Jalopnik: land speed racing

Open House of Velocity and Tradition

Mike Bumbeck — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:00:00 EDT

The worst of Los Angeles must often be endured to find the best of what makes Southern California great. The reward for fighting a brutal snarl of typical eastbound Friday afternoon Los Angeles traffic was the So-Cal Speed Shop Open House. The history that began with Alex Xydias after World War Two is still being made. The SoCal 800 horsepower turbocharged and intercooled Ecotec-powered 34 roadster carries tradition down the long black line of land speed racing, and Jimmy Shine creations help keep tradition rolling down the boulevards of the basin. As shown by the sheer number of machines and folks that rolled in from as far away as Vermont, the So-Cal Speed Shop continues at the nexus of California hot rodding. While the LA Roadster Show may catch more notoriety, they weren't giving away In-N-Out Burgers. – Mike Bumbeck

So-Cal Speed Shop [so-calspeedshop.com]

300+ MPH Buckeye Bullet Hydrogen Fuel Cell Streamliner

Mike Bumbeck — Fri, 11 May 2007 14:15:00 EDT

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

World's First Hydrogen Powered Streamliner [sema.org]

Star of Soviet Land Speed Record Car

Mike Bumbeck — Tue, 01 May 2007 19:00:00 EDT

To forever put forth the collected might of the Soviet into the history of speed and worker achievement came the mighty Zvezda-1, which means star in Russian. The two-stroke two-cylinder engine at the heart of this 1948 streamliner featured something known as undoubled pistons. This undoubling somehow employed one combustion chamber for two pistons and created a mind-bending 42 horsepower. The Zvezda-1 was not so speedy in itself, yet begat the 54 horsepower Zvezda-6! – Mike Bumbeck

More Soviet LSR Machines [autosoviet.altervista.org]

Related:
Walt & Art Arfons: Jet Car Pioneers [Internal]

Last Chance for 2007 Land Speed Record Tires

Mike Bumbeck — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:30:00 EDT

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

[Thanks to Kenny Lyon for the tip]

Bonneville Land Speed Tires [scta-bin.org]

The World's Fastest Small Block Chevy?

Davey G. Johnson — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 17:42:28 EST

The Nish Streamliner is designed to be the world's fastest Chevy small block-powered vehicle. Designed to run 425 mph on the salt, the flaming purple arrow is 27 feet long and weighs only 2750 lbs. A fiberglass body shell wraps around a 4130 chromoly tube frame, while various Klein-built SBC's can be wedged between the framerails for competition in different classes. Terry, Jeff, T.J. and Mike Nish have all run well over 300, calling themselves "The World's Fastest Family." We shall see if they'll all break the 400mph barrier in the seasons to come.