Hyundai Previews the Future of Hydrogen Tech with the N Vision 74

With the world turning its back on combustion engines in favor of EVs, more and more people have grown concerned about EV range and the speed it takes to recharge. These same fears apply to EV motorsports, as recharge times and range directly affect the length of a race. In comes hydrogen fuel cell technology to the save the day. When hydrogen is mixed with oxygen it starts a reaction that produces electricity, which can then power the electric motors in a car, with only heat and water as a byproducts of the process. But the part that most people are interested in is that hydrogen can be stored in a tank like gasoline, and refueling takes about the same time as if you were refueling an ICE vehicle while providing the same range as a fully charged EV. Because of these attributes of hydrogen, Hyundai has been researching and developing hydrogen fuel cell tech, having started back in 2015 with the reveal of the Hyundai 2025 Vision Gran Turismo and the launch of the N brand. Fast forward to today and Hyundai has given us a glimpse of their R&D with jaw-dropping N Vision 74, the prototype used to experiment with the driving and cooling performance of advanced FCEVs.

While the N Vision 74’s brawny and boxy looks make it seem like it could’ve stepped out from a retro 1980’s sci-fi movie, its actually based on Hyundai’s Pony Coupe Concept from 1974. This design was penned by the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro and was to be Hyundai’s first production sports car. Prototypes were even built for the Pony Coupe but sadly, it never reached production. The interior of the N Vision 74 also inherits the driver-centric, piston-shaped layout of the Pony concept, blending classic styling with modern touches, to enhance its motorsport functionality.

…Prototypes were even built for the Pony Coupe but sadly, it never reached production...

Hyundai calls the N Vision 74 a “high performance Rolling Lab” and for good reason, as its driven by Hyundai’s most advanced hydrogen fuel cell. All the futuristic-looking air vents and curvy yet rigid body panels aren’t just for show either, they significantly improve aerodynamics and fulfill the prototype’s heat management requirements, which is further improved by a 3 channel cooling system. The N Vision 74 puts power to pavement with two 235 kW motors on each rear wheel, making the prototype a RWD setup. Not only that, Hyundai tested a logic system called e-TVTM (electronic Torque Vectoring by Twin Motors) for improved cornering ability. The advanced hydrogen fuel cell tech allows the N Vision 74 to travel 600 km (about 373 miles) at a top speed of over 250 kph (155 mph), and can be refueled in about 5 minute, blowing EV charging speeds out of the water and rivaling ICE refueling times, perfect for motorsports and everyday applications.

…Prototypes were even built for the Pony Coupe but sadly, it never reached production...

The stunning N Vision 74 previews the near future use of hydrogen fuel cells as a green alternative to EVs. Can the N Vision 74 and other FCEVs compete with electric vehicles? Only time will tell.

2022 King of the Hammers

Taking on the Toughest Off-Road Race on the Planet

What started as a “beer bet” between friends on a dry lakebed in Johnson Valley nearly 15 years ago has grown to one of the biggest weeks of off-road racing in the world: the Ultra 4 King of the Hammers (KOH). The people are just as spectacular to watch as the vehicles. KOH is a week-long party—imagine Burning Man with the excitement of off-road racing. 

The initial premise was simple, blend rock crawling with high-speed desert racing. KOH requires race vehicles that can handle both terrains. The racecourse seems impossible to those unfamiliar with the race, pitting man and machine against a course filled with rocks the size of a city buses and drop-offs over 10 feet tall.

Weeks before, HammerKing Productions employees and volunteers descend on Means Dry Lakebed to build Hammertown, a 56-acre, high-tech camp. It’s the center of King of the Hammers, and so involved even the Navy and Marine Corps lend a hand. It houses thousands of spectators, participants, racers, crew, and those there for the 10-day party. 

Image the sensory overload of an event like SEMA, but where vehicles are actually put to the test in the desert. It’s hard to take it all in, but luckily, you have ten days to do it. Hammertown features pit crew challenges, qualifying races, pre-runs, vendors, driver meet and greets, and various other events. Plus, there’s food throughout the town and music every night. 

Hammertown is like going to a car show and enjoying the cars in the parking lot; participants and their vehicles are just as fun to watch as the races. You need an off-road capable vehicle to see various sections of the racecourses, and KOH brings out the best and most interesting off-road rigs around. From jacked-up Mercedes to Econoline vans straight out of a 1980s summer camp and every genre of Jeep. 

The KOH community makes it a world-known event. With crazy rigs and dedicated enthusiasts partying for a week straight. The off-road community is a tight-knit group looking for fun with dirt-filled grins, hats made of beer cans, and bound fires that last all night. 

…KOH brings out the best and most interesting off-road rigs around…

The lakebed is in the center of Johnson Valley, which is known for having some of the most challenging terrain on the west coast, with large boulders, steep drop-offs, and narrow trail sections. King of the Hammer’s name comes from the notorious “hammer” trails. Many of the nearly 500 registered racers don’t make it back to the finish line. Johnson Valley trails have also claimed many lives over the years. It puts drivers and crew through various off-road racing disciplines from steep rocky mountains, rolling hills, open sections, and a large dry lake bed, with elevations ranging from 4,600 to 2,300 feet. Modern-day Ultra4 cars require indestructible components and produce over 900 horsepower.

The start/finish line is in Hammertown, allowing spectators to get up close to the action, starting with a closed-circuit style dirt course section. This section of track allows for door-to-door action in qualifying and a unique start/finish to off-road racing.

Across the Means Dry Lakebed, is the high-speed section with divots, obstacles, and hard-to-see terrain. Far from a smooth lakebed like Bonneville, this terrain requires faith in your equipment and nerves of steel to keep full throttle. 

After the Dry Lakebed, the land immediately transitions into technical rock trails with boulders of sizes ranging from a few feet tall to those bigger than the vehicles themselves. Racers go from triple-digit speeds immediately into narrow paths up mountain terrain. From loose sand into jagged rocks, these areas require patience, tough tires, and an impenetrable undercarriage. Don’t be surprised to see multiple rollovers throughout the event. 

What started as a single-day race in the Southern California desert in 2007 has grown to a 10-day event in 2022 with multiple classes, including Trophy Truck, UTVs, and Ultra4 cars. They compete on different days leading up to the Race of Kings’ main event.

This year’s Hammer’s week featured four primary races. First, the Toyo Tires Desert Challenge, a classic style lapped desert race. Second, is the Can-Am UTV Hammer Championship, where UTVs race the same course as the big 4400 cars. Third, is the 4-Wheel Parts Every Man Challenge, which features four separate classes 4600 – Stock, 4500 – Modified Class, 4800 – Legends class, and the EV Class. For the 2022 event, every class was packed with competitors, all attempting to tame the racecourse and bring home the coveted King of the Hammers trophy.

…What started as a single-day race in the Southern California desert in 2007 has grown to a 10-day event in 2022 with multiple classes…

The Desert Challenge featured two days of non-stop action, with the limited class racing on day one. Chase Warren in his Class 10 car held off Mitch Guthire Jr. in his Polaris RZR Pro R for the win. Brady Wisdom took the third spot on the podium in his Class 10 car. Day two featured the Unlimited Race with the Trophy Trucks (T1), and the 6100 trucks (T2) laid down the power in the desert. Qualifying for this race featured a prologue included in the overall time to determine a winner. Last year’s winner Bryce Menzies, one of the favorites to win, had drivetrain troubles that pulled him out of the race after one lap. Kyle Jergensen held off the charge from Luke McMillin, who had a throttle cable issue that cost him precious minutes and left him in third place behind Christopher Polvoorde.

 With the desert racing out of the way, it was time to go to the rocks. First up was the UTVs maneuvering through the rocks, flying through the desert, and running door-to-door on obstacles. Kyle Chaney held off Hunter Miller for the win, and Paul Wolff battled his way through for a third-place finish.

One of the most fantastic races to watch is the Every Man Challenge, where you can race everything from a vintage 4400 car to a stock Suzuki Samurai taking on the course. This years’ race had an extra level of excitement as the Ford Performance team was on hand with new Bronco race vehicles. They swept the stock 4600 class with Vaughn Gittin Jr., Brad Lovell, and Bailey Cole, finishing 1-2-3 for Ford.

Dan Fresh was your overall winner and 4800 Legends class winner with a speedy time beating Toby Stacy by over 30 minutes, with Chayse Caprara taking the third spot just minutes behind Stacy. In the Modified 4500 Class, John Mathews held off a strong charge from Joe Gatlin to win, with Kenneth Goodall earning the third podium spot.

Only one race was left to crown the 2022 King, The Race of Kings. With over 100 entrants this year, the field was stacked with plenty of cars and drivers gunning for the top spot. However, the race came down to two guys, three-time king Jason Scherer and longtime competitor and top challenger Raul Gomez. These two battled all day with Jason out front most of the day before a costly flop had him winching early on the third lap.

With Gomez out to a solid lead, a high-center had him winching while Scherer could make up time. Another late-game flat tire made it impossible to catch up to Gomez, who earned first win in Johnson Valley and the first solo competitor to take the title. Finishing in the third spot was Josh Blyler, who battled his way through the field after qualifying 20th for an impressive finish.

