design and development and 10 years of hydrogen vehicle research, Ford's fuel cell vehicle team battled technical difficulties and a harsh desert environment en route to joining the 200 MPH Club of Bonneville Speed Week, an annual event that attracts hundreds of racing teams.

"What we've accomplished is nothing short of an industry first," said Matt Zuehlk, lead engineer on the project. "No other automaker in the world has come close."

Zuehlk added that Ford's historic run at Bonneville is to further expand its technological horizons with fuel cell-powered vehicles, because it is a fuel that could someday play a key role in meeting the energy needs of the transportation sector. The Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 is Ford's latest environmental innovation and is another step on the road toward commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The project is a partnership between Ford, The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research, Ballard Power Systems and Roush Racing. Rick Byrnes, a veteran Bonneville racer and retired Ford Powertrain component design engineer, piloted the Hydrogen 999 at Bonneville.

So, in a sense, the high school is surrounded by ominous-looking Detroit iron. There must be a useful lesson for the kids in there somewhere...

This '65 has definitely encountered some obstacles in its journey through life; I'm guessing it spent a few years across the Bay in San Francisco, where car snouts take a beating during parallel-parking attempts.

Oh yeah, that's definitely a case of San Francisco Nose.

1965 was an especially good year for the Bonneville; it looked good and you could get one with a 376-horsepower 421 topped with Tri-Power carbs. Best of all, GM could- and did- put 4-speeds in their big Pontiacs in '65.

This is most likely a 389 car, though. Naturally, it suffers from the standard 60s-GM-car rear-window rust. Once the water starts getting in around the window, the trunk spends the entire winter full of water.

This car doesn't move very often, as evidenced by the weeds growing up around it.

Normally, I'd say that plastic JC Whitney hubcaps have no place on a 60s Pontiac, but they actually add to the car's property-value-lowering appeal in this case.

When you have ten individual pieces making up the car's nameplate, it's likely that some will go missing over the years.
The letters on the trunklid speak volumes, though.

Now for our poll! I've selected one each Ford, GM, and Chrysler car from DOTS posts (today's Bonneville included) and you get to vote on which one is the most profoundly evil-looking. Feel free to imagine each car after you've modified it with your choice of crazy drivetrain and/or rattlecan paint job!

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.