BONNEVILLE BELLYTANK SURVIVOR

Posted on March 9, 2025 by MartynL

Rocking an authentic fuel jettison tank from an F-86 fighter jet, this BONNEVILLE BELLYTANK SURVIVOR traces its heritage from Sabrejet to the Salt Flats! During the 1940s-1950s, land speed record Lakesters at Bonneville with donor bodies crafted from World War II and Korean War aircraft fuel drop tanks or “belly tanks” flooded the Salt Flats during Speed Weeks. It was the most economical way to build an aluminum-bodied, streamlined racecar. Intact, original Bellytankers are rare vintage...

BONNEVILLE LAKESTER, SALT OF THE EARTH!

Posted on June 30, 2024June 30, 2024 by MartynL

Turn-key 300-plus mph, record-setting racer with rebuilt engine, trailer and tow truck - BONNEVILLE LAKESTER, SALT OF THE EARTH! – is looking for a new owner. After setting the AA/FL (Fuel) record (290.49 mph) at Bonneville in 2009, veteran hot rodder and racecar builder Bob Dauernheim’s Lakester, driven by Don Biglow, was completely redesigned in 2011 to run on gas (AA/GL). It was again updated for Speed Week 2012. Bob Cuneo, designer and builder of the U.S. Olympic Team’s winning bobs...

AB JENKINS, MORMON METEORS & BONNEVILLE

Posted on June 22, 2022June 22, 2022 by MartynL

The Selvedge Yard blog celebrates AB JENKINS, MORMON METEORS & BONNEVILLE racing. By the late-1920s and early-1930s, the formerly elusive 100-mph mark was old news. Magnificent short-wheelbase ‘32 Duesenburg SJ Speedsters with supercharged 320-horsepower, DOHC engines could top 120 mph. Factory racer and devout Mormon Ab Jenkins set a number of records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, averaging over 150 mph in a streamlined and supercharged Model J Dusey. In 1935 Jenkins returned to t...

BONNEVILLE: A RACER IN NEED!

Posted on September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 by MartynL

Rob Freyvogel was seriously injured in a 400-mph crash on the Salt Flats in an attempt to set a new Piston Powered Land Speed record. Anyone who has ever participated as a competitor or even a spectator at Speed Week at Bonneville is aware that land speed record racers, regardless of class, are the most generous, sharing and friendly in the hobby. Bonneville is a place where there are no strangers; even competitors are treated as friends. I’ve been there multiple times as a journalist and...

BONNEVILLE: SAVE THE SALT!

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by MartynL

It’s not fun & games when Utah residents rip up Bonneville’s fragile salt crust, negatively impacting one of our national treasures. Thankfully, Save The Salt is on the case. Last week a photo surfaced of two Utah residents, Cameron Ramage and Skyler Pittman, who took credit for driving recklessly on the Bonneville Salt Flats in a highly modified Ford Crown Victoria. They had made multiple hard-circling maneuvers, breaking through the thin salt crust and plowing ruts into its surface. The ph...

’19 VW JETTA: BONNEVILLE SALT SHAKER!

Posted on June 22, 2018 by MartynL

Powered by a modified and turbocharged 2.0-liter TSI Four, VW’s Bonneville Salt Shaker has its sights on the SCTA BGC/G record. Volkswagen of America, Inc., announced today that it has prepared a specially tuned ‘19 Jetta to attempt to contest the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) BGC/G class record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Record attempts will be run over August 11-17, 2018. The Bonneville Jetta will be powered by a modified version of VW’s EA888 2.0-liter turbocharged and dir...

’66 PLYMOUTH STREET HEMI: BONNEVILLE TO SUBURBIA!

Posted on March 2, 2018 by MartynL

After setting the B/Production Flying Mile record of 156.35 mph at the Salt Flats, I daily-drove and drag raced the 426 Street Hemi in around New York City. Bob Summers’, left, pre-production ’66 Plymouth 426 Street Hemi registered a top speed of 160.82 mph and set a USAC-FIA two-way Flying Mile record of 156.35 mph. It also set the two-way Flying Kilometer record of 155.30 mph. The B/Production records had been “owned” for years by factory Pontiacs prepared and driven by Mickey Thompson. I had...

THE GMC BLOWER & MY PAL BRUCE!

Posted on June 3, 2016May 15, 2017 by MartynL

Veteran racer and supercharging and fuel injection guru, Gale Banks, blogs about the good old days and the great new days. I’d rather be Blown Than Injected, so reads Bruce Geisler’s t-shirt. It’s the early 1960s, we’re in the pits at Bonneville wrenching our Studebakers. It’s over 100 degrees at an altitude of 4,219 feet, no wonder my Moon air density meter is only reading 81%. Despite the low ambient air density, my Hilborn-injected, Isky-cammed, Small Block Chevy has pushed my ’53 Stude to...

SCTA BONNEVILLE NATIONAL SPEED TRIALS 1949-1968: REQUIRED READING!

Posted on February 9, 2016May 15, 2017 by MartynL

If you love the history of land speed racing during the golden era of hot rodding and performance, this set of books is a must-have. When it comes to chronicling the heritage of land speed racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats and helping to preserve the venue, few people are as passionate as author, photographer and publisher, David Fetherston. His latest effort is SCTA Bonneville National Speed Trials 1949-1968, a two-volume set. If you’re a Bonneville history buff, this two-book set, SCTA...

BONNEVILLE, A CENTURY OF SPEED: SAVE THE SALT!

Posted on March 22, 2014May 15, 2017 by MartynL

The Bonneville Salt Flats is a magical place and a national treasure; David Fetherston’s latest tome chronicles 100 years of racing there. While the first known attempts at land speed record setting were on just a little-over-a-mile road outside of Paris in 1898, Land Speed Racing is as American as hot dogs, hot rodding and Motown! In 1898 Count Gaston set the first land speed record at 39.34 mph in a 36-horsepower Jeantaud electric racecar built in Belgium. Over the next couple of y...