 The King has been crowned for this year, and that means guys like Scherer, Levi Shirley, Erick Miller, Shannon Campbell will be looking to take back the crown next year as the target is now squarely on Gomez’s back.

The Basics 

• King of Hammers began as a private event, created by rock-crawler champion Dave Cole and desert racer Jeff Knoll. 

• King of Hammers is typically held on the first week of February. While technically the King of Hammers race is a one-day race, there’s a week of events leading up to that final day. 

• King of the Hammers is held on the Means Dry Lakebed, as a part of the Johnson Valley OHV. California has state-run areas known as OHV areas (Off-Highway Vehicles), where off-road vehicles can be used. 

• Johnson Valley is known as the Home of the Hammers, having several intense trails such as the Jackhammer and Sledgehammer trails. 

• The center of King of Hammers is Hammertown, where teams, sponsors, and participants turn the desert into a temporary city of racing. Admission includes access to Hammertown and gets fans close to the start/finish line.  

• Different areas of the racecourse are easily accessible with a stock off-road vehicle. 

• Past winners and those who participated in the first event are invited to return at every race thereafter.
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Troy Story

The Origin of Troy Lee Designs

No offense meant but I doubt many of you do but for those who know their hot rod history you might recognize the name Marvin Lee. Lee worked for the famous Bohman & Schwartz coachbuilders in Pasadena and at D’Arcy Coachworks in nearby Alhambra. Lee gained some notoriety with his radically customized ’42 Chevy Fleetline, however, he got the public’s attention when his beautiful silver painted dry lakes racing ’29 Ford Roadster caught fire at a lakes meet and burned to the ground—nobody had a fire extinguisher.

Lee fared better in 1949 when he fielded the Chevy-six-powered ‘City of Pasadena’ streamliner powered by a 248 ci Chevy six fitted with some Wayne Horning speed equipment. On July 17, 1949, the ‘City of Pasadena’ streamliner set a new class record at 153.545 mph—it was the fastest lakes racer ever.

Bright yellow, the car was good enough to grace the cover of the very first Bonneville Nationals program in 1949. Lee was on the planning board for that very first Bonneville Nationals. Unfortunately, in August 1950, on a record run at Bonneville with a new body configuration, the rear wheels lost traction at an estimated 230, the car spun and flipped. Driver ‘Puffy’ Puffer was unharmed but the car was destroyed and Lee gave up on streamliners. In the mid-fifties, he opened a car lot at 1650 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena where among other vehicles he sold hot rods and custom cars.

…his beautiful silver painted dry lakes racing ’29 Ford Roadster caught fire at a lakes meet and burned to the ground—nobody had a fire extinguisher.

Fast forward thirty years and you might recognize the name Troy Lee, Marvin’s grandson and the son of Larry and Linda. Larry was an artist, painter, pinstriper and motorcycle racer. With that family history you could say Troy was destined for a life in motorsports. But it was not to be an easy life; the Lees were itinerant, sometimes living in a ¾ camper and traveling from place to place.

We spoke to Le Mans winner Jim Busby at his race shop in Laguna Beach. Busby used to hang out at the Pasa Green Body Shop in Pasadena where Larry was working at the time striping and painting names on people’s cars. Busby was the paint prep kid who remembers: “People forget that Larry was a Von Dutch; he was every bit as talented as Dutch, Dean Jeffries and all that crowd. Larry Lee was right there and twice as crazy as all of them put together.”

“Larry lived in a trailer that he pulled around behind his camper and that trailer arrived here on this property where we sit today about 1976. Larry was always looking for a place to hook his hose up to and this turned out to be it. Then he built a little platform back there to paint and the very first helmet Troy painted was my helmet. It was black but when I went to England to drive a Lola for Barclay’s Bank they wanted an American flag so Larry and his infant son Troy painted that helmet with that waving American flag and that’s how Troy got started.”

“I’d put my name up underneath the visor but Jody told me to put my name on top where people could see it. Pretty soon there were so many helmets to paint I had to quit building pipes.”Troy Lee, Troy Lee Deisgns

Eventually, Larry settled for a while near Nevada City, north of Sacramento, CA, where he operated a speedway track. It was there that Troy’s affinity with motorcycles blossomed. In 1979, they moved back to Southern California where Troy began to race KTMs., Suzukis and eventually Husqvanas. He was also painting racecars for Busby. When he was not painting he was welding exhaust systems for Bill’s ProCircuit Pipes In Corona. Then he moved on to Mitch Payton building pipes in Mitch’s folk’s garage in Norco. Meanwhile, he started painting helmets in his spare time for Jody Weisel of Motocross Action Magazine who put a little ad in the back of the magazine. “The first ones I painted were for Wardy (Jeff Ward) and Magoo (Danny Chandler) and Todd ‘Goat’ Brecker” Said Lee. “I’d put my name up underneath the visor but Jody told me to put my name on top where people could see it. Pretty soon there were so many helmets to paint I had to quit building pipes.”

“It was around that time I started making visors—vacuum-forming them using my mother’s oven and a vacuum cleaner.” Unable to stand the stench of melting plastic, Linda encouraged Troy to move his operation into a hanger at Corona Municipal Airport (CMA). Most airports frown on automotive operations and CMA required that he spend 40-percent of his time working on airplanes so he began painting registration numbers and even complete planes. Eventually, Troy occupied three hangers at the airport. However, a night of drinking Wild Turkey precipitated a move to a new location on a street ironically named Wild Turkey Circle in Corona.

The visor business was growing though and Lee went to Japan to get molds made. Linda, meanwhile, made him business cards and Malcolm Smith Motorsports agreed to distribute the products. Troy Lee Designs (TLD) was born and there was soon a relationship with Japanese helmet maker Shoei to develop a line of mountain bike helmets.

…a night of drinking Wild Turkey precipitated a move to a new location on a street ironically named Wild Turkey Circle in Corona.

By 1991, business had outgrown the hangers and TLD moved into a new commercial building just down the street. Although helmets remained a huge part of the business with commissions from Wayne Gardner, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Tommy Hayden, Roger Lee Hayden, Jeremy McGrath, Danica Patrick, Scott Russell Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Ryan Villopoto and many others, the product line had expanded to include action sports apparel and protective gear.

In 2001, Lee formed a supermoto team with long-time friends Jeremy McGrath and Jeff ‘Wardy’ Ward. They campaigned in the Red Bell AMA Supermoto amateur national championship with Honda support. They were very successful and Wardy placed in the top three from 2003 through 2007 and won in 2004 and 2006. Meanwhile, in 2003, Lee relocated TLD to a 22,600 sq ft historic Ganahl Lumber building in Corona where more than 85 people now work. The facility, located at 155 E Rincon Street, has a 5,000 sq ft retail showroom that houses Lee’s collection of unique sports memorabilia. It’s open Monday through Friday.

Troy Lee Designs are now sold in stores all over the world but in 2011 Lee opened his own store Troy Lee Designs Boutique and Design Center at 380 Glenneyre Street, Laguna Beach, California. The store offers premium tees, jeans, high-end clothing and a selection of TLD bicycle wear, moto gear and sportswear. The store is open seven days a week where that first helmet painted for lifelong friend Jim Busby is displayed.

In 2016, the private investment firm Spanos, Barber, Jesse & Co., invested in TLD and has helped the brand grow and expand its offerings. There is a new 40,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Upland, CA, and a new store in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Next year, 2020, will see Troy Lee Designs celebrate its 40^th anniversary by adding a new European-based Moto-X race team with Yamaha. This is in addition to the existing Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM official factory team that continues in 2020.

As important as it is as a branding, marketing and moral building, racing is only a small part of what is now a multi-million dollar business. “Our investment in the youth continues as Derek Drake and Piece Brown come aboard our pro team.” Said Lee. “I’m so stoked to see what the future holds for 2020.”

It’s a long way from a camper but when I called Troy answered his own phone and followed up so you know the guy still has his feet on the ground and a spray gun in his hand.

World Fuel Altered Challenge

If you trace the history of that unique American motorsport drag racing back to its roots in 1949 at Goleta Airport, now Santa Barbara International Airport, you can see that most of the racecars were really hot rods, street-driven roadsters and coupes modified for racing. As the racing evolved so did the cars becoming more and more venue and class specific. Some evolved into rails, what we now call dragsters that were little more than the frame rails with an engine, a driver and four wheels. Others still resembled their production roots but grew more cartoon like with short wheelbases, giant raised engines for weight transfer, huge tires for grip and somewhere back there a driver hangin’ on life.

These hot wheels on steroids were called Altereds, because they were altered from stock and the top of the class was the AA/Fuel Altereds as they ran the biggest engines on nitro methane. Their short wheelbase—minimum 92 inches—and their high center of gravity made them insanely unpredictable and hugely exciting to watch, as you never knew which way they would go as the leapt off the start line.  According to Lou Hart in his book Drag Racing Fuel Altereds they were “Pure entertainment” and the crowds loved then.

They heyday came at the end of the ‘Swingin’ Sixties’ when a bunch of them including Pure Heaven, Rat Trap and the famed Winged Express went on a nationwide tour. They killed it but in 1973, at the height of their popularity, the NHRA’s new ruling bounced the Fuel Altered class from national events forcing many racers to become ‘Outlaws’.

Their short wheelbase—minimum 92 inches—and their high center of gravity made them insanely unpredictable…

Fuel Altereds kinda disappeared from the scene until the advent of nostalgia drag racing in the late eighties. Soon, guys like Ron Hope were resurrecting historic Altereds such as Rat Trap while other like Randy Bradford and ‘Mousie’ Marcellus were dusting off cars such as Bradford’s Fiat and the by now infamous ‘Winged Express’. Hope is actually a driving force behind the resurgence and has been touring the world with Rat Trap racing across the US and in Canada, Europe and New Zealand and most recently in Australia in the inaugural Aeroflow World Fuel Altered Challenge presented by Gulf Western Oil (WFAC).

The idea of the Challenge came about when Hope was talking to ‘Kiwi’ Morice McMillin who happens to be the head honcho at Australia’s Aeroflow Nitro Hot Rods & Funny Cars. Over the course of three weeks they thrashed out a plan to host the event at Sydney Dragway, Australia and bring in teams from New Zealand and the US to do battle with the local Aussies.

The American team comprised of Randy Bradford’s Fiat, Ron Hope’s Rat Trap, Rich Guasco’s Pure Hell driven by Ron’s son Brian and Hughie Callen’s High Heaven driven by Shawn Callen. The Australian contingent comprised Agro driven by Paul Messineo, Berzerk driven by Justin Walsh, Chucky’s Toy driven by Rick Gauci and Pyscho driven by Shane Olive. The two New Zealanders were Nightmare driven by Dave Gould and Spooky driven by Morice McMillin.

For the Americans Australia was an awful long way to travel for a one-day race. For Hope’s Rat Trap it was more than 9,000 miles from their home just south of Nashville, TN. Nevertheless, the four cars were trucked to Los Angeles and shipped in containers to Sydney. The Aussie customs released them only the Thursday before the Saturday race and to make matters more stressful the weather forecast was rain.

Thankfully, as Saturday dawned the skies cleared and the cars were paired for a Chicago-style event whereby there would be three rounds with the two fastest cars going to the final. Despite the Aussie cars being mostly shortened Funny Cars fitted with Altered-style bodies the ten cars were fairly well matched and all we’re running in the low- to mid-6s at in the 230 mph range. The US’s Randy Bradford, a tough competitor at the best of times, ran a 6.07 and a 6.19 that put him in the final against Aussie Rick Gauci driving Chucky’s Toy.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. While the teams were all thrashing to perform repairs after a tough second round a few spots of rain turned into a downpour and the race was called. There was huge disappointment in the pits. Everybody had worked so hard to pull this event together and here they were with no result, however, co-organizer Ron Hope declared, “This has been a fantastic experience. We made a lot of new friends and saw some great racing but there’s unfinished business. To paraphrase The Terminator, ‘We’ll be back’.”

Goodwood Revival

The World’s Premier Classic Motorsports Event

StateofSpeed.com has visited the Duke of Richmond’s glorious Goodwood Estate several times for the Festival of Speed but this was our first trip to the fantastic Revival. 

Goodwood, located near Chichester on the south coast of England about 60 miles from London, has been the home of the Dukes of Richmond for more than 300 years and a house has been on the site since the early 1600s. However, it was Freddie March, the 9th Duke who instilled the 12,000-acre estate with its motorsports heritage. Freddie trained as a mechanic and became a racing driver. After World War II, in 1948, he turned the perimeter road of the wartime Westhampnett airfield into the 2.367-mile Goodwood Motor Circuit that hosted Britain’s first post-War race and was Britain’s most prestigious circuit for eighteen years from 1948-1966. Over the years, the circuit fell a little behind contemporary standards that is until Charles, the 10th Duke, took over and initiated both the Festival in 1993 and the Revival in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the circuit opening. The circuit is now fully restored to its original glory and can often been seen in movies and on TV.

Twenty-one years on, the Goodwood Revival, with around 150,000 attendees, is one of the world’s most prestigious and yet fun events. There really is nothing quite like it. Notwithstanding all the hoopla that includes air displays, auctions, on-track demonstrations and parades which this year included one celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the Mini, the Revival is above all an event of classic circuit racing for cars and motorcycles. In fact, no modern vehicles are allowed within the circuit perimeter throughout the weekend. That said the new Land Rover Defender was introduced at the Revival.

The gates opened on Thursday but the ‘tra-ction’ began on Friday and ran full throttle beginning at 9:45 am through Sunday at 6pm with the Freddie March Memorial Trophy race.  And these are no parade laps; this is serious racing with the likes of Le Mans’ superstars battling real Cobras against Corvettes, Ferraris and XKEs just like it was in the sixties. Andre Lotterer and Chris Wilson won the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration race in their ’65 Cobra when Olly Bryant hit the tire walls and, well, retired. Fastest lap was Oliver Hart in a Trojeiro Ford in 1m25.5seconds with an average speed of 100.18 mph.

There was another fantastic race, the Brooklands Trophy, for Pre-War Bentley sports cars that look more like green London busses they are so big. The start looked like a bus jam on London’s Oxford Street but the checkered flag was taken by Martin Overington in a 1929 Blower Bentley. They were averaging 75 mph. 

One of the most prestigious races is the Goodwood Trophy for 1930-’51 Grand Prix and Voiturette cars. That was won by Gareth Burnette driving a 2-liter 1938 single seater Alfa Romeo. His fastest lap was 1m30.909seconds with an average speed of 94.24 mph.

While the historic, pedigree racecars put on a terrific show; a crowd favorite is the St. Mary’s Trophy for 1950-’59 Saloon Cars (sedans to Americans). Here you get everything from large lumbering, Brit-speak Yank tanks that this year included Patrick Watts’ 1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk to diminutive British Austin A40s that look like shoe boxes compared to the Kelvinator-sized American counterparts. Nicolas Minassian and Mike Jordan were the eventual winners in a tiny A40 that was about as big as the trunk on the Festival’s ‘Fastest-man-up-the hill’ Romain Dumas in a Ford Thunderbird that ran a credible 1m34.907seconds with an average speed of 90.27 mph.

In all, there are more than a dozen trophy battles ensuring that every race fan gets his or her fill. One of the cutest races, however, is the Settrington Cup for kids in tiny Austin J40 pedal cars. There were 64 entries including a lot of young ladies but young Harry Dark, the darkhorse, took the flag.

“The Revival is a truly smashing day accompanied by lashings of ginger beer and noisy parp parp, bang bang cars.”Jessica Helen Reinhold

The Revival is not all racing though and there is so much more to see from the themed corporate displays from companies such as SU Carburettor (Brit spelling) to the fifties’ British beach scene for toddlers to the ‘The Wild One’s’ Lee Marvin-inspired Boose Fighters motorcycle gang. Thankfully, they were no more threatening than the kids kicking sand. At Goodwood for the first time American Evonne Morton, dressed as ‘Rosie the Riveter’, said, “Give me Goodwood on a summer’s day and you can forget about the rest of the world”

And while there is no official dress code for the Revival, if you don’t want to feel out of place you’d better be dressed in some kind of relevant outfit from the 1920s, through the 1960s. You can mix ‘n’ match decades and even styles but you’d better be cool or look conspicuously out of place. StateofSpeed.com caught up with Revival regular Jessica Helen Reinhold whose husband Tom is in charge of McLaren Heritage had the last word saying, “The Revival is a truly smashing day accompanied by lashings of ginger beer and noisy parp parp, bang bang cars.” We couldn’t have said it better. For more info visit www.goodwood.com

Bonneville – The World’s Fastest Racetrack

The World’s Fastest Racetrack is a big name to live up to but Bonneville is a big place and folks have been chasing records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, since the 1930s. The fastest man on the salt is Brit Richard Noble who went 633.468 mph in 1983 in Thrust II. His next car, Thrust SSC, driven by Andy Green, upped the land speed record to the current 763.035 but that was at Blackrock Desert, now home of Burning Man, consequently, Noble remains the fastest man at Bonneville.

I’ve been making the pilgrimage to what we racers call The Great White Dyno since 1975, mostly as a spectator/journalist but in the early 2000s myself and hot rod builder Jimmy Shine raced a 1928 Model A Roadster that eventually set a land speed record at 208.454 mph. It wasn’t easy, it took us about six years to get the record and involved taking the car to the wind tunnel at MIRA in England where we gained some ‘free’ horsepower.

The main sanctioning body for land speed racing in the US is the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) that was formed in 1937 by car clubs that were racing at the various dry lake beds north of Los Angeles. Eventually, they settled on El Mirage where they still race May through November except in August when the group decamps to Bonneville for the annual Speed Week that began in 1949.

Unfortunately, heavy winter rains cut a groove north to south right through the 1.3-mile El Mirage course. The Bureau of Land Management, the SCTA and a group called The Friends of El Mirage have been trying to fill the fissure but so far to no avail. It may mean no racing at all this year. Thankfully, the SCTA has access to the Bonneville Salt Flats but that too is a living desert where this year rain on the night before Speed Week all but devastated the event turning the salt into a spongy, mushy mess. Plenty of runs were made but few records were broken.

For example, in October 2018, Rick Vesco’s Turbinator II became the first wheel-driven car to exceed 500 mph with a run at 503.332. Driver Dave Spangler manage only 81 mph this past August because of the fast deteriorating surface. Fastest speed of the meet and the associated HOT ROD Magazine trophy went to George Poteet driving his Speed Demon streamliner to 369.533 mph that was well below his previous top speed of 469 mph. Other ‘fast cars’ such as Marlo Triet’s Target 550 driven by bike race Valerie Thompson managed 270.762 while Tom Flattery in Salt Shark topped out at 290.568.  Less than 25 records were broken and none were over 200 mph.

And therein lies the problem with land speed racing and record setting, the lack of test facilities and indeed tracks. Besides the SCTA-BNI.org there is the Utah Salt Flats Racers Association that hosts the World of Speed event at Bonneville in September. There is also the East Coast Timing Association that sanction speed events on airfields including Blytheville International Airport, a disused Strategic Air Command base in Arkansas, north of Memphis. 

Unfortunately, land speed racing is a tough sell as a spectator sport as apart from the start area the vehicles are some distance away for safety reasons and the action is less than exciting. That said, at this year’s Speed Week our friend Dave Davidson spun his #911 ’34 Ford Roadster and went through the speed traps at 241 mph—backwards. Conditions notwithstanding, Dave usually wheels his roadster to speeds in excess of 300 mph but salt conditions this year were not conducive to record breaking.

Electrics and hybrids could well spell the future for land speed racing…

That said, over on the 1-mile, so-called ‘Rookie Course’, some found traction including Greg Tracy driving Dennis Palatov’s all-electric D2EV sports car. On that slippery, one-mile track Greg went a staggering 196.96 mph. Incidentally, Greg also came second in the unlimited class at this year’s Pike’s Peak hill climb in the same car.

Electrics and hybrids could well spell the future for land speed racing and the current top speed record for an electric vehicle is 314.958 set in 2004 by Roger Schroer driving the Ohio State University’s Venturi ‘Buckeye Bullet’.

While the world of land speed racing will no doubt eventually succumb to modern technology for the present the ‘infernal’ combustion engine continues to rule the roost. However, old school brute force is quickly giving way to electronically controlled turbo’d engines. Evidence Ron Hope who has been chasing the elusive ‘red hat’ for many years.

Most people are under the misconception that any run over the magic 200 mph automatically gives you entry into the exclusive Bonneville200mphClub.com and the celebratory red hat. Not even a record in excess of 200 gives you automatic entry because the Club has set arbitrary minimums. No doubt to keep their club somewhat exclusive.

In Ron’s case, he chased the Blown Modified Roadster record with a traditional top-blown Chevy but it was only when brother Steve switched to an electronically controlled, twin-turbo Chevy that they reached a speed of 257.729 mph, setting the record and getting the hat.

Brit Geoff Stilwell found himself in a similar ‘no hat’ situation. Geoff was bitten by the salt bug when Ron’s son Brian Hope let him drive his Rear Engine Modified Roadster. Hooked, Geoff purchased a record-holding rear-engine ’27 Ford Roadster and after a valiant effort from Bob Muravez, Bill Schultz and the late Sparky Perry set a record in 2018 at 258.569 mph, however, that was not good enough for the hat as the arbitrary minimum is a staggering 290 mph. Determined to get his $14 hat, Geoff turned to Mick Jenkins at MicksPaint.com for a complete rebuild with a big, blown Hemi built by Jon Beck, VintageHotRod.com, Chico, CA.

Brad Anderson supplied the 494 ci billet aluminum block that Beck filled with a Sonny Bryant crank and Bill Miller pistons and rods. Atop the motor is a 14-71 Blower Shop supercharger with a new Enderle progressive injector feeding a 63-percent nitro mix. Controlling the parameters is a Holley RacePak system ably installed by fellow racer Donny Cummins. Basically it’s a $100,000, Top Fuel engine de-tuned to produce about 5,000 hp. 

Unfortunately, some transmission problems and the abysmal salt conditions prevented Geoff making any runs at the August 2019 Speed Week. That hat will have to wait. Geoff wasn’t alone though and all of the almost 500 racers who came from all corners of the globe faced the same problems. Within a couple of days the salt surface had deteriorated so much that the meet was called. Land speed racers are a resilient bunch though and they’ll be back hoping, as always, for ideal conditions.

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019

Often copied but never duplicated, The Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS) is perhaps one of the most amazing events on the motorsports calendar. This year the FOS celebrated its 26^th anniversary and StateofSpeed.com was there for the party.

“The Festival is a fantastic event that I always enjoy but running up the hill in the rain is a definite challenge.”Duncan Pittaway, driver The Beast of Turin

The Festival occurs every summer on the grounds of The Duke of Richmond’s ancestral home, Goodwood House, Chichester, West Sussex, 100 miles south west of London, England. The event is centered around a timed hill climb up the Duke’s 1.16-mile drive. The long-standing record for the run was 41.6 seconds set in 1999 by Nick Heidfeld driving a McLaren MP4/13 Formula One car. His average speed was 100.385 mph. Nick’s record for an F1 car remains unbroken as they no longer allow F1 cars timed runs for safety reasons, however, this year Nick’s 20-year-old record was broken by Romain Dumas driving the all-electric VW I.D. R with a time of 39.9 seconds. Dumas might have gone faster on the Sunday but rain prevented a faster run.

The hill climb, which is by invitation only, sees an eclectic field of racecars. We went as a guest of Brit Duncan Pittaway, who muscles the amazing, fire belching “Beast of Turin” up the hill. Built originally in 1911, the 28.5-Liter Fiat ran 132 mph in 1913. Duncan, who recently drove the Beast through the streets of London, restored the car (that’s a book in itself), and drives it with gusto and even ran up the hill in the Sunday rain which sidelined most competitors saying, “The Festival is a fantastic event that I always enjoy but running up the hill in the rain is a definite challenge.”

“[Driverless cars] would be like climbing Mount Everest using virtual reality—who cares.”

Unlike most big-time events, the FOS pits are open to everybody and you can walk around, get up-close-and-personal with the cars and talk to the mechanics, owners and drivers: I bumped into a wide range of drivers from three-time F1 Grand Prix Champion Sir Jackie Stewart to NASCAR star “King Richard” Petty. Others in attendance included Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and his 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, now valued at an estimated $85 million.

This year, the FOS celebrated more than 40 categories of Motorsports from Early Speed Record setters through Brickyard Heroes of Indy, to the Giants of Rallying both past Group B cars to the Giants of Modern Rallying. There were also special celebrations of Aston Martin, that made its Goodwood debut in 1949, Bentley, March Engineering, Mercedes’ 125 years of motorsport, Porsche 917, and Michael Schumacher. Indeed, there are so many and so much to see it makes your head hurt.

Besides all the historic gas guzzlers, there’s an obvious and growing technological shift toward electric and even autonomous cars with no drivers. Call me old fashioned, but driverless cars to me means slot car racing and while skill is involved, I just wonder if removing the driver removes the point. It would be like climbing Mount Everest using virtual reality—who cares.

That said, as mentioned earlier, this year’s fastest time was set by the Volkswagen I.D. R electric car that recently won Pikes Peak. Driver Romain Dumas scorched up the driveway in 39.9 seconds during the Saturday practice. Rumor had it that he would have killed it on Sunday had rain not prevented it. It’s also a sign of the times that the fields of Goodwood were littered with supercars. Everywhere you looked there were lines of Lambos, Ferraris, Aston Martins and McLarens, et al. Time was they were a rarity on British roads but no longer.

The FOS’s accessibility to the cars and the drivers, particularly if you are a Formula One fan is amazing in this day and age of restricted access. You can get within a few inches of the cars, check them out, hear them run and meet and greet the mechanics and the drivers. I don’t know of anywhere else you can do that in such a casual atmosphere.

Besides the summer FOS, Goodwood hosts the fall Revival, this year scheduled for the weekend of September 13-15. The Revival is held on the old Goodwood Grand Prix circuit that is also on the Duke’s estate that was an airfield during World War II. The Revival features historic circuit racing with everybody in period dress. Like the Festival, it’s a fantastic event to add to your bucket list. For more info visit Goodwood.com

Nürburgring 2019

Just a scant week after the Le Mans 24 hour race in France, the European sports car action moved a little more than 400 miles northwest to the German town of Nürburg and the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobile-Club (ADAC – German Automobile Club) 24 Hours Nürburgring. Established in 1970 on the Nordschleife (North loop) of the circuit, 24 Hours Nürburgring is not Le Mans, attracting local rather than international teams, but it is, nevertheless, a fantastic endurance race for touring cars and GT sports cars, especially if you like German-made sports cars from Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche.

The Nürburgring track, once described by retired Grand Prix World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart as “The Green Hell,” is 15.5 miles (25 km) long and affords space, so the organizers say, for some 200 cars and more than 700 drivers. Not unexpectedly, the race has been won for the last few years by home-grown, German vehicles such as Mercedes in 2016, Audi in 2017 and Porsche in 2018. This year saw the 47^th running of the event, now sponsored by TOTAL, and once again an Audi R8 LMS campaigned by Phoenix Racing took the checkered flag.

The track [was], once described by retired Grand Prix World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart as “The Green Hell”… 

Four German-Belgian drivers: Pierre Kaffer, Frank Stippler, Dries Vanthoor and Frederic Vervisch managed 157 laps and 2,475 miles at Nürburgring. One lap down was the second place Manthey Racing team of New Zealander Earl Bamber, Brit Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre from France and German Laurens Vanthoor (brother of Dries) in a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Manthey Racing has won six times before, however, a penalty caused by Vanthoor for speeding in a “slow zone” meant that they lost first place.  Meanwhile, third place was taken by the Audi Sport Team Car Collection in another Audi R8 LMS driven by Markus Winkelhock, Christopher Haase, Marcel Fassler and Rene Rast.

For Team Phoenix it was their fifth win as it was for Audi, however, it was Frank Stippler’s second win, his first was in 2012, but the first for the rest of the drivers including Pierre Kaffer, who said, “The Nürburgring is my home race and winning is a dream come true.” Kaffer has also won at Le Mans and Sebring.

The Black-Falcon-Mercedes-AMG #2 driven by Maximillian Buhk, Hupert Haupt, Thomas Jäger and Luca Stolz, lead the first third of the race with the Manthey-Porsche #911 until the Mercedes had to retire due to damage caused by a collision while overtaking a slower racecar. Battle for the leadership raged all night but eventually, the Audi secured the lead.

Perhaps driver Alexander Prinz had the mostly dramatic race when his GT3 #55 Ferrari 488 from the aptly-named Octane 126 team caught fire and almost burned to the ground as it took marshals some time to get there and get the flames under control. Unfortunately, BMW did not have a great race at Nürburgring. Their best finish was seventh and the remainder of the M6 GT3s were sidelined early.

A rather unusual and largely unknown aspect of this year’s event was the fact that the president of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, participated in the race in a Supra driving under a fake name. Seems that Toyota Gazoo Racing, who won Le Mans, entered three cars at Nürburgring. The cars were driven by professional drivers except, that is, for a mysterious “Mr. Morizo.” Turns out Mr. Morizo was none other than 63-year-old Toyota president Akio Toyoda driving the #90 Gazoo GR Supra. Apparently, Mr. Toyoda, who was very supportive of the Supra’s revival, had driven the Nürburgring endless times during the development of the A70 Supra and raced the ‘ring in the 2014 race behind the wheel of a Lexus LFA.

More that 230,000 spectators turned out to attend the 47^th Nürburgring and you can’t say they were disappointed.

The 24 Hours Du Le Mans

Toyota Wins The Ultimate Sports Car Endurance Race

We Americans and Brits have a huge affinity with Le Mans, a small town three hours south west of Paris, France, down the Loire Valley that is the home of the annual 24 Heures (Hours) Du Le Mans sports car endurance race. I’ve been going on and off for more than 30 years, sometimes on the spectator side of the fence but more often on the other side with teams such as Richard Lloyd Racing, Panoz, Jaguar and McLaren. Any big international race is a buzz but there’s something quite special about Le Mans.

The race was started in 1923 by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (of the West) and remains the world’s oldest active endurance race that is part private circuit and part public street course, that aside from a few safety-related alterations, has remained much the same since its inauguration. Indeed, you can drive down the Mulsanne straight on a normal, non-race day. Mulsanne is also known in French as Hunaudières, where it was quite incredible to have breakfast while cars were shrieking by at well over 200 mph. Unfortunately, modern safety requirements have sadly put an end to that experience. Nevertheless, Le Mans remains way up there on the list of amazing auto races.

Because of their sports car history, the Brits were early participants and the Americans weren’t far behind with a Stutz and a Du Pont in 1929. However, it was in 1950 when Cadillac first raced ‘Le Monstre’ there with Briggs Cunningham running a two-car team. Despite 10^th and 11^th place finishes, the Cads were well received. The press congratulating the Americans for their “skill, sportsmanship and dauntless good humor.”

Unfortunately, in 1955 a terrible accident resulted in the deaths of 84 people, including one driver, and injuring almost 200. As a result, Mercedes retired from the race. There followed an international ban on racing, and in the US, the AAA disbanded their Contest Board and more or less banned racing—for a few years at least.

“I think I must have counted every single shift that I did for the last two or three hours of the race.“Jim Busby

After a suitable period of mourning, racing resumed and in the mid-sixties Ford famously went after Ferrari and famously smoked them with their first overall win in 1966. Ford won three more times and the memorable 1-2-3 win came in 1968.

The other big Le Mans story was Steve McQueen’s seminal movie Le Mans filmed during the 1970 race and released the following year. The movie cost $7.6 million and took in a paultry $5.5. It’s not a great movie as movies go but it is for a car nut and gives a realistic insight into endurance racing. Try to imagine driving flat out in the dark and the rain hour after hour.

Of course, no matter what side of the fence you have been on, everybody has different memories of the race. For example, I recently interviewed Jim Busby who raced there many times and won five times. Jim has very different memories, for example, driving the night shift in pouring rain as the sun came up. He’s barreling down the Mulsanne straight at more than 200 mph. He couldn’t see for fog, well, he thought it was fog. “As, I got into it I could smell bacon and eggs.” Said Jim. “What I thought was fog was actually smoke from all the camp fires and stoves lit by the spectators cooking breakfast. The smell made me hungry and drove me nuts as we still had about eight hours to go.”

Jim also talked about a failing gearbox saying, “Coming down the Mulsanne, I’m thinking to myself, I’ve got two downshifts here, shall I make ’em both? Or shall I skip a gear and save the synchromesh. I think I must have counted every single shift that I did for the last two or three hours of the race.” I guess that’s why Le Mans is the ultimate endurance race.

This year’s event was exciting as ever with factory teams pitted against privateers, Chevy versus Ford versus Ferrari and adramatic, unexpected finale. For hours it looked like the Toyota Gazoo LMP1 team of Brit Mike Conway, Kamui Kobyashi of Japan and Argentina’s Jose Maria Lopez driving the #7 car were going to take the trophy after leading for most of the race in their TS050 hybrid. Unfortunately, they suffered a puncture an hour before the end and pitted for a tire change. As sod’s law would have it, the wrong tire was installed and they had to pit again to change it, which caused them to drop back to second behind their teammates. As a consequence of this mishap, the Toyota #8 team of two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso, Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastian Buemi of Switzerland took the win. It was 37-year-old Alonso’s second win and rumor has it that that mishap was organized so that Alonso’s team won. Third place went to Mikhail Aleshin, Stoffel Vandoorne and Vitaly Petrov driving the BR Engineering BR1-AER.

Over in the LMGTE Am class (Grand Touring Endurance Amateur), Ford took its second GT win with the #85 Keating Motorsports team of Jeroen Bleekemolen, Texas car dealer Ben Keating and Brazilian Felipe Fraga. Although they were given a penalty for peeling out in the pits, they stormed on to beat the #56 Porsche 911 RSR of Team Project 1 and the #84 Ferrari 488 GTE of JMW Motorsport that came in third. Unfortunately, the two Corvettes, #63 and #64 running in GTE Pro, despite putting on a strong effort for its 20^th continuous entry, fell behind due to a crash for #64 and a late-race spin and crash for #63 that resulted in some suspension damage.

“Racing needs an uplifting feel good story… “John Hotchkis Jr.

Unfortunately, the Ford entry was disqualified post-race for breaking a minimum refueling time limit and for having a 96.1-liter tank rather than the regulation 96-liter tank. Those infractions gave the win to the #56 Porsche. Now, you might be of the opinion that a mere 0.1 of a liter of extra fuel is nothing to quibble about but multiply that by multiple refuelings and you have a distinct advantage over the competition. It just goes to show that you need to be at the very top of your game if you want to win Le Mans.

John Hotchkis Jr., of Hotchkis Sport Suspension, who supplied most of the photographs used here, raced under the Wynn’s banner with his father at Le Mans in 1989.   His father and Bob Kirby brought Wynn’s to Le Mans in 1977.  Hotchkis Jr said, “I designed the Wynn’s livery that caught current Wynn’s driver/team owner Ben Keating’s attention when I was at Art Center College in 1986 and it ​was first used on the IMSA Hotchkis Racing Porsche 962 in 1987. We ran with Wynn’s sponsorship at Le Mans five times until 1989. This is the first time Wynn’s has been back to Le Mans in 30 years and the ultimate result was a real downer.Racing needs an uplifting feel good story, especially with the controversial overall result, and that finish was good story.”

As usual, more than 250,000 spectators turned out for the 87^th running of Le Mans and, as usual, it didn’t disappoint. Indeed, as is viewed as the “Burning Man’ of motorsports. For more info on Le Mans visit www.europeanlemansseries.com

McLaren F1 Designer Peter Stevens Takes His T Black

What do you think the F1 designer of the amazing 240-mph McLaren F1 drives? It would surprise you to know that he mostly drives a Model A Ford and at weekends races his 1925 Ford Model T.

Supercar designer Peter Stevens grew up in England in his grandparent’s house with his uncle Denis “Jenks” Jenkinson who was a British motor racing journalist and most renowned as co-pilot of Sir Stirling Moss in the infamous Mille Miglia race in Italy. Pete’s father was an accomplished painter and Peter attended London’s prestigious Royal College of Art (RCA) where later he would become a professor in charge of the school’s acclaimed automotive design program.

Peter couldn’t help but become a gearhead and he loves it all, from off-roading to the local English pub, down the River Deben in his Jeep, to Le Mans, to land speed racing at Bonneville. After college, Peter established his own design consultancy and worked for Renault on the Alpine, Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), and even did work for the Brabham Formula One team.

In 1985, he became Chief F1 Designer at Lotus Cars where he worked on the Excel, the Esprit, the Elan and for outside companies such as Isuzu, Cadillac, Triumph, and Chrysler. However, in 1989, he worked with TWR on the design and development of the Jaguar XJR15 that remains one of his favorite designs and endures as a very collectible supercar. Only 53 were built and they command prices approaching $400,000.

Ron Dennis of McLaren saw Peter’s potential and hired him to design the then-new Mclaren F1. Design credit usually goes to Gordon Murray but while he was the engineer Peter actually did the design work.

When the F1 project was complete Peter worked for numerous clients including Audi, Lamborghini, Benetton F1, BMW Motorsport, Hyundai, IPN Indonesia, McLaren Cars, Nardi SpA, OZ Wheels, Prodrive, Panoz, Reynard, Rolls Royce, Subaru, TAG Electronics, Toyota Team Europe, Virgin Atlantic, and TATA motors. His impressive body of work resulted in numerous awards including the U.K.’s Autocar magazine Designer of the Year.

“The right pedal is the brake, the center pedal is reverse, and the left pedal is low, neutral, and high. The throttle is on the column—got that?”Peter Stevens

In the year 2000, Peter became the Director of Product Design for MG Rover and worked on the MG TF, the MG Z-Cars, the MG SV and the Bonneville MG ZT wagon. It was on that project that we were able to finally work together as I worked at So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona, California, where the racecar was built.

But why a wagon for Bonneville, you may ask? Well, deep down Peter is a hot rodder as were members of the MG board and at the time MG was developing a line of V8-powered vehicles powered by Ford-Roush engines. The aerodynamic wagon seemed a natural, especially when powered by a 700-hp Roush NASCAR engine. The wagon eventually exceeded more than 230-mph but sadly MG Rover collapsed in 2005 and the project was shuttered.

Peter, meanwhile, continues to design for a wide range of clients and works on a lot of eco-friendly, mass-transit projects as well as some alternative-fueled supercars. He also judges Concours events around the world, lectures and gives his time to numerous educational projects including the prestigious REVS Institute in Florida.

However, his first love remains hot rods and Ford Model Ts in particular. Over the years, he has owned several T speedsters but his current ride is a barely shiny, Henry Ford “Any color as long as it’s black,” 1925 turtle-deck roadster. It’s called a turtle deck because of that add-on trunk bolted to the back of the roadster body.

…his current ride is a barely shiny, Henry Ford “Any color as long as it’s black,” 1925 turtle-deck roadster.

Peter purchased the T from the U.S. sight unseen on eBay and works and on it himself at home in his studio or his barn in Suffolk, England, about 100 miles northeast of London. The chassis is a narrowed frame from a later, 1929 Ford Model A right down to the lowered buggy spring suspension and rod-actuated brakes.

Thankfully, it does not have the quirky Ford T pedal arrangement. “The right pedal is the brake,” said Peter. “The center pedal is reverse, and the left pedal is low, neutral, and high. The throttle is on the column—got that?”

Power for the black beast comes from a mildly hopped-up Model B four-cylinder engine fitted with a Winfield cylinder head, an Ansen intake, a Mallory distributor and a Stromberg 97 carb that is made just up the road in Waldringfield, Suffolk. Over the summer, Peter’s plan is to install a hi-lift cam from H&H Antique in La Crescenta, California.

Peter is well experienced at driving these funky old cars. He not only drives them on the street but also races in such events as the Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races in Wales where we caught up with him, at the Rømø Motor Festival in Denmark, and at other European venues. It’s a far cry from the McLaren F1 but to Peter, “They’re all hot rods to me.”

For more information about Peter visit his website or follow him on Facebook.

Bruce Canepa’s Top 10

Scotts Valley is a small city of 11,000 people six miles north of Santa Cruz, California, and to the south of what is now known as Silicon Valley. Of course, that term was barely in general use when Bruce Canepa opened his first business in 1982.

Bruce’s family owned a Ford dealership in the beach/college town of Santa Cruz where he learned all things mechanical and cut his driving teeth on a Model A Ford circa 1963. He began racing as soon as he was able driving quarter midgets and Go-Karts before progressing to super modifieds and sprint cars.

Bruce tried it all and excelled at most and was awarded consecutive “Rookie of the Year” and “Most Improved Driver” in three different race categories: Sportsman, Modified, and Sprint Cars.

In 1978, Bruce moved into racing sports cars in both the IMSA and Trans-Am series and in 1979 formed his own team to campaign a Porsche 934 at the grueling Daytona 24 hour sports car race. Teamed with Rick Mears and Monte Shelton, they finished an incredible third overall.

The Porsche factory was so impressed by the privateering effort, they provided him a brand new 935 for the rest of that season thus cementing Bruce’s continuing passion and loyalty to the brand.

He tried it all and excelled at most…

In 1980 and ’81, Bruce returned to Daytona with Gianpiero Moretti in the famous MOMO team Porsche 935. They also raced at Mid Ohio and Riverside. Bruce tried his hand at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with his own design twin-turbo-powered open wheeler—he qualified first and finished an amazing second overall.

The following year, Bruce was back at Daytona teamed with Bobby Rahal and Jim Trueman in the very first March GTP “Ground Effects” Prototype. He also opened Bruce Canepa Motorcars handling Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, Maserati and of course, Porsche automobiles.

Bruce has always been good at seeing a niche in the market and in ’82 he opened Canepa Design. The following year he began redesigning Kenworth big rigs that led, in 1985, to his purchase of Concept Transporters. That year he also drove the Eletrodyne Lola T600 at the Riverside 6 Hours.

With Group B rallying dominating the European racing scene in the mid-eighties, Porsche introduced the phenomenal 959 in 1986. It was quickly and rightly regarded as the ultimate sports car, however, the car was not legal to import into the U.S.

Enamored of the 959, Bruce and perhaps even Microsoft’s Bill Gates worked at enabling the car to be legally imported. Meanwhile, the American scene was all about SUVs and Chevy/GMC trucks and Canepa subsequently built more than 1,500 custom vehicles to Bruce’s design.

After ten years of working on the legalization of the 959, Bruce was finally able to deliver the first Canepa 959 in 2000 and the first California-compliant version in 2003. Despite all this work, Bruce continued to race and returned to Colorado’s Pikes Peak setting the course record for tandem-axle big rigs in 2000, 2001, and in 2002 he crossed the line in 13:57.800—a record that still stands on the 156-turn, 12.42-mile mountain course.

Racing oil runs in his veins and his current ride of choice is a McLaren P1 GTR.

Bruce Canepa moved into his current 70,000 sq. ft. Scotts Valley facility in 2006 and for any petrolhead, it’s Nirvana and showcases some of the raddest cars in Petroldom. There is so much to see that we asked Bruce to choose his Top 10 from all the cars on display and they are presented here: everything from the famed So-Cal Speed Shop Coupe that ran both at Bonneville and the drags in the very early fifties to the Porsche 917/10 of 1972 and the 1985 Rothmans Porsche 962C. It’s an amazing to-die-for, must-see collection.

Canepa is not just a showroom though, or even a museum, its also houses one of the world’s most respected restoration shops that not only meticulously restores historic racecars but also offers setup and race support, meanwhile, Bruce still does all the final testing. Well, he would wouldn’t he?  Racing oil runs in Bruce’s veins and his current ride of choice is a McLaren P1 GTR.

Jimmy Who? The Jimmy Shine Story

Jimmy Shine? That can’t possibly be his real name? Actually, no. His real name is Jimmy Falschlehner but nobody can pronounce let alone spell it. An early stint sweeping floors garnered the name Shine and, like Shinola, it stuck.

Shine and I started working together 20 years ago at Pete Chapouris’s SO-CAL Speed Shop. Despite being the ‘young buck’, Jimmy held his own working alongside some very talented craftsmen on some very famous and influential hot rods and customs.

Around 1999, I decided it would be good for the company if we returned to our land speed racing roots and consequently purchased a bona fide 175 MPH street-driven lakes racer built by ‘Kiwi Steve’ Davies. There followed seven intense years of racing at El Mirage Dry Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats where on August 15, 2006, Shine eventually set a D/BSTR (Blown Street Roadster) land speed record at 206.454 MPH. Not bad for an old, home-built Ford roadster.

An early stint sweeping floors garnered the name Shine and, like Shinola, it stuck.

Shine, meanwhile, had been noticed by some TV producers and entered the madcap world of ‘reality TV’. Well, as they say, it’s not reality it’s actuality. The first show was “The Great Hot Rod Build Off” in 2004 that saw Shine pitted against Barry White for the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) Award at the Grand National Roadster Show. Unexpectedly, neither won and the producer flipped out but that’s show business. Personally, apart from not winning, I thought it was a great ending.

During the 18-plus years that Shine worked at SO-CAL, he and Chapouris had become fast friends. Indeed, it was Chapouris who pushed for the shows knowing instinctively that the power of TV could make all the difference. Chapouris the mentor, therefore, directed the endplay that would see the establishment of Jimmy Shine’s Speedshop. With Pete’s symbolic passing of the torch, the new business carries with it a piece of the iconic SO-CAL Speed Shop dating back to its creation in 1946 by founder and friend Alex Xydias.

Shine’s new shop officially opened April Fool’s Day, 2015, and instantly the space was buzzing with projects, including, of course, a TV show with old compadre Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top (BFG). The show “Rockin’ Roadsters” aired on Discovery Channel. Shine is also a spokesman for Baileigh Industrial Products, Bendpak/Ranger lifts and Miller Welding promoting the companies, making how-to videos and doing personal appearances. PAs are also something he does around the globe with BFG having traveled as far afield as Australia and Russia.

Despite all the hoopla and media hype, Jimmy’s core business is building and maintaining cool rides for an eclectic mix of customers. One minute you can find him wrenching on an original Cobra for Ernie and Elaine Nagamatsu, the next he can be helping his right-hand man Paulo massage the custom touches on a ’64 Buick Riviera or, punching lovers on his home-made louver press.

It’s a tough life but you can never lift.

Or, he can be found working on a famous Porsche Speedster that was raced by Jim Kilpatrick and the next minute on a radical chopped and channeled ’34 truck for Michael Sinacola. It’s all in a days work for Shine and when he isn’t working or spending time with his lovely wife Nikki and their family, he’s surfing at Trestles in Orange County. It’s a tough life but you can never lift.

Shine’s new speed shop is located 867 N Commerce St, Orange, CA. It’s well worth a visit, however, check their website for hours and any special events before you turn up: www.shinespeedshop.com

First to 500

The first person to set the land speed record was Frenchman Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat. He achieved his lofty goal on December 18, 1898, at Acheres, France in an electric vehicle called the Jeantaud. He went 39.24 MPH. In fact, the first seven land speed records were set in either electric or steam cars and it wasn’t until 1902 that William K. Vanderbilt set the first record using an ‘infernal’ combustion engine. Billy went 76.59 MPH.

The absolute land speed record now sits at 760.343 MPH set by Brit Andy Green driving Richard Noble’s ThrustSSC. It’s powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey Turbofan jet engines.

Over the years, the rules of land speed racing and land speed records have had to change as more and more people entered the fray. There are now records for just about every contraption man and woman can conjure up. That said, there are still milestones of achievement that the average Josephine can grasp. For example, the wheel-driven record seems simple to understand: Take an engine, any engine, use it to drive the wheels rather than push the car, and there you have it. A record for wheel-driven vehicles.

The first guy to reach a significant milestone was the late Mickey Thompson who possibly went 406.60 MPH in his four-engine Pontiac-powered Challenger 1 in 1960. He didn’t back up the run, therefore, did not get a record. Instead, the record went to the Summers Brothers in 1965 with a two-way average of 409.277 MPH. They used four Chryslers.

The next milestone is engraved with the name Al Teague who in 1991 set a two-way average at 400.986 MPH with just one piston engine. It was a new wheel-driven record. However, in the wings was veteran racer Don Vesco who was determined to get the wheel-driven record, but rather than piston engines that he had tried, he planned to use a jet engine in his ‘Turbinator’ streamliner.

The Turbinator first appeared in 1997 when it ran over 400 MPH and at each subsequent event Don upped the speed until 2001 when he bumped the F.I.A. international record to 458.481 MPH. On one run Don’s exit speed reached 470 MPH and he was still accelerating! 500 MPH was within Don’s reach and that became his goal.

Powering the Turbinator was a Lycoming turboshaft engine mostly used in Bell helicopters producing around 4,000 hp at 16,000 rpm. An output shaft drives the Turbinator’s four-wheel drive system. A pair of Stroud Safety parachutes and four-wheel disc brakes stop the projectile. And remember, at some Bonneville events they only have two miles in which to stop. That takes about 16 seconds.

Sadly, Don died in 2002 having set 18 motorcycle and six automotive records during a career that began when he was 16. After Don’s death, his brother Rick took over the flame. No slouch, Rick is a member of the elite 300 MPH Club and actually built the Turbinator in his Utah shop.

In 2013, Rick’s new longer, meaner, faster, Turbinator II made its debut at the Bonneville Salt Flats. It sported an all-new carbon fiber body, new tail fin design, powerful new T-55, 4,213 hp turbine engine, new parachute system, new steering, new brakes, new tires, wheels, and a beautiful new paint scheme. There would also be a new driver, Dave Spangler, now age 76.

For the 2016 season, a new Advanced Turbine Services (ATS) T-55-L-712 shaft gas turbine engine was installed with a new electronic control system to manage fuel, traction, engine temperature, and provide emergency shut down. Turbinator II made five runs but there were problems with parachute deployment.

By 2017, the car was really beginning to shape up and made three runs at over 430 MPH. Rick and Dave were both confident they would be able to break Team Vesco’s own national record of 427 MPH set in 2001.

At the following year’s Speed Week event Turbinator II set the fastest mile time in the 70-year history of Speed Week at 463.038 MPH, the fastest record at 455.107 MPH and the fastest exit speed at 470.605 MPH. Don’s goal was in sight, all they needed good salt and good weather. A month later at the USFRA World of Speed event, Dave hit 492 MPH—just 8 MPH shy of their goal.

The planets aligned in October 2018 at the SCTA-BNI World Finals. The sky was blue although there was rain in the forecast. The salt was flatter and harder ‘n’ concrete. The course was 9 miles long. How ‘gooder’ could it get? 

Tuesday, October 2, 2018, the announcer excitedly declared, “The Turbinator’s coming.” Every man, woman, and child in the pits gravitated to the edge like a scene from Close Encounters. And then you could hear the whine growing louder and louder as if a spaceship was landing. Then whoosh it went by with almost disappointing lack of drama until that goofy commentator announced an exit speed of 503.332 MPH. Team Vesco had finally made it: Goin’ to impound! The first wheel-driven car to go 500 MPH.

That night, the gods cried and by Wednesday morning it was Lake Bonneville at the end of the road. It was awash. It was over. No chance to set a record but nevertheless, the first wheel-driven car to go 500 MPH.

El Mo

Even the most ardent motorsports fan might never have heard of El Mirage Dry Lake or, El Mo as it is known to the cognoscenti. 

El Mo is located about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert. Used to be, it was way out there, nowadays the townies are creeping ever nearer with housing tracts, strip malls, and the inevitable traffic. Nevertheless, the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), formed in 1937, continues to sanction land speed racing events every month from May through November except August when they go race at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.

Unlike Bonneville, which is a salt lake, El Mo is a dry lake of alkali dust. Most every winter it rains and levels out the bed, more or less, to form a long, flat race track. Every spring a hearty and hard-working band of pure volunteers arrives to lay out a 1.3-mile course that runs arrow straight West to East.

At each event, several hundred racers face Mecca and try to break a record. The fastest car so far on the lake is the Leggitt-Mirage Blown Fuel Lakester, an open-wheel device driven by Paul Prentice to a speed of 312.100 mph. There are plenty of records in excess of 200 mph that puts you in the ‘Dirty Two’ club. The fastest motorcycle is John Noonan with a speed of 252 mph.

I’ve made the pilgrimage to El Mo many times, even raced a car there and every time I drop down onto that dirty, dusty, hotbed of activity I, like so many others, get a chill from walking where the founding fathers of hot rodding raced in the ’40s.

I currently hang with ex Shelby employee Steve Hope and his crew Jim Alvaney, Chris Thoman and driver Jere Teepen who race an FWD ’84 Dodge Charger. Scott Harvey began racing the car in 1984 when it was new and when it went 142.85 mph. Now, with sponsorship from Capautorecon.com and USAutomotive.co.uk, and running in the 2.0-liter Blown (turbo) Gas Coupe class it has gone over 206 mph at Bonneville, however, they were unable to confirm the record. Meanwhile, driver Jere holds the class record at El Mo at 190.587 mph but as yet the team been unable to break the ‘Dirty Two’ mph barrier.

To experience land speed racing and watch all this amazing machinery you just have to pay the Bureau of Land Management $15 for entry to the lake bed (per day). To learn more about the SCTA and to get a schedule of race dates, visit scta-bni.org or visit their Facebook page @SCTASouthernCaliforniaTimingAssociation

McLaren Technology Centre

Of course, I’d heard about it, everybody in the supercar business has heard about it, but few have had the opportunity to tour the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC). Located near Woking, 30 miles southwest of London, England, and close to the historic Brooklands race circuit, the MTC is amazing. Nothing quite prepares you for rounding the corner at the McLaren Thought Leadership Centre and taking the long curving drive beside the lake that is overshadowed by the sweeping building designed by Norman Foster & Partners. The word “building”, however, is insufficient to describe this yin-yang inspired Taj Mahal to motorsports.

The Technology Centre provides a headquarters for the McLaren Group and is designed to reflect the company’s design and engineering expertise. It includes design studios, laboratories and production and testing facilities, including their own 145-meter long wind tunnel, for Formula One and high-performance sports cars. 

What’s cool about the MTC is that it enjoys an incredibly low carbon footprint and uses the lake water and heat exchangers to keep the air temp inside the building a comfortable 22 degrees Centigrade (72 Fahrenheit). When the wind tunnel is in use, the water gets hot, so it’s cycled out of the building, flowing out and down a stepped wall. This releases the heat, oxygenates the water, and ensures the lake never freezes during a British winter.

While no figures are given for what the central building cost, I was told that the adjacent, 32,000 square meter Production Centre cost around £60 million to build (that equates to around $70 million today but back when it was built, between 1999 and 2003, that was about double or, $120 million).

Upon my arrival, I was directed to park in Ron Dennis’ space. Ron, of course, was the man behind the phenomenal growth of McLaren. New Zealand racing driver Bruce McLaren founded the company in 1963. Unfortunately, Bruce died in 1970 and the remains of his company merged with Ron Dennis’ Project Four Racing in 1981. Ron is well known for his obsessive attention to detail and when designing the new Production Centre took the floor tiles home in order to calculate how big the building could be to use the minimum number of tiles with no cutting. It’s exactly the size he dictated.

As he is no longer with the company, I got Ron’s parking space and was met by none other than Bruce McLaren’s lovely daughter Amanda who was to show me around. We began our tour in the lobby where we checked out the cars beginning with Bruce’s Austin 7 Ulster that he raced in New Zealand as a boy aged 15—it’s a far cry from the current Formula 1 technology. Alongside the Austin was the Chevy-powered M8D Can-Am car that took McLaren and Denny Hulme to 39 race wins and five championships between 1967 and ’72. Alongside that was Hulme’s DFV-powered M19C of 1972. And so it went on, car after car until we came to a huge glassed-in shop that turned out to be the McLaren Formula 1 workshop. And while you’re not allowed to take photographs, for obvious reasons, you can stand and stare and just drool at the cleanliness and the attention to detail.

Eventually, Amanda dragged me past a line a McLaren F1 cars of the 2000s known as the ‘Silver Arrows’, a nod to the all-conquering original ‘unpainted’ Silver Arrows of the Pre-World War II Grand Prix era. The equally impressive line of late-70s F1 cars included the 1977 M26 of James Hunt—beautiful in its simplicity compared to the current F1 machines. Before I knew it, however, Amanda took me down a rabbit hole and through a long underground tunnel that connects the MTC to the Production Centre. Now, I’ve visited any number of car factories from Ferrari to Ford but I don’t think I have ever been so impressed. Again, no personal photos but here, in a pristine environment, several thousand workers, working two shifts assemble more than 4,000 McLaren road cars annually—everything from the 540C to the $1 million Senna (depending upon the prevailing exchange rate) and there was one sitting right in front of me. I could reach out and touch it.

For some, the Senna is a bit OTT as the Brits say. That means Over The Top, a bit too much, for some. But supercars are supposed to be a little OTT, are they not? At the heart of the Senna is the family’s 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 but here it is one of the most powerful McLaren road car engines ever, producing 800PS (789bhp) and 800Nm (590lb ft), with 700Nm (516lb ft) of torque available at just 3,000rpm. Designated M840TR, the powertrain features dry sump lubrication, a flat-plane crankshaft, and lightweight pistons and rods to reduce mass. Meanwhile, low-inertia, twin-scroll turbochargers and electronic wastegates deliver instantaneous throttle response. Max speed is 208 mph and the Senna accelerates from 0-62 mph in just 2.8 seconds.

Having worked as a young man in a pre-robot Chrysler factory, this facility was eye-opening, jaw-dropping, finger-lickin’ good. Still a lot of people scurrying around as the McLaren’s continue to be essentially hand built but there was a purpose about their actions, an obvious attention to detail and a pride in their workmanship. I could have watched it all day from the arrival of the carbon composite tub, through the assembly and on to the final monsoon soak test. It was fascinating. Unfortunately, I was dragged away; my tour was over with the promise of a drive when I got back to LA. Watch this space….

Goodwood FOS 2018

In the world of automotive events, The Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS) is right up there on the bucket list with the Indy 500, Le Mans, Pebble Beach, the Daytona 500 and a few others. This year, the FOS celebrated its 25^th Silver Anniversary and The Dawg Box was there for the party.

For those of you who don’t know, the FOS takes place every summer on the grounds of The Duke of Richmond’s ancestral home 100 miles south-west of London, England. It’s basically a hill climb up the Duke’s 1.16-mile drive. The long-standing record for the dash is 41.6 seconds set by Nick Heidfeld in 1999 in a McLaren MP4/13 Formula One car. His average speed up the twisty, cambered driveway with some nasty sharp flint walls was 100.385 mph. Nick’s record remains unbroken as they no longer allow F1 cars timed runs for safety reasons but this year two electric cars came awfully close to breaking Nick’s record. It’s bound to fall soon.

By invitation only, the hill climb sees an eclectic field of racecars; everything from Duncan Pittaway’s fire belching, 28.5-liter, 4-cylinder 1911 Fiat The Beast of Turin to Ernie Nagamatsu’s historic Old Yeller Buick-powered road-racing special to Rod Millen’s Pikes Peak-winning Toyota Celica to electric and even autonomous cars with no drivers. Call me old-fashioned, but driverless cars to me seems a lot like slot car racing. While skill is involved, I just wonder if when you remove the human element you remove the point. It would be like climbing Mount Everest using virtual reality—who cares.

Ironically, This year’s fastest time was set by Frenchman Romain Dumas driving a Volkswagen ID R electric racecar in which Dumas recently won the Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado. Dumas scorched up the hill in just 43.86 seconds. Second fastest was Peter Dumbreck driving the NIO EP9 electric supercar. Dumbreck made the dash in a staggering 44.32 seconds.

It’s a sign of the times that the fields of Goodwood are now littered with supercars. Everywhere you looked there were lines of Lambos, Ferraris, Aston Martins, McLarens, Koenigseggs, Paganis, Porsche and all the other exclusive brands. Time was they were a rarity on British roads but no longer. McLaren was, in fact, our host and we shall be reporting on our tour of the McLaren Technology Center soon.

One of the most appealing aspects of the FOS is the up-close-and-personal access to the cars and the drivers, particularly if you are a Formula One fan. You can get within a few inches of the cars, check them out, hear them run, and meet and greet the mechanics and the drivers. I don’t know of anywhere else you can do that in such a casual atmosphere. There were displays from all the teams including Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, Lotus, and Alfa. There was even a display of driverless electric racecars from Robocar.

Built Brick by Brick: The Lego McLaren 720S

Lego McLaren 720S

If you ever had kids you’ll know the excruciating pain that follows stepping barefoot onto a sea of Lego bricks. Sea? Heck, one brick is enough to get your attention. So it was when Lego announced the build of a full-size McLaren 720S the world premiere of which would take place at the Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, California.

Just so happens that two of my good friends have been intimately involved with the design of the real McLaren. Peter Stevens with the design of the legendary F1 and Mark Roberts who has worked at McLaren since the F1 and is currently the chief designer and an integral part of the team credited for the design of all contemporary McLaren sportscars including the critically-acclaimed McLaren P1, the 570S and 720S. Mark was in town for the Lego introduction and shared the podium with Lego master builder Chris Steininger one of only seven master builders in the world and with father Dan makes up the world’s only father-son Master Builder Team. How lucky is Chris to work with his dad on such cool stuff?

Lego, of course, is well known for its innovative marketing and product line that now includes a 720S along with a few other super cars in their Speed Champions series. To bring attention to the small-scale line Lego decided to build the full-size. According to Chris, it took 2,000 hours to assemble on a steel armature that rolls on real McLaren wheels shod with Pirelli 245/35R19 tires on the front and 305/30R20s on the rear. While the real car has carbon ceramic discs, the Lego version has, well, Lego discs. Nevertheless, it does roll, just not under its own power. In the industry it’s known as a ‘pushmobile.’

The real 720S, which is built in Woking, England, is powered by a propriety M838T 4.0-liter V8 with twin electrically-actuated MHI turbochargers. That’s good for 568 lb/ft of torque, 710 bhp and a top speed of 212 mph (341 kpm). It gets from zero to 62 mph in 2.9 seconds and from zero to 124 mph in 7.8 seconds. Top speed is 212 mph, however, there’s always more right?

As this event was more of a design exercise than an engineering seminar Mark discussed McLaren’s pillars of design philosophy. Firstly, McLaren ‘shrink wraps’ the exterior shape over the mechanicals to get the leanest car possible. He went on to explain the layering process that allows air to flow freely through the car and the use of natural prototypes to create a sinewy, muscular and organic aliveness to their designs. He talked about ‘functional jewelry’ whereby every component of the McLaren is designed, developed and shaped to be functional and yet aesthetically beautiful. It’s a less is more philosophy that when combined with a brave cohesive team approach results in such beautifully functional fast cars.

Mark went on to explain that while virtual reality is playing an ever-increasing role in the design process McLaren still rely on a full-size clay model saying, “We might walk around a clay model for two weeks, changing the tiniest details that might look right one day… but oddly not the next.” Such are the processes of honing great design.

Next time, we visit the McLaren complex in England.